Killer Line up for 2019 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival

The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival unveiled its 2019 programme at an exclusive launch party at Browns Courtrooms in London (Wed April 3, 6.30pm).

Chair of the 2019 Programming Committee, Mari Hannah, unveiled a packed line-up for the world’s most celebrated crime writing festival, with authors ‘in conversation’, in action and in the bar.

Now in its 17th year, the festival takes place at Agatha Christie’s old haunt, The Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate from 18 to 21 July.

Mari Hannah, award-winning author and festival reader-in-residence said: “The Theakston programming committee has a reputation for attracting the finest crime writers to the festival from around the world and we’ve done it again. The response to this year’s line-up has been incredible. I’m looking forward to welcoming readers in July.”

Special Guests are James Patterson, MC Beaton, Stuart MacBride, Jeffery Deaver, Belinda Bauer, Eva Dolan, Erin Kelly, Harlan Coben, Ian Rankin and Val McDermid, who will be in conversation with Scotland’s First Minister and bookworm, Nicola Sturgeon.

Jo Nesbo will also launch his much anticipated new Harry Hole thriller, Knife, at the festival. A special TV panel will feature Jed Mercurio, author of BBC smash-hit, The Bodyguard.

Simon Theakston, Executive Director of T&R Theakston and title sponsor, said: “Our celebration of the genre is no doubt the best in the world. 2019 is another remarkable line-up and it is a huge privilege to welcome one of the world’s biggest selling authors, James Patterson, a remarkable advocate for reading who has donated millions to reading initiatives in schools, colleges and libraries."

Serving up its usual helping of heated debate, panels will look at Irish fiction exploring borders and Brexit, the rise of Antipodean Noir, the on-going controversy of the role of gratuitous violence, and how crime fiction can put the spotlight on the big social issues of the day.

Up to 90 authors from around the world will take part. The diverse roll call includes

Australia’s hottest author Jane Harper, Jackson Lamb creator Mick Herron, Scotland’s supernova Denise Mina, and Alex North, the pseudonym behind The Whisper Man pitched as 2019’s biggest thriller.

The line-up includes Renee Knight, Stuart Neville, Stella Duffy, Brian McGilloway, Steve Cavanagh, Mark Billingham, Chris Brookmyre, AA Dhand, Joseph Knox, Robert Crais, Elly Griffiths, Sarah Hilary, Imran Mahmood, Martyn Waites and Jonathan Freedland aka Sam Bourne.

Val McDermid’s annual New Blood panel, one of the most anticipated events in publishing, features four hand-picked debuts from the Queen of Crime. 2019 picks are Gytha Lodge’s She Lies in Wait, Holly Watt’s with To the Lions, Chris Hammer’s Scrublands, and Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister the Serial Killer.

The opening night features the crime writing equivalent of The Oscars, with the 15th Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. Hosted by Mark Lawson, the Award is in association with sponsor T&R Theakston Ltd, retail partner WHSmith, and media partner, the Mail on Sunday. The ceremony will also honour a giant of the genre with the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award - previous recipients include PD James, Ruth Rendell, Lee Child and John Grisham.

The day-long writing workshop, Creative Thursday also returns. The festival, delivered by the north’s leading arts organisation Harrogate International Festivals, is one of the most important events in the crime publishing calendar. Agents, publishers, publicists, readers and authors attend from all over Europe and the world.

Famed for its no barriers approach, crime fiction fans, fledgling writers and established superstar authors mingle in the hotel bar, bookshop and Papakåta tents in the hotel grounds.  Tickets for all events go on sale 9 April.

The 2019 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival takes place at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate 18-21 July. Box office: 01423 562 303, harrogateinternationalfestivals.com

Books to Look Forward to From Transworld Publishers

January 2019

A dark and labyrinthine thriller from a bold new voice in crime fiction It is 1981. London is bruised by austerity, social unrest and racial tension, and the police are at war. Anger has erupted in the Brixton Riots and is finding expression in protest, anarchy and punk. For Detective Inspector Hobbes, the battle lines are being redrawn within his own ranks as right and wrong are clouded by prejudice. Into this mess comes a murder. A promising young singer has been maimed and killed and the artistry of the crime is disturbing. On the hunt for the killer, Hobbes begins an investigation that will lead him deep into a subculture hidden beneath the everyday. A cult of personality that hides from the problems of the city and escapes to a world of its own, a world that is at once seductive and devastating. How far will Hobbes have to go to learn the truth? And how many more must die before he does?  Slow Motion Ghosts is by Jeff Noon.

Suspect is by Fiona Barton.  The police belonged to another world - the world they saw on the television or in the papers. Not theirs.' When two eighteen-year-old girls go missing on their gap year in Thailand, their families are thrust into the international spotlight: desperate, bereft and frantic with worry. Journalist Kate Waters always does everything she can to be first to the story, first with the exclusive, first to discover the truth - and this time is no exception. But she can't help but think of her own son, who she hasn't seen in two years, since he left home to go travelling. This time it's personal. And as the case of the missing girls unfolds, they will all find that even this far away, danger can lie closer to home than you might think . . .

February 2019

 Look around you. Who holds the most power in the room? Is it the one who speaks loudest, who looks the part, who has the most money, who commands the most respect? Or perhaps it's someone like Christine Butcher: a meek, overlooked figure, who silently bears witness as information is shared and secrets are whispered. Someone who quietly, perhaps even unwittingly, gathers together knowledge of the people she's there to serve - the ones who don't notice her, the ones who consider themselves to be important. There's a fine line between loyalty and obsession. And when someone like Christine Butcher is pushed to her limit, she might just become the most dangerous person in the room.  The Secretary is by Renée Knight.

March 2019

One False Move is by Robert Goddard.  What value can be put on a human mind? How Joe Roberts does what he does is a mystery. He has a brain that seems able to outperform a computer. To a games company like Venstrom that promises big profits if his abilities can be properly exploited. So they send Nicole Nevinson to track him down and make him an offer too good to refuse. But Venstrom aren't the only people interested in Joe. His current boss, a shady businessman, is already making serious money out of Joe's talents and isn' going to let him go without a fight. And then there are other forces, with still darker intentions, who have their own plans for him. Almost before she knows it, Nicole's crossed an invisible line into a world where the game being played has rules she doesn't understand and where no-one can help her win. But win she must. Because the battle now isn't just for Joe's mind, it's for Nicole's life.

In Which Mr May Makes A Mistake And Mr Bryant Goes Into The Dark On a rainy winter night outside a run-down nightclub in the wrong part of London, four strangers meet for the first time at 4:00am. A few weeks later the body of an Indian textile worker is found hanging upside down inside a willow tree on Hamstead Heath. The Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in to investigate. The victim was found surrounded by the paraphernalia of black magic, and so Arthur Bryant and John May set off to question experts in the field. But the case is not what it appears. When another victim seemingly commits suicide, it becomes clear that in the London night is a killer who knows what people fear most. And he always strikes at 4:00am. In order to catch him, the PCU must switch to night shifts, but still the team draws a blank. John May takes a technological approach, Arthur Bryant goes in search of academics and misfits for help, for this is becoming a case that reveals impossibilities at every turn, not least that there's no indication of what the victims might have done to attract the attentions of a murderer that doesn't seem to exist. But impossibilities are what the Peculiar Crimes Unit does best. As they explore a night city where all the normal rules are upended, they're drawn deeper into a case that involves murder, arson, kidnap, blackmail, bats and the psychological effects of loneliness on Londoners. It's a trail that takes them from the poorest part of the East End to the wealthiest homes in North London - an investigation that can only end in tragedy...  The Lonely Hour is by Christopher Fowler.

The Boy in the Headlights is by Samuel Bjork.  Munch and Krüger. An unexpected pairing. A brilliant team.  Winter 1999. An old man is driving home when his headlights catch an animal on the empty road up ahead. He stamps hard on the brakes.  But it is not an animal at all. It is a young boy, frightened and alone, with a set of deer antlers strapped firmly to his head.  Fourteen years later, a body is found in a mountain lake. Within weeks, three people have died. Each time, the killer has left a clue, inviting Special Investigations Detectives Munch and Krüger to play a deadly game – a game they cannot possibly win. Against the most dangerous and terrifying kind of serial killer. One who chooses their victims completely at random.  To find the killer they must look deep within their own dark pasts, but how can you stop a murderer when you cannot begin to predict their next move?

April 2019

Too Close is by Natalie Daniels.  How close is too close? There's a moment, when you meet someone new, when the connection is so strong that making a friend can feel like falling in love. That's how it was for Connie and Ness. They met in the park while their children played and as they talked, they realised they were neighbours. Perhaps it was only natural that they and their families would become entirely inseparable. But when Ness's marriage ends in a bitter divorce, she is suddenly at Connie's house all the time. Connie doesn't have a moment to herself, no time alone with her husband, not a second to chat to her kids. It's all too much. Something has to give. Connie has woken up in a psychiatric hospital. They say she committed a terrible crime but she says she can't remember a thing.

May 2019

Four strangers are missing. Left at their last-known locations are birthday cards that read: YOUR GIFT IS THE GAME. DARE TO PLAY? The police aren't worried - it's just a game. But the families are frantic, and psychologist and private detective Dr Augusta Bloom is persuaded to investigate. As she delves into the lives of the missing people, she finds something that binds them all. And that something makes them very dangerous indeed. As more disappearances are reported and new birthday cards uncovered, Dr Bloom races to unravel the mystery and find the puppeteer. But is she playing into their hands?  Mind Games is by Leona Deakin.

Even the best intelligence play has consequences – good and bad.  When a young woman working undercover for S15 as the nanny for an oligarch’s family is found brutally murdered, Kate Henderson, head of the Russian desk, knows that something is very wrong.  What’s more the intel that she has helped uncover seems to be pointing towards the existence of a high level Russian mole in the British Government.  Particularly when that mole might be in line to be the next Prime Minister.  Secret Service is by Tom Bradby.

June 2019

'I thought she was our friend. I thought she was trying to help us.' After the sudden death of her husband, Tess Clarke is drowning in grief. All she has left is her son, Jamie, and she'll do anything to protect him - but she's struggling to cope. When grief counsellor Shelley knocks 

on their door, everything changes. Shelley is beautiful, confident and takes control when Tess can't bear to face the outside world. But when questions arise over her husband's death and strange things start to happen, Tess begins to suspect that Shelley may have an ulterior motive. Tess knows she must do everything she can to keep Jamie safe - but who can she trust?  The Perfect Betrayal is by Lauren North.

The Warehouse is a near-future thriller set in an America addicted to consumerism where gun violence, climate change and unemployment have ravaged the nation, and an online retail giant named Cloud reigns supreme. Cloud brands itself not just as an online storefront but a sort of global saviour. However beneath that sunny exterior is a grinding, soul-sucking machine which will stop at nothing to make a buck. The Warehouse is by Rob Hart.

The Second Wife is by Rebecca Fleet.  After the suicide of his first wife, Alex has been given a second lease of life with Natalie.  Newly married and living in Brighton with his thirteen year old daughter Jade, the couple seem to be made for one another – but their idyllic domestic calm is shattered when the family narrowly escapes a devastating fire in their home,  Alex soon discovers that Natalie and Jade have different accounts of what happened that terrible night – but which one of his family is lying and why?