The judges
Eileen Roberts (Chair)
Eileen is the co-founder and was the organiser of the annual St Hilda’s Mystery & Crime Weekend for 23 years. She was Director of Alumnae Relations at St Hilda’s College from 1991 until 2007 and is now Project Consultant to its Development & Alumnae Office. Previously, she spent 20 years (1970-90) in Cleveland, Ohio, where she was the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union. She has been an avid reader and admirer of crime & mystery novels since childhood, especially the ‘golden agers’.
Louisa Service OBE
Louisa is a graduate of St Hilda’s College Oxford and comes from a literary family. More than thirty books have been published by her immediate family (father, brother, husband and nephew). Her working life was spent in the field of periodical publishing – including fourteen years as Chairman of Glass’s Guide Service to the motor industry. She was a magistrate for many years and Chairman of Youth and Family Proceedings courts for twenty-five of them. She was awarded her OBE for her work in music for young people. Latterly she has been President for six years of the Commonwealth Countries League – the umbrella organisation for women’s organisations in the fifty-two countries of the commonwealth. She is a great reader and in particular of crime fiction.
Jon Coates
Jon is the deputy news editor of the Sunday Express and a reviewer of crime fiction for the Daily Express. An avid reader since childhood, he has worked as a journalist for 20 years after completing a history degree at the University of York, where he developed a strange fascination with witchcraft accusations in England in the 16th and 17th century.
Andre Paine
Andre is a former editor of Crime Scene magazine and has reviewed crime and thriller fiction for Metro newspaper. He is also a longstanding music critic for the Evening Standard. While studying for a history degree at the University of Warwick, he became a committed crime fiction devotee — the bookish habit began in childhood with the Sherlock Holmes stories — and continues to read widely in the genre.
Doreen Innes
Doreen C. Innes is a Fellow in Classics at St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford.
Sapere Books Historical Dagger
