National Crime Reading Month, an initiative promoted by the CWA, is now underway, with libraries, bookshops and writing festivals throughout the country hosting events and talks this month with authors speaking about their books and the world of crime writing.

As figures released by the London Book Fair last month prove the crime genre is now the most popular in fiction. With sales of crime novels and thrillers having increased by 19% since 2015, the CWA is confident that the month will be a big success and that their members, crime authors, will see further benefits as a result.

While the number of events way surpasses those listed on the website, there are plenty listed there too with authors such as Kate Ellis, Martin Edwards, Jeffery Deaver, Peter James, Bill Kitson, Rachel Abbott, Sharon Bolton, James Dean… the list goes on. There are events taking place from one end of the country to the other so whether crime fiction fans live in Ilfracombe or Wigtown, Hastings or Warrington, Norwich or Lincoln, Bushey or Newcastle they should find something local to interest and entertain. The website with the listings – and they’re by no means the full story, as not all venues send their events through – is www.crimereading.month.co.uk. Otherwise, readers are recommended to contact their local library or bookshop for details of events local to them.

National Crime Reading Month is also being celebrated in a very special way this year with a Big Library Crime Book Giveaway, organised by the UK’s biggest crime fiction convention CrimeFest, which takes place in Bristol May 17-20.

Teaming up with the CWA as well as publishers, Goldsboro Books and libraries in Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow and South Tyneside up to 4,000 books are going to be given away from named libraries on Saturday 5 May. The libraries are:

Birmingham

• Acocks Green Library, Shirley Road B27 7XH
• Erdington Library, Orphanage Road B24 9HP
• Kings Heath Library, 2 High Street B14 7SW
• Library of Birmingham, Centenary Square, Broad Street B1 2ND
• Northfield Library, 77 Church Road B31 2LB

Bristol

• Bishopston Library, Bristol North Baths, Gloucester Road BS7 8BN
• Marksbury Road Library, Marksbury Road BS3 5LG
• Knowle Library, Broadwalk Shopping Centre, Wells Road BS4 2QU
• Henleaze Library, 30 Northumbria Drive BS9 4HP
• Fishponds Library, Robinson House, Hockey’s Lane BS16 3HL
• Whitchurch Library, 7 Oatlands Avenue, City Centre BS14 0SX

Glasgow

• Anniesland Library, 833 Crow Road G13 1LE
• Dennistoun library, Craigpark G31 2NA
• Mitchell Library, North Street G3 7DN
• Partick Library, Dumbarton Road G11 6AB
• Pollok Library, Cowglen Road G53 6EN

South Tyneside

• Cleadon Park Library, 10 Prince Edward Road, South Shields NE34 8PS
• Jarrow Library, Cambrian Street, Jarrow NE32 3QN
• Library at Hebburn Central, Hebburn Central, Glen Street, Hebburn NE31 1AB
• The Word Library, 45 Market Place, South Shields NE33 1JF

The authors and publishers taking part in the giveaway are:

• Claire Allan, Her Name Was Rose (Avon)
• Cara Black, Murder in the Pigalle (Soho Press)
• Sam Blake, Little Bones (Twenty7)
• Angelena Boden, Cruelty of Lambs (Urbane Publications)
• Anthony M. Brown, Death of an Actress (Mirror Books)
• Anthony M. Brown, The Green Bicycle Mystery (Mirror Books)
• Alex Caan, Cut to the Bone (Twenty7)
• M. Cartmel, The Richebourg Affair (Crime Scene Books)
• Rosie Claverton, Terror 404 (Crime Scene Books)
• Barbara Cleverly, A Spider In The Cup (Soho Press)
• Candy Denman, Dead Pretty (Crime Scene Books)
• Joy Fielding, Someone is Watching (Zaffre)
• Clio Gray, Burning Secrets (Urbane Publications)
• Camilla Grebe, The Ice Beneath Her (Zaffre)
• Adam Hamdy, Pendulum (Headline)
• James Hazel, The Mayfly (Zaffre)
• Corrie Jackson, The Perfect Victim (Zaffre)
• Diane Janes, Death at Wolf’s Nick (Mirror Books)
• Amanda Jennings, In Her Wake (Orenda Books)
• Ragnar Jonasson, Whiteout (Orenda Books)
• S. Law, The Fear Within (Headline)
• J. MacKenzie, The Body in the Ice (Zaffre)
• Michael J. Malone, A Suitable Lie (Orenda Books)
• Claire McGowan, The Lost (Headline)
• Simon Michael, Honest Man (Urbane Publications)
• Peter Murphy, A Higher Duty (No Exit Press)
• Lloyd Otis, Dead Lands (Urbane Publications)
• Daniel Pembrey, Night Market (No Exit Press)
• Agnes Ravatn, The Bird Tribunal (Orenda Books)
• Mark Roberts, Blood Mist (Head of Zeus)
• Leigh Russell, Death Bed (No Exit Press)
• Guy Fraser Sampson, Whiff of Cyanide (Urbane Publications)
• Jason Star, Savage Lane (No Exit Press)
• James Swallow, Nomad (Zaffre)
• Neil White, From the Shadows (Zaffre)
• W. Williams, Small Deaths (Crime Scene Books)

The CWA’s Daggers Reception will take place at CrimeFest on Friday 18 May at 6.30pm where the longlists for the CWA Daggers for 2018 will be announced, together with the winner of the CWA Margery Allingham Short Story competition. Everyone attending CrimeFest is invited!

The Daggers Shortlist reception this year will be held in London on 26 July and the Dagger Awards at a glamorous ceremony at the Grange City Hotel on Thursday 25 October. The speaker will be Jude Tindall and the MC crime fiction critic Barry Forshaw. For more info: admin@thecwa.co.uk

More National Crime Reading Month events throughout the country are being added all the time to the website – for listings by region visit:

www.crimereadingmonth.co.uk