Speakers

Dr Marie Adams

Marie Adams is a novelist, psychotherapist and academic. Born in Canada, she now lives in the UK. Before training as a psychotherapist she worked for the BBC, primarily as a producer on the TODAY Programme and later as a consultant giving workshops on trauma to news and documentary staff. Along with her clinical practice, Marie teaches at several training Institutes and is on staff at the Metanoia Institute in London.

M.J. Arlidge

M.J. Arlidge has worked in television for the last twenty years, specialising in high-end drama production, including prime-time crime serials Silent Witness, Torn, The Little House and, most recently, the hit ITV show Innocent. In 2015 his audiobook exclusive Six Degrees of Assassination was a number-one bestseller. His debut thriller, Eeny Meeny, was the UK’s bestselling crime debut of 2014 and has been followed by 14 more DI Helen Grace thrillers – all Sunday Times bestsellers.

JD Brinkworth

JD Brinkworth is the pen name of married author duo Catherine Brinkworth and Jo Dinkin who have worked on various BBC shows including Have I Got News For You, Doctor Who: Redacted and Jonathan Ross’ Comedy Club.

Their background in comedy and screenplay writing has earned them various awards and widespread recognition. They bring a new, comedic voice to the cosy crime scene with early readers praising their wit and energetic style, so much so the book has been dubbed The Thursday Murder Club for millennials

Perfectly balancing mystery and sharp humour, there is a new delight on every page that readers will savour long after they’ve finished reading.

Jessica Bull

Jessica Bull began her career as a librarian (under the false impression she could sit and read all day), before becoming a communications consultant.

Her debut novel, MISS AUSTEN INVESTIGATES, sold to Penguin Michael Joseph at auction for six figures, is published in 18 territories worldwide and was shortlisted for the Crime Writer’s Association ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger.

Yolanda Copes-Stepney

Stu Cummins

Stu is a lifelong reader, but discovered book reviewing/blogging in 2020, during a period of shared parental leave. Then when the pandemic hit, like many others, he immersed himself in fictional worlds to escape the horrors of reality. During this time he got chatting to lots of authors and other bloggers via social media, who all welcomed him into this wonderful community. Since then he’s spent as much of his spare time reading, reviewing, attending bookish events and generally shouting about books he loves! He mainly reads crime/thrillers and is obsessed with psychological suspense, but challenges himself to try and read outside of the genre occasionally. He lives on the South Coast with his wife, two daughters and a TBR pile that’s taller than them all put together…

IG: @thestucumminsreads
X/Twitter: @TheStuCummins
TikTok: @thestucumminsreads

https://linktr.ee/thestucumminsreads

Heather J Fitt

Heather was born in Scotland and after moving around Europe with her parents and sister, settled in Hampshire where she met her husband, Stuart.

After leaving the rat-race in 2018, Heather re-trained as an editor and proof-reader and entered the world of publishing. These days she works as a part-time freelancer and a part-time Commissioning Advisor for Bloodhound.

Heather was inspired to start writing her novel by the authors who have become her closest friends. Now the ideas are flowing she has plans to write several more over the coming years.

Emylia Hall

Emylia Hall lives in Bristol with her husband and son, where she writes from a hut in the garden and dreams of the sea. She is the author of the Shell House Detective Mysteries, a series inspired by her love of Cornwall’s wild landscape. The first, The Shell House Detectives, was a Kindle Top 10 Bestseller, with the rights being optioned for TV. The Death at the Vineyard is her fourth crime novel. Emylia has published four previous novels, including Richard and Judy Book Club pick The Book of Summers and The Thousand Lights Hotel. Her work has been translated into ten languages, and broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music. She is the founder of Mothership Writers and is a writing coach at The Novelry.

M.A. Hunter

M.A. Hunter is the author of psychological and crime thrillers, including Every Step You Take, The Woman on Platform 8, and The Tenants. Born in the north-east of England, he now lives in Southampton where many of his stories are set, allowing him to use his insider knowledge to deliver realistic and unsettling suspense on every page.

He was diagnosed as Autistic and ADHD later in life, and now understands why writing and reading has always been a visual experience for him. In fact, he describes the writing process as “like a giant cinema screen in my head, and all I’m doing is describing the actions of the cast.”

Ruth Irons

Ruth Irons grew up in South Wales before studying music at Exeter University, then musical theatre at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She spent years performing in shows, musical directing, and teaching musical instruments and singing, before turning to writing as a creative outlet, and taking courses with Curtis Brown Creative, and the Writers Bureau. She is the author of psychological thrillers, and her novels feature complex characters who get themselves into difficult (and sometimes fatal) situations. Expect moral dilemma, toxic relationships, and killer twists.

Luke Jennings

Luke Jennings is the author of the KILLING EVE novels, the basis for the world-wide hit TV series. The novels follow the thrilling, obsessive duel between Villanelle, an elite assassin, and Eve Polastri, the MI6 agent tasked with hunting her down. Luke’s much-anticipated new title KILLING EVE: LONG SHOT (the fifth title in the series) is out now, and KILLING EVE: MEDUSA follows this spring. Further novels tracking Villanelle and Eve’s lethal adventures and volatile relationship will follow.

Antony Johnston

Antony Johnston is one of the most versatile writers of the modern era, with a body of work spanning books, film, graphic novels, videogames, and non-fiction. An award-winning author and New York Times bestseller, his creations include Atomic Blonde, The Dog Sitter Detective, Can You Solve the Murder?, the Brigitte Sharp thrillers, and many more.

Jackie Kabler

Jackie Kabler is an award-winning, Amazon number one and USA Today bestselling author of psychological thrillers. Her novels, published in ten languages, have sold over a million copies in English alone. A former news reporter turned QVC presenter, Jackie now divides her time between her writing and working in TV. She is also an ultramarathon runner and keen gardener. Jackie lives in Gloucestershire.

Lesley Kara

Lesley Kara is a Sunday Times bestselling author of psychological thrillers. Her debut, The Rumour, was the highest-selling print crime fiction debut of 2019. It has sold in over 18 countries and is now a major TV series on Channel 5. Her subsequent novels include Who Did You Tell?, The Dare, The Apartment Upstairs, The Other Tenant and Troublemaker. Lesley is also the co-host of the popular podcast In Suspense. A Faber Academy graduate, she lives in Kent and writes full-time.

Valerie Keogh

Valerie Keogh is the best-selling author of The Nurse and The Wives. She has sold over a million copies of her books and has been translated into several languages. She lives in Wiltshire with her husband and a huge black cat, Fatty Arbuckle. She grew up reading Agatha Christie and initially wrote crime novels – she now writes psychological thrillers.

Vaseem Khan

Vaseem Khan is the author of two award-winning crime series set in India, and Quantum of Menace, the first in a series featuring Q from the James Bond franchise. His debut, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, was selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 40 best crime novels published 2015-2020. In 2021, Midnight at Malabar House, the first in the Malabar House novels set in 1950s Bombay, won the CWA Historical Dagger. Vaseem was born in England, but spent a decade working in India. From 2023-25, he served as the Chair of the UK Crime Writers’ Association. In May 2025, Vaseem’s The Girl in Cell A was published, a psychological thriller set in small town America.

TM Logan

TM Logan’s thrillers have sold more than three million copies in the UK and are translated into 22 other languages. Six of his novels have been Sunday Times bestsellers and two of them – THE HOLIDAY and THE CATCH – have been adapted for television. A former national newspaper journalist, Tim now writes novels full-time, and lives in Nottinghamshire with his family. His tenth book, THE WEEKEND, will be published in the UK in February 2026.

Alice G. May

Alice G. May writes historical thrillers and saga fiction for Boldwood Books.

Her new World War Two series, The Resistance Girls, is inspired by the true story of a highly trained secret army of women working undercover to protect British coastal communities. Set in Dorset and Hampshire, these books follow the lives of ordinary women thrown into extraordinary circumstances, and are packed with action, adventure, loyalty and love. Perfect for fans of Kate Quinn, Mandy Robotham and Suzanne Kelman.

Alison May

Alison May is a novelist and short story writer, based in Worcester, where she lives with her husband. No kids. No pets. There were goldfish once. That ended badly. She is best known for writing romantic comedies under her own name, and as Ally Sinclair and Amelia Berry. 2026 sees the release of her first crime novel – a classic whodunnit with a paranormal twist.

In her non-writing time Alison mentors developing authors and volunteers as a tour guide for the National Trust . You can find out more about her at http://www.alison-may.co.uk, on Instagram @MsAlisonMay or on youtube – http://www.youtube.com/@alallyalison

Anna Mazzola

Anna is the award-winning author of historical, crime and Gothic novels. Her latest historical novel, The Book of Secrets, won the CWA Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of the Year 2025; her third, The Clockwork Girl, was a Times bestseller; her fourth The House of Whispers, won a Fingerprint Award for best historical crime, and her debut, The Unseeing, won an Edgar Allan Poe award.

Anna also writes legal thrillers under the name Anna Sharpe, the first of which, Notes on a Drowning, was a Times thriller of the month. The second, Lie for Your Life, will be out in January 2027.

Fiona McNee

Fiona McNee is in the business of quality conversations, inspiring interviews. engaging broadcasts and delightful dialogues.

A life long curiosity about human beings, what brings us joy, challenges us or inspires our work, art and choices.

A frequent interviewer at literary festivals, events, libraries, schools, and organisations. Fiona has led creative writing workshops for in organisations, schools, libraries and at literary festivals.

Highly skilled coach, facilitator, and broadcaster. Sought after for in depth interviews, audience engagement and bespoke conversations.

Broadcaster, producer and creator of Words To Inspire – the weekly Poetry Show on Purbeck Sounds.

http://www.fionamcnee.com
http://www.wordstoiinspire.com
http://www.purbecksounds.com

Tom Mead

Tom Mead is a UK crime fiction author specialising in locked-room mysteries. He is a member of the Crime Writers’ Association and the International Thriller Writers’ Organization. His debut novel is DEATH AND THE CONJUROR, featuring magician-detective Joseph Spector.

Alex Pavesi

Alex Pavesi lives in Surrey, where he writes full time. He previously worked as a software engineer and before that obtained a PhD in Mathematics. He enjoys puzzles, long walks and recreational lock picking. His debut novel Eight Detectives has been published in more than twenty languages, and was picked by the Sunday Times and the New York Times as one of their books of the year.

Francesca Pavis

I’m Francesca, better known as @pavisfrancesca or your go-to thriller girly! I create bookish content across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, where I’ve built a community of over 400,000+ thriller-loving readers who come to me for the best book recommendations and honest reviews.

@pavisfrancesca

Sarah Pearse

Sarah Pearse lives by the sea in South Devon with her husband and two daughters. After moving to Switzerland in her twenties, she spent every spare moment exploring the mountains in the Swiss Alpine town of Crans Montana, the dramatic setting that inspired her debut novel, THE SANATORIUM, which was a REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK, became an instant NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller, a No.1 SUNDAY TIMES Bestseller, won CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE 2022 FINGERPRINT AWARDS & was the COLD AS ICE AWARD WINNER AT 2022 DEAD GOOD READERS AWARDS.

The Retreat was her second novel and was also a New York Times Bestseller and a Top Ten Sunday Times Bestseller, followed by The Wilds. Over 1.5 MILLION copies of her books have been sold in over 30 countries. She is now working on her fourth book, which will be out in 2027. You can find Sarah on Twitter @SarahVPearse and Instagram / TikTok @sarahpearseauthor

Heidi Perks

Heidi’s first book published with Century, NOW YOU SEE HER, came out in July 2018. It became a Sunday Times Bestseller and a Richard and Judy Book Club pick, and in 2021 she received a silver Nielsen bestseller award for selling over 250,000 copies.

Alex Stone

Alex Stone is a psychological thriller author based in Dorset, where the beautiful yet dramatic coastline provides the inspiration and setting for her gripping, character-driven novels.

With a deep interest in psychology, Alex explores how past trauma, hidden truths, and complex relationships shape people — for better or worse. Her thrillers are packed with emotional depth, compelling twists, and characters who stay with you long after the final page.

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a full-time writer born in Burton-on-Trent who now lives in London. After a stint as freelance editor and film-maker, he completed his first novel and introduced readers to a genuine antihero, Victor, an assassin with a purely logical view on life and whose morals are deeply questionable. Like Victor, Tom is passionate about physical sport, being both a huge boxing fan and practising Krav Maga martial arts, which has seen him sustain a number of injuries. He has not, however, ever killed anyone.

GD Wright

Gary Wright joined Kent Police at the age of 18 and worked in a variety of uniformed roles. At the age of 29, and completely out of the blue, he suffered two cardiac arrests that led to the diagnosis of a life limiting and incurable disease of the heart. Following the implantation of an internal defibrillator into his heart, he was unable to continue policing and retired at the age of 30. He bought a coffee shop in Ramsgate Harbour, and spent years looking out over the sea and dreaming up stories. He now writes full time, committing those very stories to paper.

Catherine Yaffe

Catherine is an Amazon bestselling British crime author whose gripping thrillers have topped the Amazon charts multiple times. Her work is known for its psychological depth, twisty plots, and unforgettable characters.

Her stories often draw on her own experiences of growing up in a gritty Northern town, bringing authenticity and emotional Yorkshire grit to her work. When she’s not writing or speaking, she can usually be found with a strong cup of tea, plotting her next murder.

Graham Bartlett

After thirty years of policing, whereby Graham Bartlett became Brighton and Hove police’s chief superintendent, a senior homicide detective and a public order and firearms commander, he is now a best-selling crime fiction and non-fiction author, and police and crime advisor.

His debut non-fiction, Death Comes Knocking, written with Peter James, was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller, and Peter and Graham followed this up with the critically acclaimed Babes in the Wood.

As a police procedure and crime advisor, Graham works with over 200 authors and TV writers (including Peter James, Elly Griffiths, Anthony Horowitz, Ruth Ware, Mark Billingham and the BBC), helping them inject authenticity into their work.

Faye Brann

A writer and performer based in southwest London, Faye is a hybrid author publishing traditionally and independently in response to the changing world of publishing. In 2020, Faye won the Comedy women in Print Prize and her debut novel Tinker, Tailor, Schoolmum, Spy was published by HarperCollins in 2021. Faye self-published her second novel Kiss, Marry, Murder in 2025 and the second in this series, Little Grey Cells, will be released in May 2026. Faye is passionate about writing stories featuring strong, feisty and fun women, in particular women aged 40+ who are underrepresented in commercial fiction.

Website: www.fayebrann.com
Insta: @writerfaye
Facebook: @Fayebrannwriter

T.H. Carrington

T H Carrington writes mystery-thriller books with diversity and hard-hitting themes. She is the author of The Detective Ethan Brown Series, and her latest novel, The Soul Snatcher, is the second instalment in the franchise.

When she isn’t writing, you can find her spending time with her new baby girl, reading a good book, or painting her characters!

Curtis Brown Creative

Curtis Brown Creative (CBC) is one of the UK’s most successful writing academies, running courses online and in London. It’s the only creative writing school to be affiliated to a major literary and talent agency (The Curtis Brown Group). Since CBC was founded in 2011 by Anna Davis (still its Managing Director), over 280 students have become commercially published authors, including Bonnie Garmus (Lessons in Chemistry), Anna Bailey (Tall Bones), Laura Marshall (Friend Request), Nussaibah Younis (Fundamentally), Jennie Godfrey (The List of Suspicious Things) and Alex Hay (The Housekeepers). Its Breakthrough Writers’ Programme is a major initiative offering free mentoring, courses and scholarships to under-represented writers. Learn more: https://www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk/

Stuart Evers

Stuart Evers is UK Director of NetGalley, the industry-standard digital galley and marketing platform. A former bookseller and editor, he is also the award-winning author of four books, including the critically acclaimed The Blind Light.

HW Fisher

Ava Glass

Ava Glass (not her real name) is a bestselling crime writer (2 million copies internationally) who writes female-led spy novels that are based on her real-life experience working with spies. She has signed the official secrets act, has been befriended, vetted and duped by spies, seen everything from the real Bond Girls – Britain’s brigade of female spies; participated in terrorist simulations on British soil – where the British Government blow up more buildings than a Mission Impossible film so spies can practice for the real thing; and has some brilliant stories to share from the secret spy nod, secret spy doors, to why not to tussle with a spy in public. Prior to working with MI5 and MI6, Glass had a previous career as a crime reporter in the USA covering murders & kidnappings alongside the FBI and has written for the New York Times and Reuters. Ava also frequently appears on BBC Radio 4 and Sky News covering the latest spy stories and has been dubbed “the queen of spy fiction” by The Guardian and the female “heir to James Bond” by James Patterson.

Paula Harmon

Paula Harmon has written several books, chiefly historical mysteries. She was born in North London to parents of English, Scottish and Irish descent, who relocated to South Wales via several English country towns when Paula was eight. She graduated from Chichester University before making her home in Gloucestershire, and then Dorset where she has lived since 2005. Paula is a married with two adult children, and generally has several writing projects underway.

https://paulaharmon.com
viewauthor.at/PHAuthorpage
https://books2read.com/PaulaHarmon
https://www.facebook.com/pg/paulaharmonwrites
https://www.instagram.com/paulasharmon/
https://www.youtube.com/@paulaharmon7810/
https://www.goodreads.com/paula_harmon
https://bsky.app/profile/paulasharmon.bsky.social
https://www.threads.net/@paulasharmon

Oliver Johnson

OLIVER JOHNSON is a publisher of commercial fiction and non-fiction and has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry including John Grisham, Iain Banks and Michael Crichton. He is the author of several fantasy novels and children’s books and spends his time between London and a writing bolthole in East Sussex. Caller
Unknown is his first thriller.

Jade Kavanagh

Tory Lyne-Pirkis

Tory Lyne-Pirkis is an experienced books and publishing PR with over 15 years in the industry and since 2023 has worked freelance as a London based PR consultant. Tory currently works on book PR campaigns for publishers including Audible, Penguin, Macmillan, Thames & Hudson, Atlantic, Swift Books and Moonflower.

Tory’s crime and thriller experience includes working with the Queen of Spy fiction Ava Glass, BAFTA nominated writer James Alistair Henry whose debut Pagans was a Waterstones Book of the Month, Jack Jewers, Greg Mosse, Ellery Lloyd, Helen Fields, Beth Lewis, Giles Kristian and many more. Outside of crime fiction, Tory has experience promoting books across fiction and non-fiction, celebrity, lifestyle and cookery books. Recent PR campaigns have seen Tory working with authors including Tim Peake, Victoria Pendleton, The Yorkshire Shepherdess, Amber Guinness, Liz Pichon, M.G. Leonard, Allie Esiri, Dallas Campbell and Nii Ayikwei Parkes.

Laura Marshall

Laura Marshall is the Sunday Times top ten and Kindle No. 1 bestselling author of six psychological thrillers. Her books FRIEND REQUEST, THREE LITTLE LIES, THE ANNIVERSARY, MY HUSBAND’S KILLER, A GOOD PLACE TO HIDE A BODY and KISS MARRY KILL have sold over half a million copies in the UK, been translated into twenty-five languages and optioned for film and TV. Laura is an editor and mentor for several of London’s major creative writing schools, including Curtis Brown Creative, Faber Academy and Cornerstones Literary Consultancy and also offers personal manuscript editing services to emerging writers – see http://www.lauramarshall.co.uk for details.

She grew up in Wiltshire, studied English at the University of Sussex and now lives with her
family in Kent.

Alison May

Jo Millington

Professor (Hon) Jo Millington BSc (Hons) MSc PGCert MCSFS MIABPA
Jo has been a forensic scientist for about 30 years. Starting out with Lothian & Borders Police (Scotland) she then moved to the homicide division of the UK Forensic Science Service in London and later into private practice. 8 years ago she set up her own company Millington
Hingley Ltd (www.millingtonhingley.co.uk) where she works with a small team of independent forensic consultants who are instructed by various agencies representing the prosecution and defence.

Insta: @jomillington_v1, @spatter_ed

Linked in: Jo Millington https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-millington-17319a35/

Phoebe Morgan

Phoebe Morgan is the Executive Publisher for Fiction at Simon & Schuster UK. She publishes a range of bestselling authors and is also a writer herself, with five novels published by HarperCollins. She runs a Substack called The Honest Editor, aimed at demystifying the publishing process. She has previously been shortlisted for Editor of the Year at the British Book Awards.

X: @Phoebe_A_Morgan | Instagram: phoebeannmorgan

Substack: The Honest Editor

Francesca Pavis

@pavisfrancesca

Brian Price

Brian Price is the author of the DC Mel Cotton detective thrillers, published by Hobeck Books. The sixth in the series, Fatal Shot, was published in November and a seventh is due this autumn. He also wrote A Pocketful of Poisons, a collection of short stories featuring toxic substances. A chemist and biologist by training, he regularly advises other writers on the scientific aspects of their work, including poisons, knockouts, weapons, body disposal and DNA. He is the author of Crime writing: How to write the science, which covers these topics and more.

Joe Sedgwick

Joe Sedgwick has supported writers professionally for over ten years. He began work at The Literary Consultancy as a paid intern in 2015 and now works running their editorial service division as Head of Writing Services. He has a Publishing MA from Kingston University, and has been on the Board of Trustees at Spread the Word. He began work as a Literary Agent at Seventh Agency in 2024 and is actively looking for non-fiction and literary fiction from global voices and writers who are under-represented in the UK publishing industry. He has chaired literary panels or spoken at the Southbank Centre, Manchester Met University, New Writing North, New Writing South and the Asian Writer Festival, amongst others.

Jamie West

Jamie West’s two loves, theatre and a good murder mystery, is what has inspired his Bertie Carroll series set in 1930s theatreland. DEATH ON THE PIER introduces the murder mystery playwright turned real-life detective and the eagerly anticipated second book in the series MURDER AT THE MATINEE was shortlisted for The Crime Writers’ Association Whodunnit Dagger Award in 2025. He continues to split his time between writing and working in the theatre.

D.E.White

D.E. White writes commercial crime fiction for various publishers, including Boldwood Books, HQ Digital (HarperCollins), Joffe Books, and Storm. She loves to read (and write), suspense-driven, action-packed twisty crime thrillers, and lives on the south coast UK with her family.

Her next book is The Girl on Floor 29, (her 26th book, published on June 26th, 2026!), is about a group of guests locked in an elevator at a luxury London hotel, and the young lift engineer who must save them, despite being blackmailed herself (Boldwood Books).

Jade Kavanagh

Nicky Lovick

Nicky has worked in book publishing for over two decades, working in editorial for the Big Five, then as a freelancer, and has now made the leap into agenting.

Hannah Weatherill

Hannah joined Watson, Little in 2024 after four years as an agent at Northbank Talent Management and a year at Penguin Random House UK. She has a varied list of quality commercial and upmarket fiction and non-fiction, and authors she’s represented have been listed for prizes including the Women’s Prize, the British Book Awards, the Jhalak Prize, the Comedy Women in Print Prize and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction.

Hannah is always looking for crime, thriller and horror novels with a confident voice, a clear hook and a fresh approach, especially if it says something about the world we live in today. She’s recently enjoyed the structure of Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister, the and family dynamics of My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite and the epic, literary feel of All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker.