Crime Time FM

NADINE MATHESON chats to Paul Burke about her new crime thriller THE SHADOW CARVER, being the Chair of the CWA. serial killers, fraudsters, hurricanes in Grenada and troublesome domestic appliances.THE SHADOW CARVER: A killer who cuts straight to the bone … A CHILLING MURDER. When a convicted killer is released and later found brutally murdered, DI Henley and the Serial Crimes Unit are pulled into a deadly investigation with links to other recent attacks – all the victims are connected by the vicious signature left behind by the killer. A KILLER LURKSHenley and her team begin to connect the dots between the killings, and realise the murders are part of something more sinister. Each victim has been chosen with a deadly precision, their deaths carved out with a shocking cruelty. THE HUNT IS ON …As the rampage continues and the case spirals into a terrifying hunt for the killer, the line between predator and prey begins to blur. Henley and the SCU are running out of time … Can they outsmart a monster before they strike againNadine Matheson is an author, host of 'The Conversation with Nadine Matheson' Podcast and a former criminal defence lawyer. Her bestselling debut crime fiction novel, The Jigsaw Man, was won by HQ (HarperCollins) in a six-publisher auction and has been translated into fifteen languages. The fourth book in the series, The Shadow Carver, is available now.Recommended: Guide Me Home Attica Locke (book three in the Highway 59 series).Paul Burke is the editor of Crime Time FM, Aspects of Crime, CWA Gold Dagger judge. His first book EYES ONLY: SPIES ON SCREEN FROM SILENT TO STREAMING will be published in September 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Howard Linskey chats to Paul about is new novel Muse Of Fire, love of Shakespeare, Heydrich, the SOE, the Globe, London - population 200,000! Picking up a theatre and moving it across the river. Muse of Fire: William Shakespeare is moving up in the world, his name respected both at court and the theatre. Accepted by Queen Elizabeth, he is trusted to write plays for her, so long as she likes them...When one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting is found dead, almost everyone suspects murder. But who stood to gain? And are the rumours that she was with child true?Sir Robert Cecil, Elizabeth's spymaster, senses an opportunity to finally rid himself of his bitter rival, the Earl of Essex, who was seen with the girl before she died, and tasks Will to uncover the truth.But Shakespeare knows that the Earl of Southampton, his patron, is allied to the Earl of Essex. Will is caught between powerful foes. But this time, he must choose a side if he is to survive.The Bard turns sleuth once more in this fascinating second instalment in the investigations of William Shakespeare.Howard Linskey is a former journalist whose works include crime series and standalones set in the north-east, including the DC Ian Bradshaw series published by Penguin, and two espionage novels. He also writes historical fiction and non-fiction. His books have been published in nine countries. Originally from County Durham, he lives in Herts with his wife and daughter.Recommended: Stan Barstow. Trevor Wood,, Mari Hannah, Robert Scragg, The Chrysalids John Wymdham.Paul Burke is the editor of Crime Time FM and Aspects of Crime, his first book Eyes Only: Spy Films from Silent to Streaming will be published in September, 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Tracy Sierra chats to Paul Burke about her new Psychological thriller Warning Signs, true crime, tragedy through a lens, Nightwatching, place, James Joyce, danger least expected.Warning Signs: There's something out there in the darkness.By morning, bones lie in the snow, picked clean.Zach knows the moods of the mountains – his mother taught him before she was gone. His father and the other men on the ski weekend think they know better though.Drinking and boasting, they laugh in the face of the icy conditions.But Zach understands what danger looks like. Can he survive the wilderness, and all the monsters within it?Tracy Sierra was born and raised in the Colorado mountains. She is an attorney who currently lives in New England in an antique colonial-era home complete with its own secret room. When not writing, she spends time with her husband and two children. Nightwatching is her debut novel.Recommended: In a Lonely Place Dorothy B Hughes, The Dead James Joyce, Night of the Hunter (Film), Dead Weight Hildur Knútsdóttir trans. Mary Robinette Kowal (pub. August 2026).Paul Burke is the editor of CTFM and Aspects of Crime. Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Louise Welsh chats to Paul about her new novel The CUT UP, Rilke, Glasgow, Scottish PEN, The Cutting Pen, academia and being decent people.THE CUT UP: It's hard to be good when living is expensive. And times are tough on the streets these days. Luckily for Rilke at Bowery Auctions the demand for no-questions-asked cash is at an all-time high, and business is booming.When Rilke hears his old acquaintance Les is fresh out of prison, his inclination is to stay well out of his way. Letting sleeping dogs lie is one thing - but when one of Bowery's customers winds up dead on their tarmac, Rilke needs a bit of help from his friends to tidy things up. If only his friends didn't have such a habit of making things worse.Louise Welsh is an award-winning author of ten novels. The Cutting Room, her debut novel, won the Crime Writers' Association John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award and the Saltire First Book of The Year Award. In 2018, she was named the Most Inspiring Saltire First Book Award winner by public vote. She is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow. In 2022 she published The Second Cut, which was shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize for Crime Book of the Year and named by The Times as their Crime Book of the Year.@louisewelsh00Recommendations Kate Summerscale The Peepshow, Denise Mina The Long Drop, Merlin Holland After Oscar, Neil M Gunn Blood Hunt, Pat Barker.Paul Burke is editor of Aspects of Crime and Crime Time FM, CWA Gold Dagger Judge.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

SIMON BECKETT chats to Paul Burke about his new Dr. David Hunter novel THE BONE GARDEN, writing series fiction as standalones, the psychological, gothic thriller, The Chemistry of Death on TV and anniversaries - good or a bad thing?THE BONE GARDEN: Driving through the mountains in a fierce winter storm, David Hunter is forced to seek shelter at a remote village. But a one-night stop-over at the dilapidated Hillside House becomes deadly after a gruesome discovery in the depths of the surrounding forest.With communications down and the only road washed out by the storm, Hunter is unsure who - if anyone - he can trust. And as long-buried secrets of a feud amongst the locals begin to emerge, he knows that whatever dark past the isolated community might be hiding, there's no one he can call on for help.This time he's on his own.Simon Beckett is the No.1 International Bestselling author of the David Hunter series. His books have been translated into 29 languages, appeared in the Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller lists and sold over 10 million copies worldwide. A former freelance journalist who has written for The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent on Sunday and The Observer, the inspiration for the first David Hunter novel came after a visit to the world-renowned Body Farm in Tennessee introduced him to the work of forensic anthropologists. As well as co-winning the Ripper Award in 2018/19, the largest European crime prize, Simon has won the Raymond Chandler Society's ‘Marlowe' Award and been short-listed for the CWA Gold Dagger, CWA Dagger in the Library and Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year. In addition to the six David Hunter titles, the most recent of which is The Scent of Death, he has written five standalone novels, one of which, Where There's Smoke, was adapted into a major ITV two-part drama.Recommended: William Boyd Predicament, Mick Herron Slow Horses, Tom Rob Smith Cold PeoplePaul Burke is the editor of Crime Time FM podcast, CWA Gold Dagger judge, contributor to Crime Time and editor of Aspects of Crime.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

MALCOLM KEMPT chats to Paul Burke about A GIFT BEFORE DYING, the Arctic, Inuit culture, reading outside your genre and handing out guns to prisoners.A GIFT BEFORE DYING AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, CAN JUSTICE STILL BE FOUND?After a botched high-profile murder investigation, Sergeant Elderick Cole is exiled to the remote, rugged landscape of Nunavut, a vast territory in the Arctic Circle known for its untamed beauty, frigid temperatures, and endless winter nights.His bleak existence takes a sinister turn when he discovers the hanging body of Pitseolala, a troubled Inuit girl whom he had sworn to protect. Her death dredges up demons he thought he'd buried along with the scars of a fractured marriage and the aching divide between himself and his estranged daughter.As Cole's life unravels - and with it, the fragile thread of his investigation - he turns to Pitseolala's younger brother, Maliktu, a fellow outsider. It's then that Cole uncovers what binds them: a singular mission to find her killer.Against fierce backlash, Cole's overriding desire to redeem just one aspect of his otherwise failed life becomes an obsession - and he's willing to break every rule in his unyielding pursuit of justice and the smallest shred of redemption.Malcolm Kempt worked as a criminal lawyer in the remote Arctic for seventeen years before leaving to write full time. He now lives on the island of Newfoundland. A Gift Before Dying is his debut novel.Recommended: Ilaria Tuti Flowers Over the Inferno (also Italian TV series on Walter Presents Channel 4 UK), British Library Classics, True Detective (TV) Paul Burke is the editor of Crime Time FM, Aspects of Crime and is a CWA Dagger judge. His first book,a spy film anthology, will be published in September, '26.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

BRIAN PRICE chats to Paul Burke about FATAL SHOT, Mel Cotton, Chemistry, Biology and the Science of Crime, Terry Pratchett and common science mistakes by crime writers.Fatal Shot: Pleasure or murder? Was journalist Jenny Pike seeking extreme pleasure or was she murdered? Mexton police and her partner are suspicious. Things just don't add up. Who would want Jenny killed and why? If she was murdered, then why was there no trace of the killer? Deadly weaponsA mystery gunman is injured as his weapon blows up in his face. Someone is making blank weapons lethal. Mexton police are baffled. Meanwhile, a ruthless gangster is after a stolen laptop, and he will stop at nothing to get it back. What is on that laptop?A dangerous turf warSoon Mexton is in turmoil with illegal firearms, a vengeful crime boss and an impossible crime to solve. A turf war between drug dealers looms and the police seem powerless to stop it. Can DC Mel Cotton and her colleagues solve the riddles facing them without getting killed? Can a lethal conflict be prevented, before someone gets seriously hurt?Brian Price is a chemist and biologist who retired from the Environment Agency in 2016. He is the author of Crime Writing: How to write the science and runs a website offering tips on science for crime writers (www.crimewriterscience.co.uk). He taught at the Open University for 26 years. He has advised number of leading crime writers. Brian's first crime novel, Fatal Trade, was published by Hobeck Books in 2021. Fatal Shot came out in 2025.Find out more about Brian at www.brianpriceauthor.co.ukRecommended Bryan Mason, MW Craven, John Dixon Carr, Martin Edwards, Paul Durston, Mark Billingham, Kathryn Harkup, TG Reid.Paul Burke is the editor of Crime Time FM, Aspects of Crime and is a CWA Dagger judge. Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

SEASON 9 - EPISODE 5: SIR IAN RANKIN (John Rebus) & MARK BILLINGHAM (Tom Thorne) discuss the perks and pitfalls of series fiction & what they might have done differently if they had their time again.Desert Island books:The Maltese Falcon - Raymond Chandler, Tune In - Mark Lewishon, The Prime of Miss Jean Brody - Muriel Spark, Bleak House - Charles Dickens, Rivals - Jilly Cooper.VICTORIA SELMANSundayTimes bestselling author of ALL THE LITTLE LIARSAmazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3xmvMeSWebsite for news and giveaways: http://www.victoriaselmanauthor.comTwitter: @VictoriaSelmanWe love to hear from our listeners! Find me on Twitter @VictoriaSelman and join in the chat using #OnTheSofaWithVictoriaProduced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Joel Nedecky chats to Paul Burke about his new noir novel THE BROKEN DETECTIVE, Jake Joelsen, Winnipeg, noir spirit, teaching, social critique and family.THE BROKEN DETECTIVE Private investigator Jake Joelsen is going to prison for assaulting his sick mom's abusive boyfriend, but thanks to a suspended sentence, he has two weeks to earn as much money as possible so he can financially support his mom when he's inside. Enter Nia Rowe, who hires Jake to find her troubled sister, Sadie, a former member of a mega-church called Watershed Moments. Jake struggles to stay sober as he encounters old haunts he's never come to terms with, while trying to rescue Sadie from the grip of powerful people willing to do anything to protect their place on the highest rungs of society.Joel Nedecky has always loved stories, yet most of his childhood was spent playing hockey. It wasn't until university that he discovered a passion for all types of fiction. He is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, and his first novel, The Broken Detective, comes out in the fall of 2025 from Run Amok Crime.Recommend: George Pelecanos, Dennis Lehane Cormac McCarthy The Road, Walter Mosley.Paul Burke edits Aspects of Crime Magazine and writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Season 9, Episode 5: Holly Seddon 59 mins, Steve Cavanagh Eddie Flynn series & SR Masters The Drop #OnTheSofaWithVictoriaVICTORIA SELMANSundayTimes bestselling author of ALL THE LITTLE LIARSAmazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3xmvMeSWebsite for news and giveaways: http://www.victoriaselmanauthor.comTwitter: @VictoriaSelmanWe love to hear from our listeners! Find me on Twitter @VictoriaSelman and join in the chat using #OnTheSofaWithVictoriaProduced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

SEASON 9 - EPISODE 4: VASEEM KHAN (Quantum of Menace) & GARETH RUBIN (Holmes & Moriarty) discuss the highs and lows of writing literary spin offs.Desert Island Books Vaseem Khan Midnight's Children Salman RushdieGareth Rubin Viz Annual 1998VICTORIA SELMANSundayTimes bestselling author of ALL THE LITTLE LIARSAmazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3xmvMeSWebsite for news and giveaways: http://www.victoriaselmanauthor.comTwitter: @VictoriaSelmanWe love to hear from our listeners! Find me on Twitter @VictoriaSelman and join in the chat using #OnTheSofaWithVictoriaProduced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

SEASON 9 - EPISODE 3: AA DHAND (Harry Virdee) & ALEX DAHL (Playdate/Stolen Girl) discuss what it's like seeing your novel come to life on the screen and tips for wannabe script writers.Desert Island BooksAmit Dhand The Stand Stephen KingAlex Dahl Gilead Marilynne RobinsonVICTORIA SELMANSundayTimes bestselling author of ALL THE LITTLE LIARSAmazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3xmvMeSWebsite for news and giveaways: http://www.victoriaselmanauthor.comTwitter: @VictoriaSelmanWe love to hear from our listeners! Find me on Twitter @VictoriaSelman and join in the chat using #OnTheSofaWithVictoriaProduced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Season 9 Episode 2:  ABIGAIL DEAN (Girl A) & JENNIE GODFREY (The List of Suspicious Things) discuss true crime, second book syndrome and what it's like to have a smash hit debut.VICTORIA SELMANSundayTimes bestselling author of ALL THE LITTLE LIARSAmazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3xmvMeSWebsite for news and giveaways: http://www.victoriaselmanauthor.comTwitter: @VictoriaSelmanWe love to hear from our listeners! Find me on Twitter @VictoriaSelman and join in the chat using #OnTheSofaWithVictoriaProduced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

OnTheSofaWithVictoria - Season 9, Episode 1: Industry Insiders.Phoebe Morgan (Simon & Schuster) & Jack Butler (Little Brown) discuss the trends coming out of the Frankfurt Book Fair.VICTORIA SELMANSundayTimes bestselling author of ALL THE LITTLE LIARSAmazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3xmvMeSWebsite for news and giveaways: http://www.victoriaselmanauthor.comTwitter: @VictoriaSelmanWe love to hear from our listeners! Find me on Twitter @VictoriaSelman and join in the chat using #OnTheSofaWithVictoriaProduced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

RWR MCDONALD chats to Craig Sisterson about his new novel THE NANCYS AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING NECKLACE, tone, child narrator in adult story, fictionalising a small town in Otago, New Zealand, living in Melbourne, teaching creative writing, Faber academy.THE NANCYS AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING NECKLACE: Meet the Nancys…Tippy Chan is eleven years old, and she lives in a small town in a very quiet part of New Zealand – the town her Uncle Pike escaped as a teenager, the moment he got a chance. Now Pike is back with his new boyfriend Devon to look after Tippy while her mum is on a Christmas cruise.Tippy can't get enough of her uncle's old Nancy Drew books. She wants to be Nancy and is desperate to solve a real mystery. So, when her teacher's body is found beside Riverstone's only traffic light, it looks like Tippy's moment has arrived. She and her minders form The Nancys, a secret detective club.But what starts as a bonding and sightseeing adventure quickly morphs into something far more dangerous. A wrongful arrest, a close call with the murderer, and an intervention from Tippy's mum all conspire against The Nancys. But regardless of their own safety, and despite the constant distraction of questionable fashion choices in the town that style forgot, The Nancys know only they can stop the killer from striking again. Whatever the cost…RWR MCDONALD (Rob) is an award-winning Kiwi author, living in Melbourne, Australia with his two daughters and one HarryCat. Author of the award-winning Nancys series, The Nancys and Nancy Business, Rob is also a creative writing tutor and host of QWS Podcast. Rob now writes picture books by day and whodunit mysteries by night — except all his characters seem to be completely out of control and pay no attention to him, or any rules.Recommend: Katherine Kovacic, Vanda Symon, JP Pomare - 17 Years Later (The Clearing & Watching You on Tv/streaming), Hayley Scrivenor Dirt Town, Lyn Yeowart The Hollow Girl.Craig Sisterson is a features writer and crime fiction expert from New Zealand who writes for newspapers and magazines in several countries. In recent years he's interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at festivals on three continents. He's been a judge of the McIlvanney Prize and Ned Kelly Awards, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and co-founder of Rotorua Noir. He lives in London with his daughter. He is the author of  Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

VAL MCDERMID chats to Craig Sisterson, THE SILENT BONES, Karen Pirie, TV shows, Queen MacBeth, Allie Burns, building a career, editors, ground breaking fiction.THE SILENT BONES The truth is buried just beneath the surface . . .When torrential rain causes a landslide on a motorway in Scotland, it reveals a crime scene: someone hid a body in the tarmac eleven years before. Journalist Sam Nimmo had been the prime suspect in the murder of his fiancée when he disappeared, and now DCI Karen Pirie and her Historic Cases Unit must find out who buried him, and why.Meanwhile, in Edinburgh, new evidence reopens a closed case and the accidental death of a hotel manager starts to look like murder. But what did Tom Jamieson's book club have to do with his demise - and what will they do to keep their secrets?Karen and her team begin to untangle a web of lies, one that connects their murder cases with Scotland's rich and powerful. They will be tested to their limits - and possibly beyond . . .Val McDermid is a number one bestseller whose novels have been translated into more than forty languages, and have sold over eighteen million copies. She has won many awards internationally, including the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year and the LA Times Book of the Year Award. She was inducted into the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame in 2009, was the recipient of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2010 and received the Lambda Literary Foundation Pioneer Award in 2011. In 2016, Val received the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival and in 2017 received the DIVA Literary Prize for Crime, and was elected a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Val has served as a judge for the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Man Booker Prize, and was Chair of the Wellcome Book Prize in 2017. She is the recipient of six honorary doctorates and is an Honorary Fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford. She writes full-time and divides her time between Edinburgh and East Neuk of Fife.RECOMMENDS: Josephine Tey, Mick Herron, Natalie Marlow. Jo Callaghan, Swag - Elmore Leonard, The Deadly Percheron - John Franklin Bardin, Stig Abell. Craig Sisterson is a features writer and crime fiction expert from New Zealand who writes for newspapers and magazines in several countries. In recent years he's interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at festivals on three continents. He's been a judge of the McIlvanney Prize and Ned Kelly Awards, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and co-founder of Rotorua Noir. He lives in London with his daughter. He is the author of  SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME: The Pocket Essentials Guide to the Crime Fiction, Film & TV of Australia & New Zealand.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Lilja Sigurdardóttir chats to Craig Sisterson on Crime Time FM about BLACK AS DEATH, trans. Lorenza Garcia, The Arora mysteries, Il Postino, Pablo Neruda and exile, AI and sci-fi, Christmas books in Iceland.BLACK AS DEATH A final reckoning… With the fate of her missing sister, Ísafold, finally uncovered, Áróra feels a fragile relief as the search that consumed her life draws to a close. But when Ísafold's boyfriend – the prime suspect in her disappearance – is found dead at the same site where Ísafold's body was discovered, Áróra's grip on reality starts to unravel … and the mystery remains far from solved. To distract herself, she dives headfirst into a money-laundering case that her friend Daníel is investigating. But she soon finds that there is more than meets the eye and, once again, all leads point towards Engihjalli, the street where Ísafold lived and died, and a series of shocking secrets that could both explain and endanger everything… Atmospheric, dark and chilling, Black as Death is the breathtaking finale to the twisty, immersive An Áróra Investigation series, as Áróra and her friends search for answers that may take them to places even darker than death…Lilja Sigurdardottir Icelandic crime-writer Lilja Sigurdardottir was born in the town of Akranes in 1972 and raised in Mexico, Sweden, Spain and Iceland. An award-winning playwright and screenwriter, Lilja has written eleven crime novels, many of which have been translated into multiple languages and hitting bestseller lists worldwide. Lilja has won The Icelandic Performing Arts Award for 'Best Play of the Year', The Icelandic Crime Fiction Awards twice, been longlisted for the CWA International Dagger, been shortlisted for the prestigious Glass Key Award twice and had a Guardian Book of the Year. The film rights for the Reykjavik Noir trilogy (Snare, Trap and Cage) have been bought by Palomar Pictures in California. She lives in Reykjavík, Iceland, with her partner but also spends considerable time in Scotland.Craig Sisterson is a features writer and crime fiction expert from New Zealand who writes for newspapers and magazines in several countries. In recent years he's interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at festivals on three continents. He's been a judge of the McIlvanney Prize and Ned Kelly Awards, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and co-founder of Rotorua Noir. He lives in London with his daughter. He is the author of  SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME: The Pocket Essentials Guide to the Crime Fiction, Film & TV of Australia & New Zealand.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

JAKE ARNOTT chats to Paul Burke about his new novel Blood Rival, Sophocles, Family, noir, tragedy, Blue Lights, Jim Thompson, James Ellroy, Cathi Unsworth, The Responder.BLOOD RIVAL It happened at a place where three roads meet. Junction 1A of the M25, heading east towards Gravesend. There's a killer on the road.Lee Royle, the notorious ‘King of Kent', is dead, killed in a brutal act of road rage. But was this a random attack, or was it a premeditated move in a deadly game of betrayal and revenge?Three lives are set on a collision course: Jo Royle, Lee's disillusioned and embittered wife, hiding secrets that could kill; Eddie Pierce, Jo's ambitious new lover, determined to move up the criminal ranks; and Commander Ray Spinks, a corrupt cop with his own claim on Lee's legacy -and no intention of letting it slip through his fingers.Caught between lust and loyalty, ambition and guilt, each will risk everything to uncover or bury the explosive truth behind Lee's death. Because this wasn't just a murder. It was a reckoning.Blood Rival is a modern retelling of an ancient story, where Greek tragedy meets neo-noir. A compulsive psychological thriller of forbidden desire, family secrets and fatal ambition.Jake Arnott was born in 1961, and lives in London. He is the author of the THE LONG FIRM, published by Sceptre in 1999 and subsequently made into an acclaimed BBC TV series. His second novel, HE KILLS COPPERS, was also made into a series by Channel 4. He has since published the novels TRUECRIME, JOHNNY COME HOME, THE DEVIL'S PAINTBRUSH, THE HOUSE OF RUMOUR, THE FATAL TREE and now BLOOD FEVER.Paul Burke edits Aspects of Crime Magazine and writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

DAVID JARVIS chats to Paul Burke about his new spy thriller, The Green Feathers, CHOGM, Five Eyes, Mike Kingdom, the zeitgeist and the lighter touch.The Green Feathers When a butterfly flaps its wings in the Caribbean, it causes storms in Europe.The British King and Prime Minister have arrived in Georgetown, Guyana, along with the leaders of the other fifty-five countries in the Commonwealth, for its biennial meeting. Two shots ring out causing panic on the steps of the Mahaica Convention Centre.The previous month, Tina Persad, an MI6 agent with Caribbean experience, had been sent to find out whether rumoured threats to the meeting were real or not. Then days before it was due to start, she had disappeared without trace.Michaela ‘Mike' Kingdom, a CIA analyst in London, may have been the last person to see her alive when they had a drink together in The Green Feathers. With Tina missing, Mike makes it her mission to find her friend, despite warnings not to get involved.The butterfly may have already flapped its wings, but can Mike find Tina before the Heavens open?David Jarvis went to art college in the 1970s before setting up an international planning practice, which he ran successfully for forty years. This took him around the world from Trinidad to Croatia and from France to Saudi Arabia.His canvases just got bigger and bigger. He has now retired to Wiltshire to write and drink wine, not necessarily in that order.Recommend Carl Hiaasen, Kyril Bonfiglioli (Mordecai)Paul Burke edits Aspects of Crime Magazine and writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

New Reviews on Crime Time FMThe Man Who Died Seven Times Yasuhiko Nishizawa trans. by Jesse Kirkwood Evil in High Places Rory Clements Ask for Andrea Noelle W Ihli Deadman's Pool Kate Rhodes Persons of Interest Simon DinsdaleAll Our Yestedays by Guy Hale Paul Burke edits Aspects of Crime Magazine and writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

GUY HALE chats to Paul Burke about The Shakespeare Murders, PUT OUT THE LIGHT, ALL OUR YESTERDAYS, The Comeback Trail, Stratford theatre, indie publishing and dodgy 70s cops.Put Out The Light, Paperback Act III Stratford-upon-Avon, Spring 1972 On the streets of Stratford four murders remain unsolved. For DC Toby Marlow there is only one potential killer: Oliver Lawrence. But nobody has seen Oliver for over fifteen years. They don't even know what he looks like, they are chasing a shadow. Oliver's first act is complete. As Spring turns to summer Act III is about to begin. Like Othello, he is poisoned by lies from the past. Revenge has consumed him…Now is the time to put out more lights!Guy Hale was born in Worcestershire. He has owned and run a successful construction business and is a publisher at Bullington Press and record label boss at Gulf Coast Rocords. His debut novel featured Jimmy Wayne and was the first in the Comeback Trial series, The Croaking Raven launched the Shakespeare Murders. His new novel, the third in that series is Put Out the Light.Mentions: Gardner - book wholesaler/distributor, Caroline England, Luke Deckard.Recommendations: Trevor Wood, Vaseem Khan, Abir Mukherjee, Chris Lloyd, Chris McDonald, Rob Parker, Heather Critchlow.Paul Burke edits Aspects of Crime Magazine and writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Donna Morfett chats to Paul Burke about THE MASQUERADE OF MURDER, Luton & Dunstable, revenge on the page, misogyny and self publishing.THE MASQUERADE OF MURDER DI Cora Snitton is barely catching her breath after the last case when another body turns up - this time, a suspected junkie dumped in an abandoned quarry.Her team is pulled into the chaos of the Luton Carnival, a vibrant event with a dark reputation for gang violence and drug deals.Amid the crowds, noise, and flashing lights, a ruthless gangster sees his chance to make a name for himself in a new town.As the music blares and the party rages on, something sinister rages behind the scenes.Donna Morfett Born and raised in a small Town in Bedfordshire. Donna has loved reading as long as she was able to understand the words written on the page, and the love has remained. Now a way to help cope with mental health. As with many people across the world, the pandemic left us with lots of time, and twiddling thumbs. As well as trying to complete a degree in Forensic Science at the time, Donna thought she'd try and write a book. Donna took part in NaNoWriMo, in November 2021, and wrote her first full length novel. Then there is Cassie, which came joint second in a recent short story competition. When entered, they were given covers and proper editing, so Donna thought, why not release it, and raise some money for charity. So that's how Cassie came to be. Debut novel The Disappearance of Peter Markham was released by Rampart books on May 23rd 2024. It was re-released with a new edit and cover in May 25. The follow up, Masquerade of Murder is due July 11th. Recommendation William Hussey The Boy I LoveMentions Graham Bartlett and Neil LancasterDonna Morfett Paul Burke edits Aspects of Crime Magazine and writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Jane Thynne chats to Paul Burke about new Clara Vine spy novel THE JUDGEMENT OF STARS, Nazi Astrology, the German Film industry, Hedy Lamarr, humour in the darkest moments.The Judgement of Stars Berlin, 1942. Clara Vine, the Anglo-German actress, is working undercover in Germany as an agent of British intelligence. During a hiatus in the filming of Goebbels' latest propaganda film, the Sinking of the Titanic, she is covertly approached and asked to track down an errant British spy called Victor Stern.Stern is a physicist, feared to be passing vital secrets to the enemy. He also happens to be Clara's former lover, who she met in Vienna at the home of the actress, Hedy Lamarr.As Clara hunts for Stern, however, she finds herself the subject of a blackmail plot from a young woman at the Propaganda ministry, Gisela Vogel, who knows of Clara's Jewish heritage.She faces a race against time to find the missing agent before Goebbels learns of her true identity.Clara's search takes her to Hamburg and a meeting with the Third Reich's favourite astrologer, who foretells dramatic news about her future.But even if Clara finds her former lover, does she have it within herself to kill him?Appointment in Paris Jane Thynne is a novelist journalist and broadcaster. She has worked at the Sunday times, the Daily Telegraph and the BBC, among others. She is the author of The Clara Vine series of wartime espionage thrillers and the Fox and Fry novels. She has also written two acclaimed dystopian novels, Widowland and Queen High, under the name CJ Carey. She lives in London.RECOMMENDATIONS & talking points - Lawrence Rees, Adam Zamoyski, Uwe Neumahr The Writer's Castle, The Passenger Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz, Simon Schema The Road to Auschwitz (documentary), Philip Kerr Bernie Gunther novels.Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

ALEX GERLIS chats to Paul Burke about his WWII spy thriller THE SECOND TRAITOR, Operation Sea Lion, Hitler as military commander, German spies in England and Alan Furst.THE SECOND TRAITOR The countdown to invasion begins... It's September 1940, and British intelligence is on high alert: the Nazi invasion of Britain is imminent. The German navy is assembling a vast fleet in Rotterdam to ferry men and materiel across the Channel. Meanwhile, a sinister organisation called The Group – a collection of British and Irish Nazi collaborators – is at work within the UK trying to pave the way for the Wehrmacht. The Invasion Warning Sub-Committee is established to counter this threat, and Charles Cooper, coming in from the cold after the disintegration of The Annexe, joins up and is tasked with cracking this nefarious network. But that is not the only concern for the spy chiefs: the search for double agent ‘Archie' – the Soviet spy and British traitor – is hotting up: they are now confident he works within MI6, and an elaborate scheme is set up to narrow down the list of suspects… To make things worse, they now know for certain that a second traitor, ‘Bertie', is also in play. With suspicion at paranoia pitch, can MI6 clean house before the Nazis arrive to help them do it?ALEX GERLIS was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. He worked for the BBC as a journalist for many years, starting out as a researcher on a three-month contract on Panorama and ending his career there nearly thirty years later as Head of Training in the BBC College of Journalism.  In between, he was an editor of a number of Television News programmes. Alex left the BBC in 2011 to concentrate on his writing.  Alex is married to Sonia and lives in west London and has two daughters and two grandsons, even though he is obviously not old enough to be a grandfather. Contrary to what many readers seem to believe, he's never worked in the world of espionage. Alex has the usual hobbies and interests one expects and has supported Grimsby Town since 1968. His books contain cryptic references to the club, which only Mariners fans will appreciate.Recommendations Alan Furst, le Carré, Graham Greene, IS Berry.Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Fiona Forsyth chats to Paul Burke about her new historical thriller DEATH and the POET, Ghastly misogynists, Ovid, small town life in the ancient world, studying the classics.Death and the Poet 14 AD. When Dokimos the vegetable seller is found bludgeoned to death in the Black Sea town of Tomis, it's the most exciting thing to have happened in the region for years. Now reluctantly settled into life in exile, the disgraced Roman poet Ovid helps his friend Avitius to investigate the crime, with the evidence pointing straight at a cuckolded neighbour.But Ovid is also on edge, waiting for the most momentous death of all. Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome, is nearing his end, and the future of the whole Roman world is uncertain.Even as far away as Tomis, this political shadow creates tension as the pompous Roman legate Flaccus thinks more of his career than solving a local murder.Avitius and Ovid become convinced that an injustice has been done in the case of the murdered vegetable seller. But Flaccus continues to turn a deaf ear.When Ovid's wife, Fabia, arrives unexpectedly, carrying a cryptic message from the Empress Livia, the poet becomes distracted - and another crime is committed.Assisted by Fabia, the investigators get closer to the truth. But the truth will come at a price.Ovid hopes for a return to Rome - only to discover that he is under threat from an enemy much closer to home.FIONA FORSYTH I will never fully understand the Romans, and that is the challenge. I have loved the ancient world since I read my first Greek myth, Theseus and the Minotaur. After reading Classics at Oxford, I taught at a boys' public school for twenty-five years, but then my family moved to Qatar. There wasn't much call for Latin teachers, so I wrote, and now I am back in the UK, all the questions I have asked myself about the Romans over the years are turning into novels. I was once accused by a slightly indignant teenager of being in love with Cicero. This is not strictly true...Recommendations SJ Parris, DV Bishop, RM Cullen Harlequin is Dead, Nicola Upson, Robert Graves, Alan Massie, John Williams.Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

The latest reviews - July 2025.Strange Houses Uketsu trans. Jim RionBlood Caste Shylashri ShankarThe Red Shore William ShawThe Inside Man by Trevor WoodThe Verifiers by Jane PekThe Case of the Mad Doctor PD LennonHome Before Dark Eva Björg Ægisdottir trans Victoria CribbThe Blue Place by Nicola GriffithTwo Kinds of Strangers Steve CavanaghSnapshot & Chain of Evidence by Garry DisherPaul Burke writes for Aspects of Crime, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

MARK ELLIS chats to Paul Burke about his new historical crime thriller Death of an Officer and Boom Time an account of crime in WWII London.DEATH OF AN OFFICER: London. Spring 1943. While Europe continues to suffer under the iron fist of Nazi occupation, Britain remains battered but unbowed.DCI Frank Merlin, already contending with a booming wartime crime wave in the capital, is confronted with a baffling case: the brutal murder of a respected doctor.Following a puzzling trail that leads him into the hidden corners of clubland - and which appears to be linked to the disappearance of both British and American officers - Merlin must untangle a dark web of shocking secrets.Boom Time The accepted story of the Home Front during the Second World War is one of cooperation and teamwork as people across Britain linked arms to provide support for the war effort. Right? Wrong. Crime rates actually increased during the war years. Think foreign gangs roaming through London is a recent phenomenon? Think again as Maltese and Italians cornered the organised crime world. And what about the Black Market? Well, business was booming. As gangster Mad ‘Frankie' Fraser later said, ‘I'll never forgive Hitler for surrendering, we were making so much money!' And what about the Americans? Healthy appetites, charm and good looks were not the only thing they brought with them. Also racial segregation and a veritable army of criminals.MARK ELLIS is a thriller writer from Swansea and a former barrister and entrepreneur. He is the creator of DCI Frank Merlin, an Anglo-Spanish police detective operating in World War 2 London. His books treat the reader to a vivid portrait of London during the war skilfully blended with gripping plots, political intrigue and a charismatic protagonist. Recommendations: Ragnar Jonasson, Simon Mason, Eric Ambler, Gore Vidal, Andrew Lonie, Phil Craig, Chips Channon, Len Deighton, Kingsley Amis.Film: Chicago Joe and the Showgirl with Emily Lloyd & Keifer Sutherland Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

DAN FESPERMAN chats to Paul Burke about his new spy novel PARIAH, Eastern Europe, fiction as the second draft of history, facades of democracy, comedy and Hollywood, The Baltimore Banner.Pariah: an adrenaline-fueled thriller about a disgraced comedian-turned-politician who takes on the role of a lifetime: infiltrating a corrupt Eastern European country to spy on their brutal dictator. Hal Knight, a comedian and movie star-turned politician, is no stranger to controversy. But after an embarrassing and humiliating encounter on set, Knight resigns from Congress, quits social media, and disappears to the tiny Caribbean island of Vieques to drink dirty martinis and nurse his wounds. Shortly after his arrival, he is approached by a trio of CIA operatives hoping to recruit him to infiltrate the power structure of Bolrovia--a hostile, Eastern European country whose despotic president, Nikolai Horvatz, happens to be a longtime fan of Knight's adolescent male humor. Knowing that Horvatz plans to invite the disgraced star for an official visit, the CIA coaxes Knight to accept. Skeptical, but with little to lose, Knight accepts the challenge, sensing this might be his one chance to do something worthwhile, even if no one else ever finds out. Upon arrival as President Horvatz's guest of honor, Knight confronts his ultimate acting challenge. What begins as an assignment to keep his eyes and ears open quickly turns into a life-or-death battle of wits, with consequences reaching all the way to Washington. With Pariah, Dan Fesperman has crafted a heart-pounding thriller about espionage, entertainment, and one man's pursuit of redemption.Dan Fesperman  served as a foreign correspondent for The Baltimore Sun, based in Berlin. His coverage of the siege of Sarajevo led to his debut novel, Lie in the Dark, which won Britain's John Creasey Memorial Dagger Award for best first crime novel. Subsequent books have won the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for best thriller, the Hammett Prize from the International Association of Crime Writers, the Barry Award for best thriller, and selection by USA Today as the year's best mystery/thriller novel. He lives near Baltimore.Recommendations Say Nothing Patrick Radden Keefe, Graham Greene, Mick Herron. Charles Cumming. David McCloskey, IS Berry, John le Carré.Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

GJ WILLIAMS chats to Paul Burke about her new historical crime thriller THE CYGNET PRINCE, third in the Tudor Rose Murders series, Tudor scandals, pretenders to the throne, the Kardashians of the Tudor period. THE CYGNET PRINCE: England 1562. Elizabeth's court is besieged by scandal and Catholic plots, when a young German prince arrives in England claiming to be the son of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves - and so the rightful King. His letters, looks, and jewels seem to prove his case. As a poison spreads and old secrets unravel, Doctor John Dee and his apprentice, Margaretta, must uncover the truth behind the prince's origins. Their investigation spans England and German as they uncover forbidden love, revenge, betrayal and a plot against the Tudor Dynasty. But will they uncover the truth in time to save the queen's throne?GJ WILLIAMS is a Welsh woman living in Somerset, England. She is a doctor of psychology and ran an international consulting business for 25 years before putting her love of writing to the forefront of life. She lives between Somerset and London and is often found writing on the train next to a grumpy cat and a cup of tea. Her dream is to be chosen by readers of CJ Sansom, SJ Parris, Rory Clements, Kate Mosse, SG McClean, and Andrew TaylorLife is always busy. When she is not writing, she is researching, travelling to historic sites or plotting while sailing the blue seas on her beloved boat.GJ also delivers talks and ‘meet the author' sessions with historical interest groups, book clubs and societies. Reach her through the contact page.Recommendations The Unravelling of Mary Reddish by David Whitfield Murder at Greenwich Palace Adele JordanPaul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.20% of royalties from this book will be donated to Weston Hospice CareProduced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

SIMON  MCCLEAVE chats to Paul Burke about his new novels - THE ABERSOCH KILLINGS and FIVE DAYS IN PROVENCE, Anglesey and Snowdonia and writing TV.The Abersoch Killings Keep your enemies close and your family closer… At his beachside mansion, with his large family and beautiful wife, Jack Rush celebrated his step-daughter's wedding: an extravagant, happy day. But that night, the movie producer is found in a pool of blood having snorted cyanide instead of cocaine. With security tight, DI Ruth Hunter and DS Nick Evans are looking for a suspect among the guests. Jack's wife knew of his many infidelities; his twin sons resented his control; and Charlie, the new son-in-law, was furious about the prenup. They all had motive and opportunity but who switched the drugs and killed the domineering bully?Also: Five Days in Provence Simon McCleave is a multi million-selling crime novelist who lives in North Wales with his wife and two children. Before he was an author, Simon worked as a script editor at the BBC and a producer at Channel 4 before working as a story analyst in Los Angeles. He then became a script writer, writing on series such as Silent Witness, The Bill, EastEnders and many more. His Channel 4 film Out of the Game was critically acclaimed and described as ‘an unflinching portrayal of male friendship' by Time Out. His first book, 'The Snowdonia Killings', was released in January 2020 and soon became an Amazon Bestseller, reaching No 1 in the UK Chart and selling over 400,000 copies. His twenty subsequent novels in the DI Ruth Hunter Snowdonia Series have all been Amazon bestsellers, with most of them hitting the top of the digital charts. He has sold over 3 million books to date. ‘The Dark Tide', Simon's first book in an Anglesey based crime series for publishing giant Harper Collins (Avon), was a major hit in 2022, becoming the highest selling Waterstone's Welsh Book of the Month ever.  This year, Simon is releasing the first in a new series of books, ‘Marshal of Snowdonia' with several more planned for 2025. Simon has also written a one-off psychological thriller, Last Night at Villa Lucia, for Storm Publishing, which was a major hit, The Times describing it as ‘…well above the usual seasonal villa thriller…' with its ‘…empathetic portrayal of lives spent in the shadow of coercion and abuse.'  The Snowdonia based DI Ruth Hunter books are now set to be filmed as a major new television series, with shooting to begin in North Wales in 2025. Recommendations Michael Connelly, James Ellroy, George Pelecanos.Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

The Crime Writers Association Awards Evening hosted by Victoria Selman and Imran Mahmood.Vaseem Khan outgoing ChairNadine Matheson new ChairMick Herron Diamond Dagger winnerMaxim Jakubowski introducing Red Herring recipient Janet LaurenceDea Parkin Emerging writer dagger - Winner Ashland by Joe EurellVicki Goldie introducing the Dagger in the Library - winner Richard Osman (recorded)DV Bishop introducing the Best Crime Publisher Dagger - winner Orenda Books collected by Karen SullivanAyo Onatade introducing the Short Story Dagger  - winner A Date on Yarmouth Pier by JC BernthalMaxim Jakubowski introducing the In Translation Dagger winner The Night of Baba Yaga by Akira Otani translated Sam Bett.Philip Gooden introducing the ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-fiction - winner The Peepshow Kate Summerscale (recorded)Paul Burke introducing The Historical Dagger - winner AJ West The Betrayal of Thomas True Gytha Lodge introducing the Whodunnit Dagger winner Lisa Hall The Case of the Singer and the ShowgirlSusi Holliday introducing The Twisted Dagger winner Nightwatching Tracy Sierra (recorded)Victoria Dowd introducing the ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger winner All Us Sinners Katy MasseyCorrine Turner introducing the IFP Ian Fleming Steel Dagger winner Dark Ride Lou Berney (recorded)Richard Reynolds with the final award of the night the KAA Gold Dagger - winner Anna MazzolaCongratulations to all winners. Apologies for the delay in putting up this show due to unforeseen circumstances. Thanks you to the Crime Writers Association and all sponsors. Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Season 8, Episode 5: Serial Killers. Asia Mackay (Killing it & A SERIAL KILLER'S GUIDE TO MARRIAGE) and Sam Holland (The Echo Man & THE COUNTDOWN KILLER) chat with Victoria Selman about the worst kinds of killers and having fun doing it. Are sex scenes tougher to write than murder. Do serial killers have a high IQ. Avoiding the dilemma of killing 30 people, which is ok, but killing one animal...VICTORIA SELMANSundayTimes bestselling author of ALL THE LITTLE LIARSAmazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3xmvMeSWebsite for news and giveaways: http://www.victoriaselmanauthor.comTwitter: @VictoriaSelmanWe love to hear from our listeners! Find me on Twitter @VictoriaSelman and join in the chat using #OnTheSofaWithVictoriaProduced by Junkyard DogRecommendations: Dominic Nolan White City (out now), Dead Husband Cook Book Danielle Valentine (August)Stephen King, James Herbert, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Season 8 Episode 4, Cosy Crime Rev. Richard Coles, TE 'Tim' Kinsey. Marnie Riches Desert island books: Tiger Margery Allingham. Daughter Laura Shepherd Robinson. A Big Boy Chris BrookmyreVICTORIA SELMANSundayTimes bestselling author of ALL THE LITTLE LIARSAmazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3xmvMeSWebsite for news and giveaways: http://www.victoriaselmanauthor.comTwitter: @VictoriaSelmanWe love to hear from our listeners! Find me on Twitter @VictoriaSelman and join in the chat using #OnTheSofaWithVictoriaProduced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

The Review Show June 2025Into the Fire GD Wright The White Crow by Michael RobothamActually I'm a Murderer by Terry DearyA Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor Broken Jon Atli JonassonFortress of Evil Javier Cercas Rush Beth Lewis Make a Home of Me Vanessa Santos Can You Solve the Murder by Antony JohnstonThe Woman Who Laughed Simon MasonKing of Ashes SA CosbyAgatha Christie Capital Christie Criminal Pursuits: This is Me ed. Samantha Lee HoweCarnival of Lies DV BishopPaul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out early 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Mark Billingham chats to Paul Burke about his new thriller What the Night Brings, donuts, longevity, opening scenes and please don't do spoilers!Bonus:Mark Billingham chats to Philip Gwynne Jones at Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival in Aberystwyth. Two pals have a chat.What the Night Brings"Three dead coppers, Tom, maybe four by lunchtime."The targeted murder of four officers is only the first in a series of attacks that leaves police scared, angry and, most disturbingly of all, vengeful.As Tom Thorne and Nicola Tanner dig into the reasons for the violence, a deeper darkness begins to emerge: the possibility that these murders are payback. The price paid for an unspeakable betrayal.To uncover the truth, Thorne will be forced to question everything he stands for. He can trust nobody, and the shocking secrets revealed by one terrible night will fracture his entire world.Mark Billingham has won numerous awards, being one of only two authors to twice win the Theakston Old Peculier Award for Crime Novel of the Year. Each of his novels has been a Sunday Times bestseller, including all those in his two series, Tom Thorne and Declan Miller. Sleepyhead and Scaredy Cat were made into a hit TV series on Sky 1, and a series based on the novels In the Dark and Time of Death was broadcast on BBC1. Mark lives in north London with his wife and two children.Recommended: Dom Nolan Vine Street & White CityPhilip Gwynne Jones The Magus of Sicily 3/7/25Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

The Crime Writers Association Whodunnit Dagger A CWA Specials Part 1The Whodunnit Dagger celebrates books where the sex, swearing, and bloodletting take place offstage–books that focus on the intellectual challenge at the heart of a good mystery, and which revolve around often quirky characters. Books in this category include cosy crime, traditional crime, and Golden Age-inspired mysteries.Interviews with all six shortlisted authors ahead of the prize announcement on 3rd July 2025.SJ Bennett A Death in Diamonds Andreina Cordini Murder at the Christmas EmporiumLisa Hall The Case of the Singer and the Showgirl Meeti Shroff-Shah A Matrimonial MurderLaura Marshall A Good Place to Hide a BodyJamie West Murder at the MatineePaul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Season 8 Episode 3: Debut crime novelists with a screenplay/film background Remi Kone Innocent Guilt & SM 'Sarah' Govett Believe.Recommends: The Death of Grass John Christopher, The Art of Fielding Chad Harbach.VICTORIA SELMANSundayTimes bestselling author of ALL THE LITTLE LIARSAmazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3xmvMeSWebsite for news and giveaways: http://www.victoriaselmanauthor.comTwitter: @VictoriaSelmanWe love to hear from our listeners! Find me on Twitter @VictoriaSelman and join in the chat using #OnTheSofaWithVictoriaProduced by Junkyard DogProduced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

FIONA CUMMINS chats to Paul Burke about SOME OF US ARE LIARS, Saul Anguish, Essex inspiration, Sisters, celebrity and being the best writer you can be. SOME OF US ARE LIARS When Jen Miller entrusts her youngest child to the care of her beloved sisters, she has no idea of the devastating tragedy that is about to unfold.To celebrate her sister's wedding, global superstar Winter Kellaway throws the party of the decade at her luxurious beachside estate. The decorations are flawless. The champagne is on ice. The guests have arrived. But one misstep will have heartbreaking consequences that will rock this close-knit family to their core.With her life in pieces, how can Jen ever begin to forgive?Saul Anguish, a brilliant but tormented young detective, is called in to investigate and uncovers a long-buried and shocking family secret. As the trail takes a dramatic turn, they must now all face the truth that you can never truly leave the past behind . . .Fiona Cummins is an award-winning former journalist and a graduate of the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course. Rattle, her debut novel, was the subject of a huge international auction and has been translated into several languages. It received widespread critical acclaim from authors and reviewers. She has since written bestsellers The Collector, The Neighbour, When I Was Ten and Into the Dark in which she introduces DC Saul Anguish, a brilliant young detective with a dark past. Fiona lives with her family in Essex.Recommendations The Silence of the Lambs - Thomas Harris, Nikki Smith, Stephen King, CL Taylor - It's Always the Husband.Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

OnTheSofaWithVictoria Season 8 Episode 2: Writing for adults and children JANICE HALLETT The Examiner, The Appeal & MAZ EVANS That'll Teach Her.Recommends: East of Eden John Steinbeck, Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes VICTORIA SELMANSundayTimes bestselling author of ALL THE LITTLE LIARSAmazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3xmvMeSWebsite for news and giveaways: http://www.victoriaselmanauthor.comTwitter: @VictoriaSelmanWe love to hear from our listeners! Find me on Twitter @VictoriaSelman and join in the chat using #OnTheSofaWithVictoriaProduced by Junkyard DogProduced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

THOMAS TRANG chats to Paul Burke about Dark Neon Dirt, LA heists, Caravaggio, Hollywood money, Elmore Leonard and Andor.DARK NEON DIRT Shaun Nguyen is a Vietnamese war orphan who made it to America. But danger was never far behind – from the Chinatown gangs he ran with in New York, to his years in Iraq dodging bullets and defusing bombs. Nguyen learnt how to survive. By all means necessary.Now he's a high-end thief in Los Angeles. One of the best, but smart enough to know he's living on borrowed time. Then a job goes sideways, leaving bodies on the Hollywood Freeway, stolen diamonds in his pocket, and a target on his back.Which gets the attention of Thomas Monroe, an LAPD lieutenant who's been hunting Nguyen for years. Captain Ahab with a gun and badge, plus his own dirty secrets closing in on him fast. The two of them are set on a collision course – a thief who won't be caught and the cop who doesn't miss.Not exactly the quiet life Nguyen is after, especially now he's met a mysterious woman who's landed in town. They fall for each other hard. A gallerist living in France who used to be with the FBI's Art Crime Team. Able to spot forgeries a mile off, but she hasn't figured him out yet.So once he wraps up this business with the diamonds, Nguyen is done with the game. The problem is she's not quite done with the FBI.Welcome to the City of Angels – where everyone has an angle.Thomas Trang is a French/Vietnamese writer currently living in the UK after stints in Australia, New York, and Singapore. His stories have previously appeared in FutureQuake, Full House Literary and the Revolutions 2 anthology. He is currently working on a SF trilogy which mixes cyberpunk with the gritty realpolitik of The Wire and Cold War spy fiction.Mentions: Army of Shadows (Fr. Film), Dennis Lehane, Michael Clayton (Am. Film), Sarah Paretsky, Don De Lillo, Hunter (Fr. TV)  Miami Vice (TV show), Ilyn Welch.Recommendations Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out early 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogProduced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

SEASON 8: CLARE LESLIE HALL BROKEN COUNTRY & GUY MORPUSS A TRIAL  IN THREE ACTS #OnTheSofaWithVictoria Mentioned: The Go Between LP Hartley, Atonement Ian McEwan, Graham Bartlett.Recommendations: I Capture the Castle Dodie Smith, An Instance of the Finger Post Iain PairsVICTORIA SELMANSundayTimes bestselling author of ALL THE LITTLE LIARSAmazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3xmvMeSWebsite for news and giveaways: http://www.victoriaselmanauthor.comTwitter: @VictoriaSelmanWe love to hear from our listeners! Find me on Twitter @VictoriaSelman and join in the chat using #OnTheSofaWithVictoriaProduced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival - Episode 3 recorded at the Ceredigion Museum and Aberystwyth Library featuring interviews with authors and excerpts of live panels. Featuring: Interviews - Sarah Bax Horton, Mari Hannah & Sarah Todd Taylor and a brief panel excerpt featruing Jacky Collins with Mari Hannah & Clare Mackintosh. Interview Mari Hannah Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival Wales' only international crime writing festival, Aberystwyth 25th-27th April, 2025. Guests include Mark Billingham, Elly Griffiths, Mari Hannah, Chris Lloyd, Clare Mackintosh, Zoe Sharp, Graham Bartlett, Vaseem Khan, Abir Mukherjee, Alis Hawkins, Nicola Williams, Louise Mumford, Phil Rowlands. Ayo Onatade, Dr. Noir, Matt Johnson, Gwen Parrott and many more.Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival Sponsors: Arts Council of Wales, Ceridigeon Museum, Love Ceridigeon, Aberystwyth govt., Literature Wales, Waterstones, Welsh Govt., Lottery, Hugh James and National Library of Wales.Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2024. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out in late 2025.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Reviews of the new releases in crime fiction May, 2025.Featuring:A Beautiful Way to Die Eleni Kyriacou The Doorman Chris Pavone Going Home in the Dark Dean KoontzTwo Adam Lapid Mysteries Jonathan Dunsky Kill Pill David Barbaree A Death in the Afternoon Julie AndersonThe Lady in the Park David Reynolds Death by Intent Jacqueline Harrett  The Golden Age of Murder Martin EdwardsMotives Unknown An Anthology of Writing From the North Ed. Nathan Connolly & Harriet HirshmanRum Punch Elmore Leonard Noted new release - not reviewed - Whistle Linwood BarclayPaul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out early 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival Special Episode 2 recorded at the Ceredigion Museum and Aberystwyth Library featuring interviews with authors and excerpts of live panels. Featuring: LJ Shepherd, Jacqueline Harrett, Diamond Crime panel, Heidi Amsinck, Foreign Fields panel, Gwenllian Williams, Vaseem Khan (sneak appearance by Abir Mukherjee), Arresting Fun panel, Philip Gwynne Jones.Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival Wales' only international crime writing festival, Aberystwyth 25th-27th April, 2025. Guests include Mark Billingham, Elly Griffiths, Mari Hannah, Chris Lloyd, Clare Mackintosh, Zoe Sharp, Graham Bartlett, Vaseem Khan, Abir Mukherjee, Alis Hawkins, Nicola Williams, Louise Mumford, Phil Rowlands. Ayo Onatade, Dr. Noir, Matt Johnson, Gwen Parrott and many more.Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival Sponsors: Arts Council of Wales, Ceridigeon Museum, Love Ceridigeon, Aberystwyth govt., Literature Wales, Waterstones, Welsh Govt., Lottery, Hugh James and National Library of Wales.Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2024. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out in late 2025.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

MICHAEL AMOS CODY chats to Paul Burke about his STREETS OF NASHVILLE, new country music, North Carolina, MTV, tragic inspiration for the novel, why done it not whodunnit and Runion.In Streets of Nashville, Ezra MacRae has a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of songs and their writers, and he has moved from the North Carolina mountains to Nashville's Music Row with the dream of becoming part of that songwriting world. Yet just as he is out on the town to celebrate his first good fortune after several years of trying-a staff songwriting contract with an independent music publisher-he witnesses the man who signed on the dotted lines with him gunned down with three others outside his Music Row office. The masked gunman spares Ezra. But why?Michael Amos Cody was born in the South Carolina Lowcountry and raised in the North Carolina highlands. He spent his twenties writing songs in Nashville and his thirties in school. He's the author of the novel Gabriel's Songbook (Pisgah Press) and short fiction that has appeared in Yemassee, Tampa Review, Still: The Journal, and elsewhere. His short story collection, A Twilight Reel (Pisgah Press) won the Short Story / Anthology category of the Feathered Quill Book Awards 2022. Cody lives with his wife Leesa in Jonesborough, Tennessee, and teaches in the Department of Literature and Language at East Tennessee State University.Author blog on Runion: https://michaelamoscody.com/2019/05/24/runion-north-carolina/Mentions: David Joy, Cormac McCarthy, Bruce Springsteen, Bob McDill, Thomas Wolfe, James Lee Burke, Heather Levy, CW Blackwell, Monster City Michael Arntfield, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, Charles Brockton Brown, Peter McDade, Don DeLillo - Great Jones Street.Recommendations: anything by Tony Hillerman and the adaptation of two of his novels for streaming Dark Wind.Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out early 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

JEREMY VINE chats to Paul Burke about his new murder mystery Murder on Line One, regional radio, celebrity, Agatha Christie and washing our clothes.MURDER ON LINE ONE There's a killer on the airwaves … and they're calling for you. Darkness looms over sunny Sidmouth, when an unsolved murder comes to the attention of late-night radio talk show host Edward Temmis. Recently sacked from his beloved job after a devastating tragedy, Edward is cast adrift – until he meets Stevie, whose grandmother, a devoted listener, died in a suspicious fire last year. Well, nobody hurts his listeners and helping Stevie might just give him the purpose he needs. Joined by his old fling, Kim, they discover Stevie's grandmother wasn't the only one of his listeners targeted – this is just the tip of the iceberg. But who is pursuing his ageing audience and why? And can Edward, Stevie and Kim get to the bottom of this mystery before it's too late?JEREMY VINE is a well-known British broadcaster who presents a daily show on BBC Radio 2 called The Jeremy Vine Show — and also a self-titled daily news and chat programme on Channel 5. This is why he likes strong coffee. He has been Sony Speech Broadcaster of the Year, and won Interview of the Year for the seminal moment when Gordon Brown put his head in his hands during the 2010 election campaign. Jeremy also does the BBC election graphics and rides a penny farthing, although not at the same time. 'The Diver and The Lover' is his first serious novel. It came out of a chance encounter with a painting. Born in 1965, he of course loves the music of Joy Division, The Cure and Elvis Costello. He is married to Rachel and they have two teenage daughters.Recommendations Dean Koontz The Watcher, Terry Hayes I Am Pilgrim. Jane Casey, CL Taylor, Lucy Foley. Jodi Picault, Suk Pannu, Vaseem Khan.Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out early 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

GEORGINA CLARKE chats to Paul Burke about her new historical mystery VIPER IN THE NEST, Lizzie Hardwicke, Georgian England, VIPER IN THE NEST: London, June 1759. When a charmless civil servant takes his own life, few are interested in his death. But Lizzie Hardwicke, who plies her trade in the brothels of London whilst also working as an undercover sleuth for the magistrate, can see no reason why a man who had everything to look forward to would wish to end his life.Lizzie's search for answers takes her from the smoke-filled rooms of fashionable gambling houses, where politicians mix ambition with pleasure, to the violent streets of Soho, ready to erupt with riots in the sultry summer heat. All the while, she is navigating her complicated feelings for the magistrate's trusted assistant, Will Davenport, and a disturbing situation at home.Then a gambling house owner is brutally murdered, and Lizzie finds herself tangled in a chaos that she cannot control. The darkest of secrets threatens to turn Davenport against her forever; its exposure will send her to the gallows.Recommendations: Natalie Marlow, CJ SansomPaul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out early 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

RAYMOND BENSON chats to Paul Burke about writing James Bond (6 novels, 3 novelizations and 3 short stories), The James Bond Companion, fantasy spy fiction, Films & Novels, Tom Clancy, The Union, favourite Fleming and Legacy.News: Coming later this year The Hook and the Eye as part of the ever expanding Bond franchise Raymond Benson is writing a novel about American spy Felix Leiter due out in October.JAMES BOND: THE RAYMOND BENSON YEARS For the first time ever, all six of Raymond Benson's original James Bond novels are available together in one omnibus edition.James Bond: The Raymond Benson Years collects Zero Minus Ten, The Facts of Death, High Time to Kill, DoubleShot, Never Dream of Dying, The Man with the Red Tattoo. These classic tales show Benson at his finest and 007 at his most heroic.Raymond Benson is the author of over forty published titles. He is the third--and first American--to write continuation James Bond novels (six original titles and three film novelizations, between 1996-2002), and for the best-selling and acclaimed five-book serial, THE BLACK STILETTO (2011-2014). THE MAD, MAD MURDERS OF MARIGOLD WAY appeared in 2022. His most recent works include the suspense novels, THE SECRETS ON CHICORY LANE, IN THE HUSH OF THE NIGHT, BLUES IN THE DARK, and HOTEL DESTINY--A GHOST NOIR. His backlist of original thrillers (EVIL HOURS, TORMENT--A LOVE STORY, ARTIFACT OF EVIL, A HARD DAY'S DEATH, DARK SIDE OF THE MORGUE, and others) as well as his classic reference book from 1984, THE JAMES BOND BEDSIDE COMPANION, are available as Kindle e-books. Raymond is also a prolific tie-in writer: the first two best-selling TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL novels (for the latter he used the pseudonym of "David Michaels"), and with John Milius he wrote HOMEFRONT: THE VOICE OF FREEDOM. He also produced novelizations of other popular videogames--METAL GEAR SOLID and METAL GEAR SOLID 2: SONS OF LIBERTY, HITMAN (HITMAN: DAMNATION, and DYING LIGHT (DYING LIGHT--NIGHTMARE ROW). The full story is at his website... www.raymondbenson.com!Recommendations: Film: The Seventh Seal Dir. Ingmar Bergman, Duck Soup The Marx Brothers.Books: Ruth Rendell Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out early 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

New Crime Fiction for April 2025 reviewed by Paul Burke The Secret Room by Jane Casey ✓Out of the Dark by Heidi Amsinck✓Death and Other Occupational Hazards by Veronika Dapunt✓10 Marchfield Square by Nicola Whyte✓Lovers of Franz K by Burnham Sönmez, trans. from the Kurdish by Sami Hêzil. ✓Sting of the Nettle by Colin Bostock-Smith✓The Children of Eve John Connolly✓Marble Hall Murders Anthony Horowitz ✓Galway Confidential Ken Bruen✓Ken Bruen An Appreciation RIPHuman Remains Jo Callaghan✓Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2024. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out in late 2025.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival Wales' only international crime writing festival returns to Aberystwyth 25th-27th April, 2025. Guests include Mark Billingham, Elly Griffiths, Mari Hannah, Chris Lloyd, Clare Mackintosh, Zoe Sharp, Graham Bartlett, Vaseem Khan, Abir Mukherjee, Alis Hawkins, Nicola Williams, Louise Mumford, Phil Rowlands. Ayo Onatade, Dr. Noir, Matt Johnson, Gwen Parrott and many more.Paul Burke chats to festival organiser Gail Williams, treasurer Sarah Ward and chair Philip Gwynne Jones about the event. Aberystwyth - lovely seaside location, friendly local reception, beautiful venues, and nearby tourist/countryside attractions.Tickets hereGwyl Crime Cymru Festival Sponsors: Arts Council of Wales, Ceridigeon Museum, Love Ceridigeon, Aberystwyth govt., Literature Wales, Waterstones, Welsh Govt., Lottery, Hugh James and National Library of Wales.Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2024. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out in late 2025.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,

Laura McCLUSKEY chats to Craig Sisterson about her new crime thriller THE WOLF TREE, the Scottish lighthouse mystery, film and book, writing the sequel, THE WOLF TREE A mysterious death. On a small island off the coast of Scotland, an isolated community is grieving. Eighteen-year-old Alan Ferguson was found at the foot of the lighthouse – an apparent suicide. Two detectives trapped on an island. DIs Georgina Lennox and Richard Stewart are sent to investigate. But a raging storm keeps them trapped on the island for four days. And the locals don't take kindly to mainlanders. A village full of suspects. As George and Ritchie question the island's inhabitants, they discover a village filled with superstition and shrouded in secrets. But someone wants those secrets to stay buried. At any cost.Laura McCluskey is a Melbourne-based writer, editor and actor. She created the production company Sibylline Films and co-founded Three Fates Theatre Company. The Wolf Tree is her first novel.Recommendations: JK Rowling - Harry Potter, Suzanne Collins - Hunger Games, Lemony Snickett- A Series of Unfortunate Events, Dervla McTiernan, Ashley Kalagian Blunt Cold TruthProduced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,