An Eventful Weekend

One of the pleasures of being a crime writer is being granted the opportunity to take part in events such as festivals - and therefore to meet readers, which is always a joy. One of the challenges is to figure out how much time one can devote to such events, in addition to writing. It's impossible to go everywhere and do everything. But when, last year, I was invited to take part in two crime festivals on the same weekend, they sounded so enticing that I really wanted to do both. And luckily I've managed to do just that. They were quite different, but had in common the fact that they were splendidly organised. And I've organised enough events myself to have some understanding of just how much work goes into delivering a successful festival, especially the first time around.

I've never been to Barnes (above photo) before, and the first Bloody Barnes crime festival sounded irresistibly tempting when Victoria Dowd told me about it. An added bonus was to be shortlisted for the Cob and Pen award, though other commitments meant I couldn't make the awards dinner, when the winner proved to be that splendid writer Mark Ellis. When I finally made it to Barnes the following evening, it was good to have the chance to congratulate him in person as well as attending a great conversation between Mark Billingham and Graham Bartlett. 

Anne Mullins, the highly efficient organiser of the festival, proved to be delightful in person and among other kindnesses she introduced me to the legendary Roger McGough, whom I last saw on a school trip to watch a play (was it Death of a Salesman?) at the Everyman in the theatre; I was a big fan of his in those far-off days and it was lovely to meet him in person. This was followed by an enjoyable chat in the bar between a group of us, and the only unfortunate thing was that on the way back I managed to trip up on a wet pavement; luckily the damage done looked worse than it felt, and Graham, to whom I was chatting when I slipped, ministered expertly!

My event, the following day, was a conversation with Antony Johnston hosted by Victoria. This was, predictably, great fun. Less predictable was the presence - among others - in the audience of Kathy, a fellow holidaymaker whom I last saw when we were on a yacht together in Croatia, Colin Edwards, who has given me some invaluable help on a couple of projects, Bernard O'Keeffe, with whom I was in touch by email recently, Nicholas Beale, with whom I had dinner at the Athenaeum a while back, and a nice lady who reminded me that she'd contacted me many years ago on the subject of careers in the law. Plus my agent, James Wills, whom it's always great to see, and the super-talented Vas Khan. Not to mention all the readers who came to say hello. This is what makes festivals such fun.

I'd hoped to stay for the whole of Saturday, but the accident had shaken me up a bit and that, plus news of big delays on the trains meant I left for home earlier than hoped, but at least I got a good night's rest before heading to Frodsham and the very first Cheshire Crime Festival, organised by James Caldwell from Curiosity Cat Bookshop, which is based in Frodsham. As someone who has lived in Cheshire for almost the whole of his life, this felt a bit like dream-come-true territory and it was plain from chatting to people who attended for the whole weekend that it was a huge success. Curious, too, was the fact that the last time I was at the venue, Forest Hills Hotel, was to have dinner there with my wife as a guest of the owner - many years ago - after I'd done some legal work for the hotel that had gone well. The setting is great, high on a hill where long ago there was an amusement park including a famous helter-skelter. 

James kindly interviewed me, and then followed a very interesting session with the most recent Gold Dagger winner, Anna Mazzola, and Jack Anderson. Jack is someone I hadn't met previously but he came across extremely well and I look forward to reading his book The Return of Moriarty.  

The Cheshire Crime Writing Festival will return next year on the weekend of 6-7 February 2027 and I hope and expect Bloody Barnes will also return, though whether it will be on the same weekend again, I don't know. Please do feel encouraged to give both these wonderful initiatives your support - believe me, you'll be glad you did.

By the end of Sunday, I was feeling re-energised as well as grateful to have had the chance to take part in both festivals. And special thanks to Anne Mullins and her team and James Caldwell and his. They all worked really hard and the result was that a lot of people had a very good time. Including me.  

 

Forgotten Book - The Late Bill Smith

The Late Bill Smith, first published in 1971, is not one of Andrew Garve's best-known books, but it's a typically entertaining novel of suspense, with just one slow patch, when the two main characters go on a cruise together in the middle of the book. But it's interesting to compare the description of cruising then with today's experiences. Certainly, apparently missing passengers are now treated rather more seriously than is the case in this novel.

The book begins in striking fashion. A man appears on Sue Hammond's balcony in Chelsea one warm September evening. He has a remarkable story to tell. His name is Bill Smith and he has been the subject of three failed attempts on his life. He has turned up on the balcony simply in an attempt to save himself and evade his pursuers. But he has no idea why they are pursuing him.

This is a great premise and I am pretty sure I understand the reason why Garve started the book in this way. It has the benefit that he can maintain some uncertainty in the reader's (and Sue's) mind as to whether Bill is lying and, if so, why. But there is a cost to this approach, and to be honest I'm not convinced that I would have made the same storytelling choices as Garve.

To explain why would be a spoiler, but I think it is fair to say that the pace slackens significantly after that great start and it doesn't fully recover. This is mainly because, from start to finish, we're told a lot of things instead of being shown them actually happening. I enjoyed the story, because Garve was such a wonderfully readable storyteller. In that he resembled his contemporary Michael Gilbert, although I'd say that Gilbert was a more polished writer. But there is a great idea at the heart of this novel, and although I think it could have been used even more effectively, The Late Bill Smith is still well worth reading.  

The Blog and the Newsletters - an announcement

I've managed to submit two books (one novel, one non-fiction) since Friday morning, so now I can turn my attention back to this blog - and related things. As recently as last June I was pleased to see that this blog had passed five million pageviews. Fast forward just over six months and the figure has reached seven and three quarters of a million. That's a huge increase, quite mind-blowing. As I said in June, there's no doubt that the number of visitors to this blog is on the rise; I know this is so, because of the number (plus the content) of genuine messages and emails I receive, which is now higher than ever. A leading crime writer who is a friend of mine and also very savvy about marketing has urged me to take advantage of this by taking paid adverts on the blog. It's sensible advice and tempting, but I've seen one or two good blogs disfigured by adverts and I don't want you to be put off by ads. (If you have any views for or against blog ads, do let me know). 

In any case, although I'm no tech expert, far from it, I'm also convinced that there is a lot of AI piracy going on, which partly explains this explosion in the pageview numbers. AI can bring the world great benefits, but there are also great dangers, not least to creative workers worldwide. So what can I do about it?

First things first. I love writing this blog and getting your feedback, which is never less than interesting. So it will continue, in roughly the same way as before. Last January I started a free monthly newsletter on the Substack platform, and this has gone well. So that too will continue. I very much hope that anyone who likes this blog will subscribe to it. Here's the link to paste into your browser: https://substack.com/@martinedwardsbooks

Substack seems to be a robust platform - it was originally recommended to me by my daughter Catherine, who is much more knowledgeable about these things than I am, and is full of good ideas - and so I think the time has come to move to the next stage. This is an additional, paid subscription newsletter. I've been encouraged in the past year by the number of people from around the world who pledged to subscribe if I started one, and also by the reaction in the last few days, since I announced in my newsletter that I was going to start a paid newsletter.

This approach will give me the chance to write about specific topics in more depth. In recent years, the print market for in-depth articles about crime fiction has diminished (CADS is much missed) and although I write occasionally for the national press, they don't take many in-depth articles. But I know from your messages that a great many of you love to find out more about writers and writing, not only ‘forgotten authors’ and their books, but contemporary talents, some of them emerging, some famous, as well.

A paid subscription needs to offer value, and I’m determined that The Life of Crime Premium will do just that. Paid subscribers will receive (among other good things):

·        12 newsletters a year with a wide range of exclusive content (e.g. breaking news, advance information, insights from editors, agents, and leading authors); these will be sent out monthly;

·        12 supplementary newsletters, mainly dealing with specific topics (e.g. exploring the work of forgotten authors and books in-depth, exclusive insights into my writing projects including the Crime Classics, and Q and As with leading writers that dig deeper than usual); these will be sent out at (approximately) monthly intervals during the course of the year.

·        Exclusive ‘Behind the scenes’ insights into the world of crime writing, the Detection Club, book collecting, and the publishing business

·        Exclusive images of rare books, letters, and manuscripts, many of which have never been published before

·        Occasional exclusive reduced price offers and discounts related to writing and books;

·        The opportunity to put specific questions to me about any aspect of crime writing

       One-to-one mentoring for aspiring writers.

Already I have amassed a lot of material that I'd like to share in this way, but I'd also welcome any thoughts you have, whether on the concept itself, or specifically what you feel would offer you great value in this context. 

Two final points: first, when will it start? Next week, I hope, as long as I master the technology involved...

Second, how much will it cost? In the newsletter, I proposed £6 per month and £60 for an annual subscription. Everyone who has commented so far thinks this is in the right ball-park for a professional writer, but I'm keen to get as full a picture of opinion as possible. I know that there are plenty of people, in these cash-tight times who simply can't afford payment, which is why I want to make it clear that I've no intention of putting this blog behind a paywall, even if it would take it out of reach of the AI bots. Equally, as a professional writer, you'll understand that I like to be paid for most of my work, and this plan seems to offer a chance to combine the free stuff with paid-for material in a reasonable way. 

So - I look forward to hearing from you! 

Forgotten Book - House Arrest

Abuse and exploitation of elderly people is a serious social problem that often goes under the radar. It's a big issue today, but it's not new, and over the years a number of crime writers have tackled it. Celia Dale's A Helping Hand, which appeared in 1966, is an excellent example. I wrote a short story on the subject myself - 'The Other Life'. And Martin Russell's 1988 novel House Arrest takes a similar theme and does something very different with it.

Maisie is a frail widow in her eighties who is easy prey so far as a trio of cowboy roofers are concerned. The smooth-talking Nigel ingratiates himself with her, while the menacing Dave and the sidekick Percy do the labouring. Maisie lives in a big house with extensive grounds, which she has kept after her husband's death so that her beloved Yorkshire terrier Ouncey can have the run of the place. But the bad guys are quick to spot her vulnerabilities and to exploit them.

Their campaign of financial and psychological terror is barely interrupted when Maisie's great-niece Anita comes to visit. But Anita gets a sense that something isn't quite right and, with the help of a neighbour, tries to do something about it.

House Arrest doesn't have the trademark Martin Russell twisty plot. It's a fairly straightforward suspense story, though as with all his books it's extremely readable. There's little doubt in my mind that he was trying to make an important social point about the way the police downplay concerns about the mistreatment of victims, especially older people, and he makes it quite well. However, I didn't find the villains particularly convincing. He could create strong characters, but here the most plausible character, and the most pitiable, is poor Maisie herself.

London Adventures

 

I'm now working busily on the final edit of the new Rachel Savernake after three separate short trips that have been hugely enjoyable. Among them was a lunch at the British Library, with the senior publishing team, to discuss a number of this year's projects. More about these soon in my newsletter. And then I wandered over to the BBC to record 'A Good Read', hosted by Harriett Gilbert (daughter of Michael). In this programme, Sir Tom Shakespeare and I discussed favourite books as well as one chosen by Harriett; it was a lot of fun and the photo shows the three of us in the studio. It was also good to have a drink with Harriett and Sally the producer in the BBC Club, chatting about aspects of crime fiction as well as some of Harriett's memories of her father. 

Another London trip enabled me to combine a very enjoyable Detection Club dinner with participation in the Lansdowne Literary Festival, splendidly organised once again by Veronica Hollander. The Club has a range of excellent facilities and I was able to present a tailor-made version of my 1920s murder mystery to be performed over dinner - one witness per course! The cast were great and the event was a sell-out.

 

Whilst in London I had the chance to catch up a couple of times with my daughter and also to explore St James Park, which is delightful, for the first time in many years. And I also wandered round the National Gallery a couple of times - there's so much to take in there, and the current exhibition, featuring Joseph Wright of Derby, is well worth a look. I had the chance to sign books in several shops and enjoyed the coincidence of seeing a great display, in Waterstones, Piccadilly, of Michael Gilbert's Sky High, the latest British Library Crime Classic.

A third trip took me to the home counties and a visit to Anthea Fraser, who, I'm happy to report is still in good form and still writing. I also had the chance to stay with Nigel Moss, a great connoisseur of Golden Age detective fiction, whose company I always relish. All this travelling has been a lot of fun, and although I now need to crack on with various writing projects quite urgently, the trips have energised and motivated me. A change is as good as a rest, they say...     

Forgotten Book - Dead Trouble

By the time he published Dead Trouble in 1971, D.M. Devine had transformed into Dominic Devine. Since his first name was David, I don't really understand this and I'd be interested to know what the thinking was. Maybe it was thought that, from a marketing perspective, initials were unappealing in the Seventies? But if so, why call himself Dominic? It's a puzzle, but frankly far less important than the mystery in the book - which, as usual with Devine, is very strong.

The opening scenes are set in Paris. A young man called Neville Richardson is looking to make the acquaintance of a particular girl; both of them are English. When someone else pesters the young woman, Neville seizes his chance. He befriends her, and although she is at first stand-offish, his easy charm steadily diminishes her resistance.

We learn that Alma Vallance, as she is called, is the daughter of a famous popular novelist who hasn't published a book for years, but is very wealthy. Alma is lovely to look at, but - to say the least - highly strung. Neville, it emerges, already knows a good deal about her. He's a chancer who has been put up to something, and it's not clear what his game is. One of the things Alma doesn't know about him is that he's married, although his long-suffering wife has thrown him out after he took one chance too many.  

This is a story with many twists and turns and once again Devine shows himself to be a master of the surprising solution. His writing style is relatively plain but his stories always move at a fast pace and his characterisation is generally good and sometimes excellent. So is the way he structures his mysteries so as to keep his readers guessing. Not for the first time, I admired the way he pulled the wool over my eyes. 

The Cob and Pen Award

It came as a very pleasant surprise to learn that Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife has been shortlisted for the Cob and Pen award for best crime novel, along with seven other books by a variety of distinguished authors: see below.

The key significance of literary awards from a writer's perspective is, I think, mainly to do with boosting confidence and morale, and this is an important and valuable function. Sometimes awards can bring benefits in terms of higher sales and more revenue (and over the years, when there's been a cash prize to accompany an award I've received, I've always used it to buy books that would serve as a tangible reminder of the occasion), but in the majority of cases that doesn't happen, and I don't think it matters. Because for a writer, confidence is very precious and you can't put a price on it.

I've been involved in judging literary prizes as well as being short or long listed or occasionally winning them and I think that experience over many years has given me a reasonably clear perspective. The reality is that there's inevitably an element of subjective judgment and opinion involved in these things, however hard one tries to be totally detached and objective. Again, though, I don't think that matters, as long as the process adopted is sensible and that all those involved strive to be fair-minded. It's a cliche that it's an honour to be nominated for any award, but it's true.

Twelve of my books (eight novels and four non-fiction titles) have won or been nominated for awards and that's something that gives me a good deal of pleasure. And it definitely contributes to motivation to keep writing and to keep striving to improve. Which is what I shall be doing in 2026!

Here's what the judges of the Cob and Pen award (which is associated with the Bloody Barnes crime festival, due to take place next month) had to say: 'We were thrilled at Bloody Barnes at the number of entries we received for the brand new Cob and Pen award.The judges found it all very hard to choose but here is our short list of eight - in no particular order! 'The Masked Band' by Bernard O'Keeffe 'Victim' by Thomas Enger and Jorn Lier Horst 'Blood Caste' by Shylashmi Sankar 'Dog sitter Detective Plays Dead' by Antony Johnson 'Death in the Aviary' by Victoria Dowd 'Death of an Officer' by Mark Ellis 'Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife' by Martin Edwards 'Marble Hall Murders' by Anthony Horowitz They are all a cracking good read - best of luck to them all for the next round of judging!'

Drop - 2025 film review

Whatever else it may lack, the recent film Drop isn't short of pace. Things happen constantly in this suspenseful film directed by Christopher Landon. The opening scenes are dramatic as a woman faces a life or death situation. Does this happen before the main incidents of the film, or at its conclusion? It's not immediately obvious (at least it wasn't to me) but soon - I thought this was a flashback, but I was mistaken - we meet the woman in question, a therapist called Violet Gates (played, very well I thought, by Meghann Fahy. 

Violet is a single mother with a young son, Toby. Her sister Jen comes round to babysit, because Violet has finally got back into the dating scene, and she's agreed to meet a man, a photographer called Henry, at a very fancy restaurant with the excellent name of Palate. Henry is late, and Violet encounters a number of people, including the pianist, a female bartender, a fellow diner who bumps into her, and an older man who is also waiting to meet a first date.

Henry (Brandon Sklenar) finally shows up and an overly effusive waiter serves them. But Violet is distracted by a flurry of messages on her phone. These are 'digi-drops', sent by an unknown person in the vicinity. This person threatens Violet - unless she does what he says, her son and sister will be murdered. When Violet checks on her home security camera (the wonders of modern tech) she sees that this is no hoax - there is a masked man in her home, menacing Jen. 

Tension mounts rapidly as Violet tries to find out what is going on and who is sending the messages, and why. I thought this plot - complete with chilling moral dilemma - worked really well until shortly after the revelation of the culprit. What happens in the film after that is rather cartoonish, a sequence of melodramatic events that are lacking in the originality of the bulk of the storyline. A pity, because a potentially excellent, if pulpy, film is turned into something like the same-old, same-old.   

Masquerade - 1988 film review

Masquerade is a film often categorised as 'neo noir', although like Body Heat, for instance, events are swathed in sunshine rather than darkness. It's a glossy piece of work which dates from 1988 but has worn pretty well, even if there is more nudity than you'd be likely to find in similar movies today, in the age of the intimacy co-ordinator. Dick Wolf (best known for Law & Order) was responsible for the Edgar-nominated screenplay, and his plotting proved skilful enough to hold my attention from start to finish.  

The setting is The Hamptons, playground of the rich, and some critics have read into the script a commentary on classism in the United States. This is an element of the story, to be sure, but a relatively minor one. There's no doubt that the emphasis is on mystery and plot twists, and I'm not the person to complain about that! 

Rob Lowe plays Tim Whalen, a young yacht captain who is having an affair with a married woman (Kim Cattrall, very glamorous). He meets up with Olivia, a young heiress (Meg Tilly), whose mother has recently died, and who is living unhappily with her stepfather and his latest girlfriend. Olivia also encounters a childhood friend, Mike McGill, who is now working as a local cop.

Motives for murder - sex, money, jealousy - swirl around as one death follows another. We are certainly in 'trust no-one' territory with this storyline. The film also benefits from a typically lush score by John Barry (who also wrote a superb soundtrack for Body Heat, and whose style of composition was very well suited to this type of storyline). Reviews of the film on its release were mixed, but I think it's a very good example of its kind. Not in the same league as Body Heat, but then I would say that's the best neonoir film ever made. 

Forgotten Book - Reduction of Staff

Francis John Whaley (1897-1977) was an obscure Golden Age detective novelist whose books have long since vanished from sight, with the exception of his second, Trouble at College, which was republished by Ostara in its series of Cambridge mystery reprints some years back. Whaley was a Cambridge man himself: he studied history at Corpus Christi College, although his academic career was interrupted by the war, in which he earned a Military Cross for his bravery before being invalided out of the army.

After finally graduating, Whaley became a schoolmaster, spending several years at St Bees in Cumberland, where he met his future wife (her first husband named him in a divorce petition), whom he married in 1938. Before that, he had in 1936 published his detective fiction debut, a novel pleasingly entitled Reduction of Staff. On the principle of 'write what you know', it is set in public school and narrated by a Cambridge man who also writes fiction. 

Judged by the standards of Golden Age mysteries, Reduction of Staff strikes me as a pleasing effort. The narrative style is readable, and as a result, although I guessed the culprit (not difficult) and saw through the red herring involved in the first murder, this didn't spoil the book for me. The precise means by which the crime was committed eluded me, as it usually does, because the 'howdunit' element of books of this kind appeals to me much less than 'whodunit' and 'whydunit'.

As regards motive, there are some relevant facts which are not disclosed to the reader (I also wondered if the motive drew some slight inspiration from events in Whaley's private life), but overall I rather liked this novel. Whaley wrote nine mysteries in all, but by the time his short career came to an end in 1941 he had turned to espionage rather than detection. After the Second World War he taught in Sussex, but he seems to have lost interest in writing, even though he lived into the era of Colin Dexter and Inspector Morse. His obscurity is unsurprising, but this book at least is worth reading.