St Hilda’s Crime Fest 2020

Had an amazing time taking part in the all new online St Hilda’s Crime Fest last weekend .

This was a new format to accommodate the Covid-19 situation and it worked so brilliantly.

We were celebrating all things historical crime fiction, kicking off on Friday evening with a presentation by Andrew Taylor, followed by live chat between him and Val McDermid.

After that there was a video of the Whodunnit to watch and tangle over, prior to the winner being announced on the Saturday. Also a wonderful talk by Andrew Wilson to celebrate all things Agatha Christie.

Then on the Saturday a whole stream of fabulous talks and presentations by authors including Sara Sheridan, Abir Mukherjee, Vaseem Khan, Jill Dawson, Tom Wood, Laura Shepherd Robinson, Anna Mazzola, Elly Griffiths and William Shaw.

I was first up on the Saturday morning talking about time and historical crime fiction, featuring Daphne du Maurier’s The House on the Strand and Barbara Vine’s A Dark Adapted Eye.

Other topics throughout the day included Christie’s 50s, India’s first female detective, Patricia Highsmith and isolation, Shardlake and Dr Who, An Instance of the Fingerpost, justice and revenge, the theatrics of historical crime… A wonderful mix enlivened by the live chat from an audience stretching across the world.

All the talks and events are still available to listen in to, until 15 September, at the discount price of £20 here.

Enjoy!