Mick Herron

ESPIONAGE THRILLER

Creator of the Slough House series — the darkly comic spy novels that became Apple TV+’s Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman as the magnificently repellent Jackson Lamb.

Vaseem Khan

HISTORICAL CRIME

Author of the Malabar House series set in 1950s Bombay and the Baby Ganesh Agency novels. Winner of the CWA Historical Dagger and chair of the Crime Writers’ Association.

Sue Wallman

YOUNG ADULT THRILLER

Author of taut, twisty teen thrillers including See How They Lie, Dead Popular, and Girl on Track. A leading voice in the Young Adult crime space.

Bernard O'Keeffe

CONTEMPORARY CRIME

Former London head teacher and author of No Regrets, Coyote, Killing King, and The Final Round — contemporary crime with a sharp literary edge.

Elly Griffiths

ARCHAEOLOGICAL MYSTERY

Creator of the beloved Ruth Galloway mysteries and the Harbinder Kaur series. Winner of the CWA Dagger in the Library for her body of work.

Amen Alonge

ACTION THRILLER

Barrister turned novelist. Author of the explosive Pretty Boy thrillers — A Good Day to Die, Bring Out Your Dead, and The Sweet Hereafter.

Samantha Bond

STAGE & SCREEN

Acclaimed stage and screen actress. Four-time Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond films and a beloved fixture of British drama from Downton Abbey to the West End.

Gyles Brandreth

HISTORICAL MYSTERY

Broadcaster, writer, and former MP. Author of the Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries — a witty Victorian crime series casting Oscar Wilde himself as detective alongside friends Conan Doyle and Bram Stoker.

Tom Mead

LOCKED-ROOM MYSTERY

Author of the Joseph Spector mysteries, including Death and the Conjuror and The Murder Wheel. A leading voice in the modern revival of impossible-crime fiction.

Graham Bartlett

POLICE PROCEDURAL

Former Brighton & Hove police chief turned crime novelist. Author of Bad for Good and the DSU Jo Howe series, and consultant on many of the country’s best-known crime dramas.

Gwenllian Williams

DEBUT CRIME

A rising voice in British crime fiction, bringing a fresh Welsh perspective to the genre with atmospheric, character-driven mysteries.

Robert Thorogood

COSY CRIME

Creator of BBC’s Death in Paradise and author of the bestselling Marlow Murder Club series, adapted for U&Drama.

Roger McGough

POET & SPECIAL GUEST

One of Britain’s most celebrated poets and a founding member of The Scaffold. Host of BBC Radio 4’s Poetry Please and a cherished national voice.

Victoria Dowd

COSY CRIME

Author of the Smart Woman’s Mystery series — sharp, witty whodunits in the golden-age tradition. Winner of the People’s Book Prize for Fiction.

Antony Johnston

SPY &  THRILLER

Bestselling author of The Dog Sitter Detective series and the Brigitte Sharp spy thrillers. Creator of the graphic novel The Coldest City, adapted into the film Atomic Blonde.

Martin Edwards

HISTORIC CRIME

President of the Detection Club and former Chair of the CWA. Author of the Rachel Savernake series and the landmark history The Life of Crime.

Vanessa O'Loughlin

IRISH CRIME

Bestselling author writing as Sam Blake, and founder of Writing.ie — a driving force behind contemporary Irish crime fiction.

S.J. Parris

HISTORICAL MYSTERY

Pen name of Stephanie Merritt. Author of the acclaimed Giordano Bruno series of Elizabethan thrillers beginning with Heresy.

Charles Cumming

ESPIONAGE THRILLER

One of the leading spy novelists of his generation. Author of the BOX 88 series and A Foreign Country, winner of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger.