Crime Fiction Festival 2024

Denise Mina. Photo © Ollie Grove. Courtesy of CrimeFest.

The UK’s biggest crime fiction convention returns for the 16th year in 2024, with Laura Lippman and Denise Mina as its Featured Guests.

CrimeFest sponsored by Specsavers, is hosted from 9 to 12 May 2024 at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel. Up to 150 authors will descend on Bristol appearing in over 50 panels. CrimeFest attracts regular delegates from as far as Australia, the Far East, Canada, the United States and mainland Europe.

Scottish novelist Denise Mina is a seminal and multi-award-winning author, known for her DI Alex Morrow books, as well as adapting Steig Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy as graphic novels. She is also the first woman asked to write a new novel featuring Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlow; the paperback of The Second Murderer is out April ‘24.

Laura Lippman. Photo © Leslie Unruh.

The acclaimed American author Laura Lippman and former reporter on The Baltimore Sun is best known for her novels set in Baltimore featuring reporter turned investigator, Tess Monaghan. Her novel, Every Secret Thing, was adapted into a 2014 film, starring Diane Lane, and Lady in the Lake was adapted into a series for Apple TV.

As a convention, CrimeFest is open to all published authors and known for its inclusive approach. The event is run by Adrian Muller, co-host Donna Moore, and a small team of committed volunteers. The convention began in 2008 and features the annual CrimeFest Awards.

The Welsh-Canadian mystery writer Cathy Ace will be the Gala Dinner’s 'Leader of Toasts', toasting the authors nominated for the 2024 CrimeFest awards. Cathy's Cait Morgan Mysteries have been optioned for TV by the production company, Free@Last TV, which is behind the hit series, Agatha Raisin.

Cathy Ace. Photo Courtesy of CrimeFest.

The convention will also feature a homage to PD James, known as the Queen of Crime Fiction, with the award-winning crime writer and lawyer, Frances Fyfield, the Sunday Times chief fiction critic, Peter Kemp, and the author, playwright, and producer, Simon Brett.

Other authors confirmed include chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, Vaseem Khan, the author of two award-winning crime series set in India, and the award-winning Janice Hallett, best known for her phenomenally successful debut thriller, The Appeal.

Some of the genre’s most established names descend, including the author, critic, and historian Martin Edwards.

CrimeFest welcomes the Times bestselling author of the Wyndham and Banerjee series of crime novels set in Raj-era India, Abir Mukherjee, and Ajay Chowdhury, whose first novel in the acclaimed series featuring Detective Kamil Rahman, The Waiter, is being adapted for television. His latest book, The Detective, is out in January 2024.

Dubbed the ‘modern rival to Agatha Christie,’ author of Murder Most Festive, Ada Moncrieff, also appears.

CrimeFest is also known as a platform for new talent. It welcomes the Australian author, Brooke Robinson, who has had numerous plays produced in Australia, as well as at London’s Old Vic theatre. She heads to CrimeFest with her debut novel, The Interpreter, also out in January. The CrimeFest co-host, the author Donna Moore, will also moderate a panel showcasing debut authors.

Specsavers is the long-running sponsor of the convention. Dame Mary Perkins, who founded the national and international chain of opticians in Bristol, said: “I am an avid reader and fan of the genre, and I always look forward to CrimeFest, which is so friendly it feels like all who go are welcomed as part of a big family, connected by a love of books and reading. We are proud sponsors of the convention.”

The convention also continues its Community Outreach Programme. In partnership with the independent Max Minerva’s Bookshop and participating publishers, CrimeFest gifts thousands of pounds of crime fiction books for children and young adults to school libraries.

Also, with thanks to Specsavers, librarians, students, and those on benefits are offered significantly discounted tickets.

For further details and to book tickets: https://www.crimefest.com