CrimeFest has revealed its full line up for the four-day celebration of the UK’s most popular genre, hosted at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel, from Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 May, 2023.

Alongside 2023 featured guests – stalwarts of the genre, Mark Billingham and Elly Griffiths – around 50 panels will explore everything from crime fiction set during World War Two, to the crime genre in the digital age. Panellists include author of the award-winning crime series set in India, Vaseem Khan, vice chair of the CWA, and Robert Thorogood, the creator behind the smash-hit BBC One series, Death in Paradise.

The panel, ‘Keeping it Cosy’ features the former journalist turned mystery writer Fiona Veitch Smith (also the CWA’s Communications Manager) and author of the Lady Hardcastle mysteries, T E Kinsey.

The former police detective turned author, Graham Bartlett appears on the panel, ‘Society: What Crime Fiction Says About Us’. Bartlett has advised some of the biggest names in crime fiction to inject reality into procedurals, and has now turned to crime fiction, with his debut, Bad for Good.

Panellists also include the son of Dick Francis, the crime writer Felix Francis, creator of the Cait Morgan Mysteries Cathy Ace, and Antony Johnston, the New York Times bestselling creator of Atomic Blonde, the hit movie based on his graphic novel.

Author, playwright and TV and radio producer Simon Brett features on a panel ‘Partners in Crime’, chaired by Kate Ellis, best known for her series of detective novels which blend history and mystery. Kia Abdullah, whose novel Take it Back was a Guardian and Telegraph thriller of the year will be on the panel, ‘Protagonists Under Pressure’ with the Scottish author, Caro Ramsay.

Leading minds from the genre include the Financial Times crime fiction reviewer and genre expert, Barry Forshaw, the chair of the Crime Writers’ Association and all-round publishing polymath, Maxim Jakubowski, alongside the President of the Detection Club – the novelist and leading authority on crime fiction, Martin Edwards.

Highlights include the annual Pub Quiz with the journalist and author Peter Guttridge as the Inquisitor and the annual CrimeFest awards are now in their 16th year and honour the best crime books released in 2022 in the UK.

More details can be found here.