Programme 2024
Wednesday 4 December
All Wednesday events are FREE to attend
1.00 – 1.45 Truth or Lies – Logic Puzzles NN2024
Our festival starts with some criminal fun and games and the chance to test your powers of deduction. You may have managed a Murdle or two last year, but can you sniff out the twist in Steve Jenkin’s logic puzzles?2.00-2.45 Crafting Crime
Bring your knitting, crochet, cross stitch or sketch book to work on while listening to Charlotte Bilby talk about creativity and making in prisons.
3.00-3.45 Local author spotlight – Glenda Young. Moderator: Jacky Collins
Glenda Young is a multifaceted, highly acclaimed author whose work includes a fabulous cosy crime series set in a Scarborough B&B. Her latest novel in the series, Foul Play at the Seaview Hotel, has been shortlisted in the Listening Books Members’ Choice Award 2024.
Thursday 5 December
11am – Real Life Writer Chats. This is a FREE event.
Join Kitty Murphy as she talks with writers Jamie West and Heather Critchlow about the Real-Life process of getting words on the page, building the story, creating suspense and ignoring the dog, the washing up and all incoming emails as they get to the final chapters. Expect chat about the lonely blank page and meeting new characters in the mind, and about the thrill of finishing a project.
This event will also be shown on Insta Live on the Newcastle Noir Instagram stories and on Kitty’s Instagram stories, making them accessible to those who cannot be there in person. Questions and comments will be very welcome.
1.00-1.45
Once a Detective, always a Detective – Val Penny, Teresa Solano & Ajay Chowdhury Moderator: Tana Collins
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Barcelona, London – urban locations, urban crimes and at the heart of these tales the skill and determination of a doughty detective. The authors here will discuss their main protagonists and the elements that comprise a cracking police procedural.
2.00-2.45 Partners in Crime – Ann Cleeves & Martin Edwards
Come join us for the opportunity to hear two of the UK’s most accomplished crime fiction authors talk about their work and the wonderful adventures they’ve had thanks to their writing.
3.00-3.45
Crime in the USA – Erin Young & Robert Rutherford Moderator: Jo Furniss
What drew these authors to choose the USA as a setting? What research was necessary to weave the geographical and cultural differences into their storytelling? Would they go there again for their next novels? Join us to discover the truth.
4.00-4.45 Dark Secrets and Sinful Betrayal – Barbara Havelocke & A J West Moderator: Claire Nally
Dare you join us as we embrace the darkness within and explore the underbelly of Georgian London. Two authors who have given us sublime historical crime tales are here to discuss the Gothic and the Neo-Victorian in contemporary crime writing.
5.00-5.45 Classic Sleuths and Cosy Crimes – Tom Mead, Fiona Veitch Smith & Antony Johnston Moderator: Kitty Murphy
Golden Age and Cosy Crime provide us avid crime fiction lovers with such a wonderful feeling of being ‘at home’, as we settle in between the pages. Join us as we discuss the intricacies of the ‘whodunnit’, ‘the country house’ mystery, the right dose of darkness and the benefits of a furry friend.
6.00-6.45 It Takes Two – Johana Gustawsson & Thomas Enger Moderator: Jacky Collins
Crime-fiction partnerships are nothing new. We’ve all been gripped by the joint efforts of Sjöwall and Wahlöö, Nicci French, and Lars Kepler. But what happens when your co-author is not your spouse, and you speak different languages? Now’s your chance to find out as we discuss writing collaboratively (and apart) with the Queen of French crime fiction Johana Gustawsson and Norwegian international best-seller author Thomas Enger.
Friday 6 December
11am Real Life Writer Chats. This is a FREE event
Join Kitty Murphy as she talks with writers Jamie West and Heather Critchlow about the Real-Life process of getting words on the page, building the story, creating suspense and ignoring the dog, the washing up and all incoming emails as they get to the final chapters. Expect chat about the lonely blank page and meeting new characters in the mind, and about the thrill of finishing a project.
This event will also be shown on Insta Live on the Newcastle Noir Instagram stories and on Kitty’s Instagram stories, making them accessible to those who cannot be there in person. Questions and comments will be very welcome
1.00 – 1.45 A Kaleidoscope of Heroines – Harriet Tyce, Fiona Erskine and Marie Tierney Moderator: Jacky Collins
Creating the heroine of a crime novel offers the writer so many opportunities to present resolute female agency. Our authors here offer us examples of this multifaceted subject and demonstrate how their protagonists embody voices that must be heard.
2.00-2.45 Death in Paradise – Phoebe Morgan and Megan Davis Moderator: Julie Anderson
Idyllic holiday locations and perfect summer getaways but scratch beneath the surface and all is not what it seems. Join us as we discuss evocative cultures, exotic thrillers, international corruption and the dark side of living the high life.
3.00-3.45 Rising Tides and Murky Waters – Louise Candlish & Jane Corry Moderator: Rosie White
A rising tide of resentment, social inequality and unreliable memories all swirl around in a myriad of mesmerising twists and turns. These best-selling authors are expert in providing the reader with gripping, suspenseful thrillers. Dare you experience the tension!
4.00-4.45 Far Too Close to Home – Charlotte Philby & Nicky Black Moderator: Alison Belsham
Family secrets and truths untold – what do you do when the ones closest to you just cannot be trusted or the past reveals painful personal stories? Join us as we discuss the intricacies of the psychological thriller and the indelible mark it can leave on the reader.
7.00-9.00 Tariq Ashkanani Hosted by Drew Jerrison and Jacky Collins This is a FREE event. Tickets available on a separate Eventbrite page
Saturday 7 December
10.00-10.45 Black Stage for Tragedies and Murders Fell – Howard Linskey & Guy Hale Moderator: Frances Walker
Two crime writers fascinated by the Bard, one writing in Elizabethan England and one writing in 1970’s Stratford-Upon-Avon. Come join us as we hear about what led these authors to incorporate the greatest writer of all time into the murky world of crime fiction.
11.00 – 11.45 Investigating Crime Fiction – Graham Bartlett, Trevor Wood & Mari Hannah Moderator: Jacky Collins
Undercover operations, atypical sleuths and crime-fighting detective duos – this panel brings together an absolute treasure trove of crime writing excellence. Award-winning, best-selling crime writers whose work covers such a wide range of issues. Don’t miss this one!
12.00-12.45 NN2024 New Voices – Suk Pannu, C L Swatman, Marrisse Whittaker & Katherine Black
Every year Newcastle Noir takes great joy in welcoming new voices in crime fiction or authors new to the festival. For our 10th anniversary we have a fabulous line-up for you. We hope you come away from this session ready to add to your TBR pile.
1.00-1.45 – A Ladleful of Murder – Antti Tuomainen and Abir Mukherjee
What happens when the ‘King of Helsinki Noir’ and award-winning Times bestselling author of the Wyndham & Banerjee series get together? A heady blend of dark tales and much laughter. With so much crime-writing talent between them, this session is not to be missed!
2.00 – 2.45 Beyond Tartan Noir – Doug Johnstone, Helen Fitzgerald & Suzy Aspley Moderator: Karen Sullivan
Contemporary crime fiction lovers have spent many happy hours lost in the pages of crime novels written in Scotland or written by Scots. An epic first-contact novel, an atmospheric contemporary Gothic tale and a shocking, darkly funny thriller – these authors show us the sparkling breadth of crime writing penned over the Border.
3.00-3.45 Police Procedural Plus – Jane Casey, Michael Wood and Anna Margrét Sigurðardóttir
The authors here have created series that have drawn us in, leaving us eagerly awaiting the next instalment when the final page has been turned. They have introduced us to agents of law and order who have become so familiar to us and have chilled us to the bone with such an imaginative range of heinous crimes.
4.00-4.45 Murder Most Foul – Chris Frost, Rob Parker, Oskar Jensen Moderator: Sam Holland
Speaking of heinous crimes, our closing session for NN2024 brings together authors whose work entices us with a sinister disappearance, a festive serial killer and a half-eaten body! What a way to bring a crime fiction festival to a close! Come join us for a final slice of murder, madness & mayhem.