Dead East: July 2025
News and features from the Anglian Crime Authors Collective.
Welcome to the Dead East newsletter: news and exclusive content from crime authors based in East Anglia, in the UK.
In this issue:
New Crime Fiction from East Anglia: Julia Stone - Dead East Events - Crime Fiction News - Dead East Interview: Heather Peck - For Writers - Reviews - Back List Deal - New Releases by Other Hands - More from Dead East - And finally…
New Crime Fiction from East Anglia
The Expert Witness by Julia Stone
Think back to your earliest childhood memory. Maybe you see an image, hear dialogue, sense the temperature or the smells; engaging all your senses as you look back. Or maybe you only have an impression of the event — a narrative description you’ve stored in your mind — possibly something you’ve shared with friends or partners as an anecdote over the years. My question is, how do you know that these events really happened as you recall them now?
Yesterday, I helped a young lad with directions as he and his friends were lost as they completed a Duke of Edinburgh activity. We chatted for a while and poured over his map together, before he confidently led his team off across a field. Today, only one day later, would my recreation of the conversation be accurate? Would it match his?
As a psychologist and psychotherapist, I’m intrigued by personal memory: the things we recall or forget; the misremembered in contrast to the verifiable; the things we are certain are true, versus the memories that are no more than a vague sense of something.
My third psychological suspense novel, The Expert Witness, focuses on the field of memory in witness testimony. My protagonist, Dr Amanda Dunstan, is an academic psychologist who studies the errors and biases in recall. When she takes early retirement she writes a book on the topic and it quickly gains publicity. Then a friend from her past reappears, bringing a memory of an incident with life-changing consequence; an event Amanda had elected to forget. Wanting to atone for her past behaviour, Amanda vows to offer support and to be the friend she should have been all those years ago. In doing so, she gets sucked into a world far removed from her middle-class experience, ultimately ends up breaking the laws she had previously upheld. But whose memory should she trust?
The Expert Witness can be bought at Amazon and all other good booksellers.
Dead East Events
The Anglian Authors Book Fair
Dead East were represented by Michelle Kidd and Julia Stone at the first Anglian Authors Book Fair at Sudbury Arts Centre on 22nd June, joining 18 other authors from across the region. Aside from opportunities for readers to chat to the authors and buy books from a range of genres, they could also attend readings and panel discussions.
For the crime panel discussion — Crime in all its Guises — five authors explored the differences in the many subgenres in crime, representing the range from cosy crime through to dark thriller, via political crime, police series and psychological suspense. They touched on the appeal of the different styles and themes and the tropes readers have come to expect.
During the event, Michelle read from the first DI Jack MacIntosh book, Seven Days to Die. She also launched the seventh novel in this series: No Red Lines focuses on the suspected return of a notorious serial killer; a man previously dubbed The Central Line Killer as his victims were all found close to the Central Line tube in London.
In her reading, Julia introduced her third stand-alone psychological suspense novel, The Expert Witness. The protagonist is an academic who specialises in the field of memory research. But she begins to doubt her own recall when an old friend reappears with the story of a life-changing incident from their past: a memory which Amanda had elected to forget. Recognising how she had let her friend down, she feels she must atone for her past behaviour, but gets sucked into events she couldn’t predict.
The Anglian Authors Book Fair was the first of many writing/book related events that are being planned at Sudbury Arts, so keep your eyes open for opportunities to join in. https://sudburyartscentre.com/contact-us/
Crime Fiction News
The CWA Dagger Awards
The Crime Writers’ Association’s Dagger Awards were presented at their annual awards dinner in London on 3rd July. Winners are:
Ian Fleming Steel Dagger: Dark Ride by Lou Berney (Hemlock Press/ HarperCollins)
ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger: All Us Sinners by Katy Massey (Little, Brown /Sphere)
Twisted Dagger: Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra (PRH/ Viking)
Whodunnit Dagger: The Case of the Singer and the Showgirl by Lisa Hall (Hera)
Historical Dagger: The Betrayal of Thomas True by AJ West (Orenda Books)
ALCS Gold Dagger For Non-Fiction: The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place by Kate Summerscale (Bloomsbury Circus)
Crime Fiction In Translation Dagger: The Night of Baba Yaga by Akira Otani, translated by Sam Bett (Faber)
Short Story Dagger: ‘A Date on Yarmouth Pier’ by JC Bernthal, in Midsummer Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards (Flame Tree Publishing/Flame Tree Collections)
Dagger In The Library: Richard Osman
Dagger for the Best Crime And Mystery Publishers: Orenda Books
Emerging Author Dagger: Ashland by Joe Eurell
CWA Diamond Dagger Award: Mick Herron
CWA Anthology
Coming on 9th September from Flame Tree Press: And Then There Were More edited by Martin Edwards, an anthology of stories by members of the Crime Writers’ Association, including Simon Brett, Cath Staincliffe, Ann Cleeves and Peter Lovesey. This is now available for pre-order.
Macavity Awards
Shortlists for the Macavity Award, named for TS Eliot’s “mystery cat” from Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, have been released. Winners are announced at the annual world mystery convention, Bouchercon, to be held this year in New Orleans, 3rd to 7th September. The awards are split into five categories: Best Mystery Novel, Best First Mystery, Best Mystery Short Story, Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery, and Best Mystery-related Nonfiction/Critical.
Death in the Dales
The Death in the Dales Festival of Crime returns to Sedbergh, 17th to 19th October, featuring MW Craven, Tom Mead, Kate Ellis and more.
Dead East Interview: Heather Peck
Tell us about your new book.
Spinning into the Dark is Book 8 in the DCI Greg Geldard Norfolk Mysteries. It’s set in the second half of 2020, so Greg and his colleagues are facing all the problems of a nation coming to terms with a new Covid ‘normal’ as well as the challenges of their job. He has just brought his wife-to-be and fellow police officer, Chris, home from hospital, where she had been in a coma thanks to an attack in the line of duty. Coming round to discover that she is pregnant has been a bit of a shock.
Greg has a ten-year-old murder to solve, and cyclists are going missing on Norfolk’s quiet roads. It becomes clear that the disappearances are not just tragic accidents and that he must find the culprit before the next cyclist disappears for good.
Which of your characters are you most pleased to have created, and why?
It’s a hard choice, but I think Greg edges it over Chris. He’s flawed, like any of us, but deeply principled and fiercely loyal in a way that drives his approach to his life as well as his job. When I wrote my first crime book I had a very vague idea it might become a series and planned to use one of the other characters in Secret Places as the series link. Somehow, Greg took over and the characters seem to develop by and of themselves. I often feel as though I am recording their adventures rather than creating them.
How did you become a writer?
I grew up in a house full of books and learned to read when I was four, when everyone around me got tired of my constant requests for ‘a story’. Writing has always seemed a natural corollary to my love of reading, but a busy career got in the way of me finishing any of the projects I started. Then I did the National Centre for Writing course on An introduction to Crime Writing in 2019. The feedback was very positive and I haven’t stopped since. There are now eight books and three novellas in the Geldard series, and one standalone thriller.
What's a typical writing day for you?
Walk the dogs, feed the hens and collect the eggs, then sit down and edit the roughly 1500 words I wrote the day before into my master manuscript. After that I write another 1500 words or so on my iPad, using the notes function. Around those fixed points I devise adverts, write my newsletter and short stories, paint, make jewellery to sell for charity, try to play my harp (the emphasis is on try) and do all the normal household tasks everyone has to do.
Who are your favourite authors?
In crime writing I like Reginald Hill, Elly Griffiths, PD James and JD Kirk. I enjoy science fiction and fantasy writers such as Anne McCaffrey, Isaac Asimov, George RR Martin and Julian May. And I love Jodi Taylor – but she is undefinable by genre.
What do your friends and family think about your writing?
My partner tells everyone he sleeps with one eye open! Some of my friends act as beta readers and don’t hesitate to point out where I’m going wrong. My mother, who lived to be 96, regularly complained about my (moderate) use of what she termed bad language.
What do you like to do when you're not writing?
Enjoy the company of my partner, our dogs and cats, our family and friends. We go to the theatre a lot in Norwich and enjoy the amazing county we live in – especially the Broads and the beaches.
Do you write in a single genre, or do you like to jump about a bit?
I have also written animal-based books for children. And I have an idea for an historical novel. Some day, perhaps.
Are you a city person, or do you prefer to be out in the wild?
I have lived in cities at different times but I’m a country person at heart.
How do you set about writing a novel?
Start at the beginning and keep going until I get to the end.
How much research do you do, and what kind?
A lot of my writing is based on my professional experience of farming and the NHS, and my personal knowledge of Norfolk. I’ve volunteered in the Witness Service, with Coast Watch and in Citizens Advice, which provides me with useful background. I research areas I’m less familiar with or where I feel my knowledge is out of date by eg visiting inquests and the courts, exploring particular areas of Norfolk and in one case a sugar beet factory. I am advised by two retired police dog handlers on their specialism, and I research facts online.
Is setting important in crime and mystery fiction?
I think authenticity of setting is very important to a lot of readers.
A writer's life doesn't just involve sitting down and writing – how do you feel about all the other elements, like promotion, admin, research, developing ideas, public speaking and so on?
I’ve done a lot of public speaking in my professional career, so I’m comfortable with that. I’m not so keen on the social media stuff. That is work if you like, whereas writing is fun. On the other hand, I’ve met and made friends through social media and reconnected with some I’d lost touch with, so it’s not all bad. I enjoy learning new things, so research is also squarely in my comfort zone.
What kind of music do you like to listen to?
All sorts, from rock to mediaeval polyphony. But I belong to two choirs, so a lot of what I listen to is choral music or ballads.
Heather Peck can be found online at www.heatherpeckauthor.com
Spinning into the Dark was published on 25th June 2025, and is available from Amazon and all other good booksellers.
For Writers
Competitions and Awards
The RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards — three annual awards of £10,000, £5,000 and £2,500 — are available to support authors through the completion of their first commissioned works of non-fiction (you can previously have published work for an academic audience or edited books of writing by others, but this must be your first full-length work written for a general readership). Applicartons close on Monday 1 September 2025 at 5pm.
The National Centre for Writing’s International Literature Exchange (ILX) returns in 2025–26, inviting literature professionals from around the world to participate in its latest digital programme.
The Mslexia Novel Competition is open to women who are not yet published as novelists, for novels of at least 50,000 words in any genre for adult or young adult readers. Just submit your first 5,000 words to be in with a chance of winning £5,000, manuscript feedback, pitch training and editor intros. Deadline: 22 Sep. Entry fee: £26
The Joffe Books Prize is looking for the next bestselling crime writer from Black, Asian, Indigenous, and minority ethnic backgrounds open for submissions. Deadline for submissions is 30 September 2025.
The Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers Prize is open for entries from underrepresented writers. This year there’s a horror theme.
Opportunity for true crime writers: award-winning audio production company, Noiser, are looking for freelance writers to work on their hit podcast Real Survival Stories.
For unpublished writers: Good Housekeeping has teamed up with Rachel Mills Literary Agency to launch a novel-writing competition.
Shetland Noir 2026
Would you like to be part of Shetland Noir 2026?
Shetland Noir 2026 takes place 11th - 14th June, during Da Simmer Dim, the twilight of a Shetland summer. The sun barely sets and 19 hours of daylight cast long shadows across the islands. It's a time when the beauty, remoteness and the quiet mystery of the islands are enhanced, the perfect backdrop for Shetland Noir.
Applications are now open for authors wishing to be part of the festival, with opportunities to take part in panels, readings and other events.
Cheshire Crime Festival
The Curious Cat Bookshop is hosting a three-day celebration of crime writing at the Frodsham Community Association from 6th-9th February 2026 . They’re inviting pitches for author participation, including three headline slots and a wide range of themed panels and fringe events. Interested? Contact James Caldwell at hello@thecuriouscatbookshop.co.uk [Thanks to the CWA for drawing attention to this.]
Free Forensic Resources
Florida International University's Research Forensic Library is available to everyone at no charge. It's a huge resource of online journal articles and reports covering every major forensic discipline. Subscriptions to the library's Daily Digest are also free. [Thanks to the CWA for drawing attention to this.]
How to Get Featured on Podcasts
The IngramSpark blog is full of useful resources for authors. It includes a useful guide to promoting your writing on podcasts, taking you through the process from identifying suitable podcasts and making the approach, to what to say and how to promote your appearance. Another of their blog entries is all about creating your own audiobook.
Reviews
The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves. Returning to The Crow Trap twenty-six years after its first publication, and perhaps a decade after I first read it, was an interesting experience. I think this was the first Cleeves novel I’d read, and like an awful lot of her readers my expectations and the way I visualised the story and its characters were shaped by having watched Vera on TV. Back then, it took me a while to push Brenda Blethyn’s brilliant on-screen interpretation of Vera Stanhope into the background and immerse myself in the author’s original portrayal. Blethyn added some wonderful layers to the character — she can do so much with a slight shift in expression or a pause that’s hard to convey on the page — but Cleeves’ original is equally as iconic. She has the enviable skill of being able to bring a character alive off the page with the briefest of observations, and not only Vera but the entire cast of this novel are rich and real from the moment they appear. Right from the outset, it’s clear that this novel marks the start of something special: the opening of The Crow Trap is a masterclass in establishing suspense. The novel opens with a careful description of a location in terms of how it relates to its OS map. This is most definitely not an obvious choice, but every sentence of description adds to the sense that we’re leading up to something significant. When characters appear, it’s an instant portrayal of a couple’s relationship and their challenging circumstances in a few deft and economical brushstrokes. All this finishes with a single, almost throwaway, detail that hints at something entirely unexpected going on: a moment of reassessment, or even a betrayal, but whatever it is, it’s the perfect pay-off to tell the reader that the build-up of suspense is going to be rewarded. A fine introduction to one of the stand-out series in the last three decades of British crime fiction. (review by Nick Guthrie)
Back List Deal
The first four Detective Jack Macintosh Mysteries by Michelle Kidd for £0.99
Boxed set containing Seven Days To Die, Fifteen Reasons To Kill, Sixteen Carved Pieces, and Twenty Years Buried are now available for only £0.99/$0.99.
Who is Detective Inspector Jack MacIntosh? He’s a dedicated police officer, the one person you would want to fight your corner. But he has been known to cross the line to get the job done. As a four-year-old boy he discovered his mother’s body swinging from a light fitting. Jack and his younger brother were taken into care — Jack did OK, his brother not so much. A bit of a loner, Jack has never married — although plenty of women would like to give it a shot. He lives in a charming mews cottage in central London. No one is quite sure how he can afford it on a detective’s salary.
New Releases by Other Hands
Crimeucopia: A Load Of Balls — For fans of short mystery fiction, the long-running Crimeucopia anthology series presents a sports-themed volume, with stories by John M Floyd, Ed Teja, Wendy Harrison and others.
The Other Boy by Heidi Field — “A knock on the door one day changes everything… Bodies have been found… the detective suspects one is Jamie, the final victim of a brutal and prolific serial killer.”
It’s Not Even Past by Anna Scotti — A collection of the popular “Librarian on the Run” stories, many of which have previously appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Best Mystery Stories of the Year.
The Red Shore by William Shaw - the first in a brand new series of Devon-set crime thrillers featuring ex-Met detective DS Eden Driscoll.
How to Make a Killing by Kate Weston — “A £10-million mansion? It's a property to die for... literally...”
The Inside Man by Trevor Wood — “The second Newcastle-set police thriller with a twist. DCI Jack Parker fights to hide his Early Onset Dementia while he continues to do the job he loves - investigating crimes and bringing villains to justice.”
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And finally…
“I’d have to say that most of my ideas originate with everyday anxieties. What if I forgot to lock the door? What if a horrific crime happened next door? What if my daughter didn’t show up at work? What if I woke up one day and the house was empty?” — Linwood Barclay