#OnTheSofa With Victoria returned in March – Season 6 opened with an episode featuring two top booksellers; Alex Forbes of FourBears Books in Caversham and Richard Naiff of Waterstones, Brighton. They join Victoria to discuss what’s hot and what’s not in crime fiction. Listen in and find out what’s popular with the book buying public, do your tastes concur? Allegiances are definitely changing and new sub-genres growing but one particular author’s back catalogue never stops selling, can you guess who? Victoria Selman chats to bestselling and up-and-coming authors for this new season. Just avail ..read more

Don Winslow, James Grady, Laura Lippmann, Femi Kayode, Nicola Upson, Walter Mosley, Kia Abdullah – For me the CTFM podcast is a great chance to ask authors about their novels. I get it – that’s obvious, but breaking it down a bit, when I read a book, when I’m fully engaged, the questions seem to spring from the page. Sometimes about plot and style but more often character, landscape and the social context; the history and the political and cultural setting. It’s always a thrill when an author shares something new and I’m grateful for the patience and openness of my guests. You’ll have heard it ..read more

Harrogate International Festivals has announced the Special Guests for the 2024 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival 18 – 21 July 2024, the world’s largest and most prestigious celebration of crime fiction. Curated by bestselling crime writer and 2024 Festival Programming Chair Ruth Ware, with the programming committee, the Special Guests on this year’s programme include global bestsellers and fan favourites Chris Carter, Jane Casey, Elly Griffiths, Erin Kelly, Vaseem Khan, Dorothy Koomson, Shari Lapena, Abir Mukherjee, Liz Nugent and Richard Osman. Returning to Harrogate for its 21st ..read more

2023 was a cracking year for Crime Time FM so the pressure is on to ensure this new year is at least as exciting for listeners. Challenge accepted – from innovative coverage of festivals, events and awards to interviews with top crime writers and star studded panels we aim to please and we’ll have a few surprises along the way too. Victoria Selman is busy matching panellists for shows and figuring out the schedule for Season 6 of #OnTheSofaWithVictoria which kicks off in March. I’m sworn to secrecy but we are talking big names and lively topics and a few new and upcoming authors too. Recording ..read more

The wine flowed freely, but it wasn’t necessary to make the Century Crime Drinks in Covent Garden last night as lively as it was – the stellar authors (not to mention Century staffers) made sure it was a great evening. Along with such fellow crime critics as Jake Kerridge, Jon Coates & Ayo Onatade, got to chat to the talent: l to R, back: Lisa Jewell, Ava Glass, Gilly Macmillan, Heidi Perks, Lily Samson, Jess Ryder, Rob Rinder; front L to R: Ruth Mancini, Andew Hunter Murray, Tom Hindle. Tony Parsons (about whom I once wrote a full page piece in The Times!) had left early ..read more

Independent publisher VERVE Books will continue to publish a range of intriguing original fiction in 2024. Jane Jesmond – author of the  Jen Shaw thriller series – has a third novel coming in the series called Gone to Earth. Cut Adrift, the most recent instalment, was selected as both a Sunday Times Best Crime Book of the Year and a Times Thriller of the Month. VERVE will also publish Remain Silent – the third novel in author, lawyer and activist Robyn Gigl’s legal thriller series. Gigl’s second novel Survivor’s Guilt was heralded as one o ..read more

One of the thrills of running Crime Time FM this year has been partnering with some of Britain’s best crime writing festivals as the official podcast. The Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival in March was first to ally with us and it went spectacularly well. I brought you coverage of the panels, authors and guests and a memorable behind the scenes trip to the National Library of Wales made it a perfect visit to the seaside. This inaugural in person international crime writing festival in Aberystwyth was distinctly Welsh and will become one of the favourites with crime fiction fans in the coming years. CT ..read more

As ever the Crime Time Debate the Best Crime Fiction of 2023 was one of the highlights of the podcasting year for us. It was our first time in front of an audience and eight top critics and writers offered up their favourites. You can read all about it in Barry Forshaw’s piece in this newsletter but now you can also listen to it on Crime Time FM (add link please). We all enjoyed taking part so much we were thinking of doing a themed summer show. Maybe we should have a play off at the end of that!   Crime Time FM is thrilled to announce that we are the official podcast for Newcastle Noir 2 ..read more

The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Daggers – the most prestigious awards for crime, mystery, and thriller writers – has announced two new award categories. Entries are open in early 2024 for the CWA Twisted Dagger and the CWA Whodunnit Dagger. The Twisted Dagger is aimed at psychological and suspense thrillers and the Whodunnit Dagger covers cosy crime, traditional mysteries, and Golden Age crime. The oldest membership organisation for crime writers in the UK, the CWA was founded 70 years ago in 1953. It began its awards in 1955, with Agatha Christie as the principal guest at its first award ..read more

The winner of the 2023 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year is FEMICIDE by Pascal Engman, translated from the Swedish by Michael Gallagher and published by Legend Press. Pascal Engman will receive a trophy, and both the author and translator will receive a cash prize. The judges’ statement on FEMICIDE: This year’s Petrona Award winner is a page-turning, absorbing and uncomfortable Swedish thriller. FEMICIDE tells of a young woman, Emilie, who is found murdered in her Stockholm apartment in the same week that her violent ex-boyfriend is released from prison. Detective ..read more