Crime and mystery writing will take centre stage at Portsmouth Bookfest event

Carol Westron with her first novel, The Terminal Velocity of Cats
Picture: Mick Young — Carol Westron with her first novel, The Terminal Velocity of Cats Picture: Mick Young

The book event will take place on Saturday, 7 from 10am to 4.30pm, closing a week’s worth of events for the Portsmouth Book Festival. The day will be packed with presentations and discussion panels from eminent authors.

Organiser and local author Carol Westron said: 'Anyone who enjoys crime fiction should come along, we have everything from light-hearted comedy mysteries to gritty thrillers. We have some of the country’s best crime writers attending and want everyone in Portsmouth to know about the fantastic events that are going on in their backyard’.

Headlining the day will be a discussion between Linda Regan, the celebrated author of the DCI Barnham Series and award winning novelist L.C. Tyler who will be promoting his upcoming book Death of a Shipbuilder.

‘The Best Place to Kill’ discussion will discuss the importance of setting crime fiction. There will also be a talk on ‘Belief, Religion and Superstition in Crime Fiction’ which will explore how religious beliefs are used within the genre to create anticipation and mystery.

To complement the literary discussions there will be a presentation by forensic psychologist Professor Becky Milne, on cutting-edge police methods for questioning witnesses. There will also be talk by screenwriter Jeff Dowson who will explore the process of taking a story from book to screen.

Authors taking part in discussions will include, Barbara Nadel author of over 30 novels including the Inspector Ikmen series, Linda Stratman writer of the Victorian crime series ‘A Francis Doherty Mystery’ , and Sally Spedding a comedic murder mystery writer whose new book Murder Your Darlings will be published this spring.

The event, a collaboration between the Library Service and promotion group Mystery People, aims to encourage the use of libraries and local book shops in Portsmouth.

Tickets cost £15 and include tea, coffee and a light lunch. Guests are encouraged to bring along a copy of their favourite novel for the author to sign.

Tickets are available online at www.portsmouthbookfest.co.uk, on 023 9268 8057 or from any Portsmouth library.