Crime Author Event - 6th November

 by The Mole

A regular feature in the Waterstones Nottingham calendar are "crime panels" where 2 or 3 crime authors talk about their work. The latest panel brought together three local authors - Steven Dunne, Stephen Booth, and Glenis Wilson.

Steven Dunne has written five thrillers starring DI Damen Brook and they are set mainly in Derby. His latest book is A Killing Moon. Stephen Booth's long-running Cooper and Fry series takes place in the idyllic setting of the Peak district and runs to 15 books - the latest being The Murder Road. Glenis Wilson, as well as literary and romantic novels, has turned to crime in the world of horse-racing; her latest, Dead On Course is out in December.

Due to traffic we arrived a little late but were still welcomed with a smile and we settled in quietly at the back. The event was under way and we had missed the formal introductions but a cross author Q&A was in full swing with Steven Dunne leading the session.

We have seen Steven Dunne a few times at events in Nottingham and Derby, and Steven Booth was a guest at the Derby Book Festival but we hadn't encountered Glenis Wilson before although she is part of Nottingham Writer's Studio

Each author then read a short passage from one of their books and surprisingly Steven Dunne chose to read from Deity and not his latest book. Stephen Booth read from The Murder Road. All three authors read about the discovery of a body and The Mole found Deity to be chilling to the point where it's one book he probably wouldn't pick up - although he would be happy to read Dunne's other books.

Steven Booth explained how in Corpse Road Cooper and Fry visit Hartington and Booth takes the opportunity to mention that Dunne's Damen Brook lives there but they choose not to visit. Product placement or what?

The floor was opened up to questions and a very open audience took the opportunity to pose questions without any reservations - normally the audience can be rather shy.

A book signing followed with coffee and wine available as we chatted about the books and the event with the authors and the organiser - Dan. Dan does have a last name but we were shown and discussed a precedent where it wasn't used. Another great event Mr Donson - thank you.

A really excellent evening's entertainment with fascinating people.

The Corpse Bridge by Stephen Booth

review by Maryom

On Halloween night a dead body is found at the aptly named Corpse Bridge over the river Dove; once part of a route from remote villages to the consecrated burial ground, now it's merely forms part of a pleasant walk by the river. Investigating the ground around the bridge DS Ben Cooper and his team stumble upon signs of witchcraft - an effigy laid out on a slab and witches balls hanging in trees. Could the murder be a ghastly addition to the strange rituals, so far only involving animals, going on in the area?

As Stephen Booth is a 'local' author and his "Cooper and Fry" crime series is set in the Peak District not that far from where I live, I've frequently seen his novels at the library and in bookstores but till now I hadn't  picked one up and read it. Spurred on by his event at Derby Book Festival I decided it was time I did!
Jumping in at book 14 of a series is never a brilliant idea but actually I found it easy enough to slip into Ben Cooper's world - especially as the relationship between him and colleague Diane Fry had been discussed at the Derby event. For other new-comers, Cooper and Fry started out together as detective constables, have now grown older, been promoted, and so on. They're a bit like chalk and cheese as Cooper is a local lad, happiest in the countryside, while Fry is only at home in the city and can't wait to be transferred back there. I won't say any more because at the Derby event a member of the audience mentioned something that happened in, I think, book 12 and it's only on reading The Corpse Bridge that I realised just how HUGE that spoiler was, and I don't want to fall into the same trap!
Despite the chilling title, the presence of dead bodies and suspicions of witchcraft, Booth's writing has a cosier sort of feel to it than many crime novels I've read recently - more Miss Marple or Midsomer Murders than The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo or The Killing. That said, grubby city back-streets or twisted psychopaths don't automatically make for a better read, and Sherlock Holmes always feared empty country spaces where no one can hear you scream. I rather enjoyed this first encounter with Cooper and Fry - the plot has twists and turns enough to keep anyone guessing, and the added appeal of a location I know. I now have a lot of back-story to catch up on and I'm looking forward to getting to know the main characters better.

 
Maryom's Review - 4 stars
Publisher - Sphere 
Genre - adult crime,

Derby Book Festival - author event - Stephen Booth and Anne Zouroudi

Another day, another book event - that's the joy of festivals! So on Sunday I was back at Derby Quad, in the same room where the previous day I'd seen Antonia Hodgson and SD Sykes talking about historical crime, this time to hear about contemporary crime novels from Stephen Booth and Anne Zouroudi.
Both authors have local connections but whereas Stephen Booth's long-running Cooper and Fry detective series is set in Derbyshire's Peak District, Anne Zouroudi has chosen the warmer location of Greece for her Mysteries of the Greek Detective series featuring the enigmatic Hermes Diaktoros.
Pointed in the right direction by the event's chair person, both authors told the audience how their series started out, developed and where it will go. Booth's Ben Cooper and Diane Fry first appeared as young detective constables - over 15 novels they've aged and been promoted but aren't quite keeping pace with 'real' time and could probably go on for ever. The Greek Detective series though was always envisioned as comprising seven stories representing the Seven Sins, and has now reached an end - another series based round the Ten Commandments is now being planned...
The topic of conversation managed at one point to get round to the vexed matter of e-books - are they good or bad, for reader, writers, and publishers? Both authors felt it gave them the opportunity to expand their readership, with huge numbers of books being downloaded during 'deal of the day' promotions, but that after initially discovering a new author readers might be going back to traditional 'real' books for further purchases.
This event had time for a Q+A session at the end - both authors were friendly and approachable, even when one audience member decided to leak a plot twist!
As an odd sort of birthday treat, I'd taken my neighbour along with me. She's an avid reader of crime thrillers but had only seen author events and book signings on TV's Murder She Wrote, and, knowing I go along to such things fairly frequently, she was intrigued to see what really happened. Well, no one died this time (sorry, Jessica Fletcher) but we did learn some useful tips for if we ever wanted to murder someone - and get away with it!