Crime author Elena Forbes

If you’re a crime fiction lover and live in south west London or can easily get there, it might be worth putting 1 November into your diary. The opening evening of the Richmond Literature Festival this year will be dedicated to the genre, with a panel featuring the authors DJ Taylor, Gordon Ferris and Elena Forbes. And they’ll be marshalled by crime fiction expert Barry Forshaw.

Taking place at 7pm at the Old Sorting Office in Barnes, members of the panel will each talk about their approach to crime writing, and how and why the genre has become so popular. Gordon Ferris is the author of Bitter Water and the Hanging Shed and he came into crime writing after working in accountancy and at the MOD. Elena Forbes writes the Mark Taglia series, including titles like Die with Me, Our Lady of Pain and Evil in Return. Meanwhile you may have come across DJ Taylor’s works which include Derby Day – long-listed for the Man Booker last year – and Secondhand Daylight.

Tickets are £7.50, £6 concessions. To find out more, visit the webiste here.