Maxim Jakubowski (Chair)
Maxim worked for many years in book publishing as an editor and launched the Murder One Bookshop, which he owned and ran for over 20 years. He now writes, edits and translates full-time in London. The series The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime, which he edits and now at Volume 13, has printed many winners of the CWA Short Story Dagger. His website is maximjakubowski.co.uk.

Nic Parker

Nic Parker is a true kid of the 80s and stuck in this decade when it comes to music, films and neon colours. She’s been fascinated by all things obscure, mysterious and creepy since early childhood, and she’s a big fan of thrillers and horror. She has worked as a journalist for genre magazines and so far two of her books have been published, Descent To Hell and the short story collection Neon Shocks. She’s a sucker for Christmas and lives enslaved by seven cats with her husband in a rural part of Germany.

Danuta Reah

Danuta Reah is an award-winning writer of crime fiction. Her books and short stories have been translated into over ten languages. She believes that a good novel should tell a gripping story, have a satisfactory ending and be peopled by characters who are fully-developed and believable. Her writing is fueled by her passion for stories and her love of narrative in all its forms: novels, graphic novels, film and video, games. She believes that people create themselves in the stories they tell and the stories they experience.

Simon Kurt Unsworth

Simon Kurt Unsworth has written two thrillers set in Hell, The Devil’s Detective and The Devil’s Evidence, and six short story collections as well as co-writing a collection with his son, Benjamin Kurt Unsworth. He lives in the Lake District with his wife and various children and animals, swimming in lakes and rivers, eating pizza and writing whatever comes into his head, for which pursuit he was once nominated for a World Fantasy Award.