The End of an Era

My spell as Chair of the Crime Writers' Association was one I found fascinating and enjoyable, though inevitably it did take up a lot of time. But it gave me deeper insight into the workings of the crime writing world and also the issues facing crime writers at a time of much change in the publishing industry. I've been a member of the CWA for more than 30 years, and I've gained a great deal from my membership. So trying to build on the work of my predecessors also afforded an opportunity to give something back. As well as the chance of consuming the occasional CWA cupcake...

I'm not a natural "committee" person, and I've always been aware that committees are not always effective; in my working life I've also come across many disputes in voluntary and not-for-profit bodies. However, I did find that my apprenticeship as a member of the CWA committee, or board of directors, to be more accurate, under the chairmanship of Peter James, Alison Joseph, and Len Tyler, was very helpful in enabling me to get a clearer understanding of the way the organisation works, and of its potential.

My over-riding aim was to build on the fact that the membership of the CWA has been growing impressively for a number of years, and help to refashion the infrastructure of the organisation. A lot of this sort of thing is unglamorous - sorting out the finances, updating the legal constitution, managing the paid agencies who carry out various projects- but essential. My message to members was that we had to be business-like, because that was the only way to ensure that a large and growing organisation could serve its members effectively. Avoiding increases in member subscriptions while developing an ever wider range of member benefits seemed to me to be crucial. And also, one has to get across the message about those benefits, and to communicate effectively with people who read, or might want to read, members' books.


So rather than having numerous lengthy board meetings (my experience of partners' meetings in a law firm has irrevocably turned me off the idea of long meetings and endless going round in circles) I tried to develop a way of working in which a wide and expanding range of individuals undertook specific projects, with sound admin and financial management in the background. So the CWA now has, among other things, three Libraries Champions, two Festival Liaison Officers, a Booksellers' Champion, a Publishers' Liaison Officer, and a number of other people doing invaluable work of various kinds - I'm especially proud of the work we've started on supporting writers who face mental health challenges.

The Board members, and the admirable Secretary Dea Parkin, proved wonderfully supportive, and the way they dealt with the occasional tricky issue which arose was a model of sensible and constructive conduct. I was also delighted by the way the membership as a whole reacted, understanding the need to make changes while retaining the ethos that has made the CWA so cohesive over the past 65 years.

Of course, there are some things which I'd like to have done which I never quite managed, not least visiting each of the regional CWA chapters (though I did get to several of them), but I'm delighted that my elected successor is Linda Stratmann, someone who will bring her own ideas and energy to benefit an organisation which does seem to me to be going from strength to strength. I've handed over to her, as is the custom, the Creasey Bell (see top photo) which has resided in my house since early 2017, and I wish her all the very best.

As it turns out, I'm the only person who has served as CWA Chair and Detection Club President at the same time, and I also became the longest-serving Chair of the CWA since our founder, John Creasey, back in the 1950s. So it's definitely time to step aside and get some more writing done. But I'm going to continue to be involved with the CWA, not least as anthologist and archivist. And I'm very glad to belong to such a thriving and forward-looking organisation.

The Crime Writers' Association

The Crime Writers' Association has a new Chair. I can tell you this authoritatively, because it happens to be me. Len Tyler, who has piloted the CWA with aplomb for more than eighteen months, has stepped down early, because of the scale of the workload of the Chair's role. So I've taken his place. And the first thing I'd like to say is what a pleasure it's been working alongside Len as his Vice Chair. I wish him all the best with his writing projects, and very much hope he'll become involved again with the CWA at a future date once he's met a few killer deadlines.

As it happens, this year sees the thirtieth anniversary of my joining the CWA (I was only a lad at the time, you understand....) Shortly after I joined I was contacted by Peter N. Walker, and invited to the inaugural meeting of the CWA's northern chapter. That was a great occasion, if thinly attended. Reginald Hill, who was there with his wife Pat, dubbed us "the Few". That day I met Peter for the first time - long before he became famous as the guy who created Heartbeat. As well as Reg, I met another future CWA Diamond Dagger winner, Bob Barnard, and his wife Louise. Plus Peter Lewis, biographer of Eric Ambler, and his wife Margaret Lewis, biographer of Ngaio Marsh. What I remember vividly is how kind they were to a young chap from Cheshire they knew nothing about. We all became friends, and my admiration for them all will never falter. That experience also makes me feel strongly that looking after newcomers to membership is so important, just as is making sure that long-standing members continue to feel valued.

Before long I started going to CWA annual conferences, where I met many delightful people. Some are still around, some are not. All of them, pretty much without exception, were great fun to be with. Youngish writers by the name of Val McDermid, Ann Cleeves, and Margaret Murphy among others joined the northern chapter and I enjoyed their company as well as their books. Margaret formed Murder Squad in 2000, and this collective of writers is still going strong.

I am not by nature a very sociable person. Like many writers, I'm content with my own company and I often prefer it to the alternative. But I've found the company of my fellow crime writers truly life-enhancing over the years. The CWA is a terrific organisation and it's very significant that it has grown to a point where it's now bigger than at any time in its history of over sixty years. Its Daggers (their trademarked logo heads this post) are world famous. This is quite something in an era where membership organisations generally tend to be in substantial decline.

Of course, I am proud to have been picked to lead the CWA. And I'm startled to find that I'm the only person to have been both Chair of the CWA and President of the Detection Club at the same time. Inevitably I'll make a few mistakes as I try to move things forward, but I plan to do my best to make sure both organisations look after their members, and continue to play a significant part in the crime writing world, here in the UK and further afield.

Bargain Corner!

I've been lucky enough to be "featured author" on the Crime Readers' Association site this past month. The CRA is an initiative of the CWA,which is expanding its activities in a variety of ways that will, I am sure, be of benefit to crime fans, whatever their particular tastes in the genre.

To celebrate, my UK publishers Allison & Busby are giving away five copies of The Coffin Trail, the first of the Lake District Mysteries to UK based readers. The details are here. And for those who develop a taste for the Lakes books as a result, The Frozen Shroud is still available in the Amazon Summer Sale at just 99p for the Kindle version.

Guilty Parties

I'm pleased to announce the publication this month by Severn House of the latest anthology of the Crime Writers' Association, Guilty Parties. I've been editing the CWA anthology since the mid-Nineties, and it's always a joy to receive so many original stories. The only downside is that not all of the stories I enjoy can be included, for reasons of space, and that was especially the case this year, when I was flooded with submissions that were very varied and entertaining.

The book contains an intro from me, a short foreword by Alison Joseph, chair of the CWA, and author bios, but the meat, of course, is in the stories themselves. Because several entries were very short, I did manage to find space for more stories than usual - 24 in all. And they are all brand new. My own entry, "A Glimpse of Hell", was inspired by the wonderful time I had last year on the small island of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean. Definitely one of the bonuses from my travels in recent years.

There are some very distinguished names on the contributor list. They include Peter Lovesey, doyen of classic detection, and also his son Phil, who is himself a splendid writer and past winner of the CWA Short Story Dagger. Laura Wilson, Aline Templeton and N.J. Cooper are there, and so too John Harvey -  creator of Charlie Resnick- Christopher Fowler, and Paul Johnston. There are also writers from overseas, including Ragnar Jonasson.

Among the other contributors are Chrissie Poulson (whose thoughtful blog is always worth reading), Frances Brody, Kate Rhodes and Chris Simms. Different readers will have different preferences among the stories, and regular readers of CWA anthologies will note that a number of the contributors, including some relative newcomers to the genre, have never before featured in the anthology. In choosing stories, my criteria include variety, which I do think is an important aspect of a book like this. As far as I'm concerned, it's both a pleasure and a privilege to have had the chance to put Guilty Parties together.

The Crime Writers' Association - Diamond Jubilee

I've been a member of the Crime Writers' Association since the late 80s, and over the years my involvement with the CWA, initially through the Northern Chapter founded by Peter N. Walker, has introduced me to a great many people whom I would probably never otherwise have met. It's a great social organisation - even for those, like me, who don't regard themselves as naturally very gregarious. And the CWA also takes increasingly active steps to help members to promote their work, which is a tremendous benefit at a time when it is not only hard to get published, but a challenge to remain published.

This year sees the CWA celebrate its Diamond Jubilee - on Guy Fawkes Night to be precise. This special anniversary has seen a number of notable events, including a glittering Awards Dinner, and the publication of Deadly Pleasures, which includes stories by a number of the great and the good of crime writing (along with me - editor's perk!)

I joined the CWA committee towards the end of last year, something that pressure of the day job had never previously allowed, and I do feel that under Alison Joseph's chairmanship the organisation is going from strength to strength, despite the challenges faced by publishers and authors the world over. Membership has increased very significantly, and as a result the CWA needs to operate in a very businesslike way. The role of its hard-working director, Lucy Santos, is extremely important in this respect and in a relatively short time Lucy has made a great impression.

Like any organisation, the CWA needs to look to the future, whilst at the same time remaining true to its core values and not forgetting or under-estimating the importance of its roots. I've had on my website for quite some time a modest page about the CWA, and to mark the Diamond Jubilee, I've just written an article about the origins of the CWA. As CWA archivist, I'll also be making an announcement shortly about our plans for the Archives. There's plenty of work to be done, but also a great many good things to look forward to.

The Mousetrap

Call myself an Agatha Christie fan? It's a dreadful confession, but until a short time ago, I'd never even got around to watching The Mousetrap. Yes, the longest-running play of all time, by a country mile, and I'd not seen it. Thanks to an initiative of the Crime Writers' Association, and in particular of its new chair, Alison Joseph, I've finally remedied this shocking omission.

The Mousetrap is, of course, a classic Golden Age whodunit. It began life as a radio play, Three Blind Mice, but Christie, who was very keen on the theatre, adapted it for the stage. She had a mixed record as a playwright. Some of her stage plays were not particularly successful - I recall being a bit disappointed by Fiddlers Five, when I saw it on its early run in Manchester, as a birthday treat in my teens. In fact, Christie obviously realised that something was amiss, since a revised version appeared before long, called Fiddlers Three! As far as I know, it has never been published, so I have not had a chance to check on my original judgment..

Things were very different when it comes to The Mousetrap, which is now in its sixtieth year. It's become a real British institution, a must-see for tourists as well as fans of detective stories. I really did enjoy the play. It is good, unpretentious light entertainment, and the cast did a very good job with the material. Yes, it's a period piece, but that accounts for a great deal of its charm.

Alison Joseph had arranged with the management of St Martin's Theatre, a small but appealing theatre with lots of "Mousetrap memorabilia" on show in the bar, that we would have a backstage tour after the play. This was great fun. So now I know how the effects of the wind, and of the falling snow,are produced. As with the solution to the central mystery in the play, however, my lips must remain sealed...

Windermere and Wray

The Crime Writers' Association held its annual conference for members at the Belsfield Hotel, overlooking Windermere, last week-end. Brilliantly organised by Diane Janes, it ranks as one of the best I've ever attended, and I've been to most of the CWA conferences that have been held in the past twenty-five years. There was a definite feelgood factor about the whole experience. The conference is open to members and their guests, rather than the general reading public, as with Crimefest. If you are eligible to join the CWA, whether or not based in Britain, and whether as a writer or associate member, then I do hope you'll consider it. Apart from the conference, the CWA offers many benefits, and that helps to explain why membership numbers are rising sharply - something that is, I think, very good news.

We began on Friday afternoon with a boat trip on the lake, which was great fun. Three speakers were lined up for Saturday morning, and in fact I was the first of them, with a talk on Golden Age detective fiction. I wasn't quite sure how a group of 21st century writers would react to this particular subject, but the feedback was very positive - a big relief, to put it mildly. It is much harder in my experience to give a talk to friends and colleagues rather than a group of strangers, because you really don't want to feel you have disappointed people you know and like. Sometimes this kind of anxiety, needless or otherwise, can mean that the talk goes less well as a result. But anyway, I was glad to hand over to those who came after me, and over the week-end as a whole we had some stand-out talks, including two by former senior police officers.

There were various organised events scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but I was keen to do some research of locations for my next Lakes book, and fulfilled a long-held ambition by visiting Wray Castle, a 19th century Gothic folly which has long been owned by the National Trust, but only recently opened to the general public. The setting is fantastic, overlooking Windermere, and since the weather was excellent there was a chance to walk around Wray Bay, a peaceful and lovely part of the area that I'd never encountered before.

The Saturday evening banquet was as enjoyable as it always is, and I was on a table with Peter James and Felix Francis, two best-sellers - but, and this is the great thing about the CWA in my experience, there is no differentiation between best-sellers, mid-listers, and those who are not currently published. The companionship that you always find at CWA events - again, I'm speaking personally, but I know many others agree - is the great strength of the organisation. I'm on the committee now, and the new chair is Alison Joseph. Under her leadership, I'm confident that, even in testing times for authors, the CWA will continue to flourish.

CWA Daggers

This time last year I was eagerly looking forward to the CWA Daggers dinner, which turned out to be the highlight of my career as a writer to date. A year on, the latest award ceremony is imminet, and Meg Gardiner has emailed to say that a few tickets are still available - if you get your skates on. Here are the details:


The Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards
Wednesday 15th July 2009
Tiger Tiger, Haymarket, London


Presenting:
The Debut Dagger
The Short Story Dagger
The International Dagger
The Dagger in the Library


And the shortlists for:
The John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger
The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger
The Gold Dagger


6.30 pm Pimms reception
7 pm awards
Drinks and canapes to follow


Tickets are £45 each.


Each ticket holder is entitled to half-price dining at Tiger Tiger on July 15th.


If you're interested, tickets can be ordered by sending a cheque and SAE to:


The CWA
PO Box 273
Borehamwood
Herts
WD6 2XA

Margaret Murphy

Immediately before our prison visit and reception, which I described yesterday, Margaret Murphy was voted in by the members of the Crime Writers’ Association as the CWA chair for the next twelve months. Margaret and her husband Murf weren’t able to attend the whole conference, because of other commitments, but it was great to catch up with them at Lincoln Castle.

The CWA couldn’t have made a better choice than Margaret. She is a very good writer, and (unlike many writers, including me) she is conspicuously, and consistently, efficient. I’ve known her for around 15 years – we first met through the CWA’s northern chapter meetings – and, helped by the fact that her home in Heswall is not too far away from my patch, I’ve had the good fortune to spend a lot of time with her in the intervening years. For a long time, Murf, Margaret and I regularly attended dinners together organised by another crime writing mate, Jim Parkinson, and these were always very enjoyable occasions.

Margaret founded Murder Squad, a ‘virtual collective’ of Northern crime writers, back in 2000, and she invited me to join, along with Ann Cleeves, Cath Staincliffe, John Baker, Chaz Brenchley and Stuart Pawson. The Squad experience has been great for all of us, and we’re meeting up again shortly, after too long a gap. Without Margaret, it would never have existed.

In these difficult economic times, an organisation like the CWA, as well as its members, is bound to come under financial pressure. But I’m sure Margaret will take it in the right direction. I only hope it doesn’t get in the way of the production of more of those splendid novels of hers.

Bookshops

The CWA annual conference in Lincoln was pretty hectic, with plenty of fascinating talks and activities. I was rather startled to realise that it is 21 years since I first attended a CWA conference, at Scarborough way back in 1988. And I’ve been to most, though not all, of those that have been held since. They are always great fun.

The emphasis of the week-end is social – members’ families are welcome, but it’s not primarily an event for readers (Crimefest, Harrogate and St Hilda’s are all on my schedule for the next few months, though) and there is an educative aspect to many of the talks, which are often given by senior police officers or other experts on the technicalities of crime.

But one marketing event that was included was a book-signing session at the Lincoln branch of Waterstone’s, which I squeezed in between lunch and a tour of some of the excellent second hand bookshops in the city.

And yes, I was very restrained, confining myself to one crime novel purchase – a first edition of Scandal at High Chimneys, a historical crime novel by John Dickson Carr, the king of the impossible crime.

Ghost Walk

I’ve returned from a hugely enjoyable weekend at the Crime Writers’ Association annual conference in Lincoln. This was organised by Roger Forsdyke, a very experienced police officer and long-standing member of the CWA, with help from his wife Penny and various colleagues in the CWA. Roger did a great job, and there were numerous highlights.

The first came on Friday evening, with a ghost walk around the city’s historic castle and cathedral area, only a stone’s throw from the hotel where we were staying. Here are some photographs from the evening – the weather was much sunnier than one normally associates with a ghost walk, but appearances deceive, as it was rather cold. But in the low evening sun, Lincoln looked lovely. Not a city I know too well, but it's very appealing.

In the photo featuring the cannon, incidentally, you may recognise a number of very talented writers – Robert Richardson, Keith Miles, Judith Cutler, Rebecca Tope, Peter Lovesey and Kate Ellis.

Midnight Fugue and Reginald Hill

This week I had two associated treats. The first was the arrival of an advance copy of the latest Dalziel and Pascoe novel, by Reginald Hill. It is called Midnight Fugue – good title, I think. Publication is scheduled for 1 June.

The second was a conversation with Reg himself. I haven’t seen him for a couple of years and it was good to have the chance to catch up over a drink. Twenty years ago, he was one of the first members of the Crime Writers’ Association I met when I joined the newly formed Northern Chapter. It was a very exciting experience for me, as a lifelong crime fan – not least because at the time I was reading his latest book. Reg and his wife Pat, and I and my wife-to-be Helena attended the inaugural meeting at Boroughbridge – Reg christened us ‘The Few’, but the Chapter has gone from strength to strength over the years and Reg and Pat have become good friends.

He has given me a great deal of encouragement in my writing career, and was continuing to do so the other night. A few years ago, I published a collection of short stories, and Reg contributed a very generous introduction.

For my part, I’ve long been an admirer of Reg’s writing – especially the Dalziel and Pascoe books, of course, but also many others. In fact, he’s had a remarkably varied, as well as prolific, writing career. His thriller The Only Game, for instance, originally written as by Patrick Ruell, is quite splendid. Of the many highlights in the Dalziel series, I’m tempted to pick Dialogues of the Dead as my absolute favourite. I’m looking forward to Midnight Fugue, and so will the rest of his fans.