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.