(Above) Thriller writer Lee Child and author-editor Maxim Jakubowski enjoy some quiet time between appearances. (All photos in this post © 2025 by Ali Karim, unless otherwise specified.)
By Ali Karim
CrimeFest, the long-running annual British crime- and mystery-fiction convention, was the brainchild of Adrian Muller and was held for the first time in Bristol, England, back in 2008. After that, the only interruptions in its schedule came during 2020 and 2021, when it was cancelled due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
This assembly traces its roots, though, to the 2006 Left Coast Crime convention, which was also held in Bristol (a cathedral city on the left coast of England) and was hosted by Muller, along with co-chair Myles Allfrey and their team of volunteers, among them Liz Hatherall. (You can see photos from that event here, here, and here.)
From the outset, CrimeFest boasted an international flavor in terms of authors, publishers, and other attendees. Its affiliations extended to U.S. convocations on the order of Bouchercon, Magna Cum Murder, and of course Left Coast Crime, as well as to organizations that included the British Crime Writers’ Association, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. And like other crime-fiction conferences, CrimeFest had its own set of awards, the dispensation of which closed out its annual Gala Dinners. The Rap Sheet reported those prize nominations and recipients religiously.
Special CrimeFest happenings, such as one celebrating the 2017 releases of Barry Forshaw’s American Noir and Mike Ripley’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, always drew standing-room-only audiences.
This year’s event, held from May 15 to 18, was the 16th and final CrimeFest, and therefore a melancholic celebration for many of us. But it was also an occasion for reflection, as I’ve attended every one of these gatherings and seen the festival evolve over the years.
(A page on the CrimeFest Web site supplies event programs for all of the conventions from 2006 to 2024, together with lists of prize winners and featured guests.)Many of us claim regular annual events that help mark our lives, experiences that aid in measuring the passage of time and leave behind fond memories to balance out against any less pleasurable ones. I have come to realize (thanks in part to Robert Bloch’s award-winning 1958 short story, “That Hell-Bound Train”) that we may not recognize, during their fleeting occurrence, moments in our lives that we will later judge as highlights. Beyond the time I spend with my family, I realize that my yearly excursions (escapes?) to CrimeFest were just such high points. I am grateful to The Rap Sheet for having preserved some of those memories in the amber of the Internet.
Especially poignant are my recollections of encounters with people who are no longer with us. Such as the time in 2010 when I watched Inspector Morse creator Colin Dexter being interviewed by Maxim Jakubowski. Or in 2016, when I saw Caroline Todd (as well as her son and co-writer, Charles Todd). Then there was the convention of May 2017, during which I got to hang out a bit with Christopher Fowler and chat with Peter Lovesey. (That was also the year Anthony Horowitz delivered a distinctly entertaining, five-minute-long after-dinner oratory, which you can still enjoy here.) I can’t forget the 2018 CrimeFest, either, which allowed me to renew my warm contact with frequent convention-goer Bill Gottfried. And we partied hardy in 2019, unaware of COVID dangers lurking on the horizon.
Two-thousand twelve was special, as that was the year my elder daughter, Sophia Karim, first took part in the convention’s Gala Awards Dinner—something I subsequently made an annual treat for her, an accolade for her diligent work as a mathematics undergraduate studying in Bristol. It was also in 2012 that we got to know the now-late great Saul Reichlin, together with Sue Grafton and Börge Hellström (the latter of whom is pictured here). Then, in 2014, Sophia joined Shots’s Ayo Onatade and several other friends on the notorious smoking balcony of the Bristol Marriott in College Green.
One extra CrimeFest memory worth sharing: In 2013, the event welcomed the “Godfather of Tartan Noir,” William McIlvanney. I was delighted during that function to buy the author of Laidlaw and other novels a large glass of malt, as a thank-you for the pleasure his books had given me. McIlvanney passed away just two years later.
But now, this piece is supposed to be about the final CrimeFest, not all of those that preceded it. I’ve digressed enough into nostalgia. Let’s return to 2025 and my experiences at the last convention.
Day One (Thursday)
It was fitting that Lee Child should’ve been part of this year’s initial panel presentation, “Hard Boiled or Soft Boiled: How Do You Write Your P.I.s?” (On hand, too, were authors Christina Koning, Linda Mather, and Fiona Veitch Smith, with Sherryl Clark moderating the discussion.) The reason I say it was fitting to see Child there is because he also attended the very first convention in 2006, and was a Featured Guest at both the fifth and 10th anniversaries of CrimeFest. In regard to 2025, he told his audience, “Sadly, all good things come to an end—and Adrian Muller’s Bristol CrimeFest was one of the very best things ever. It was a warm, friendly, relaxed, and inclusive festival, hugely enjoyable for authors and readers alike.”
Jeffrey Siger (left), author of the Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis mysteries, with Philadelphia copy editor and frequent conventiongoer Peter Rozovsky.
I was pleased on that opening day to bump into novelist Jeff Siger (who has a new series premiering in February) and Dave Magyna, with both of whom I could relive our time working as board directors for Bouchercon, the world’s largest mystery convention. Jeff and Dave are past convention chairs, and we reminisced about the “behind the scenes” episodes we’ve experienced over the years—especially those that took place around the 2015 Bouchercon in Raleigh, North Carolina, for which I served as co-chair for programming. The three of us definitely understand what lies behind the adage, “I know you like sausage, but have you ever seen how sausage is made?” when applied to managing a complex event such as a crime-fiction convention.
Remember what I said about CrimeFest’s international air? That characteristic struck me anew as I mingled amongst the numerous regulars who’d made arduous journeys take part in this conference. There was the duo behind the byline “Michael Stanley,” Michael Sears and Stan Trollip, coming from North America and South Africa, respectively; authors Michael Ridpath, Ragnar Jónasson and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, and author/translator Quentin Bates, all from Iceland; Alex Shaw (Middle East), Ovidia Yu (Singapore), and Christopher Huang (Canada); and Caro Ramsay (Scotland), among so many others.
In addition to traversing geography, that first day of the convention invited participants to go hurdling back through time. Audience members sat engrossed during the afternoon panel session “Authors Remembered: Golden Age of Murder, Then & Now,” moderated by Martin Edwards (The Golden Age of Murder, The Life of Crime) and featuring Dolores Gordon-Smith (on the subject of H.C. Bailey), Katherine Hall Page (on Robert Barnard), Christine Poulson (on Sheila Pim), and David Whittle (on Edmund Crispin).
Peter Guttridge seeks to stump Pub Quiz contestants.
Thursday’s concluding activity—as spelled out in the 2025 convention program—was the traditional CrimeFest Pub Quiz, hosted by English fictionist and crime-fiction critic Peter Guttridge. I am a regular participant in this competition, and always find it most enjoyable. As I did this last time around! Our team was made up of Peter Rozovsky, Shots editor Mike Stotter, criminology professor Jo Turner (Policing Women), Myles Allfrey, Liz Hatterall and myself, along with two other attendees whose names I sadly do not recall (probably due to the excessive quantities of green tea I now partake of as a consequence of health concerns; no more hard drinking and smoking for me). It was a hard-fought battle, and we came in a very close third. But it was almost predictable that the team led by mystery history expert Martin Edwards should have captured first-place honors.
Day Two (Friday)
CrimeFest co-chair and programmer Donna Moore, a writer herself (The Unpicking, The Devil’s Draper), kicked off this morning with a 9 a.m. discussion titled “Debut Authors: An Infusion of Fresh Blood.” It focused attention on a trio of novelists new to the genre: Bonnie Burke-Patel (Dead as Gold), D.G. Coutinho (The Light and Shade of Ellen Swithin), and Tim Franks (Days of Long Shadows).
As the day progressed it saw the rolling out of panel talks about everything from amateur detectives, domestic noir, and stories set in small towns or more remote locations to historical whodunits, families as ripe sources of crime, and action-packed yarns. In addition, there was a rather thought-provoking session led by author and nursing officer Barbara Nadel. Her guests on that “Mental Health for Writers and Readers” panel, sharing troubling anecdotes and amusing asides, were Cathy Ace, Simon Brett, Nev Fountain, and Zoë Sharp.
There was little question of the subject matter addressed by panels with names such as “The Modern Cosy: Niche Work if You Can Get It,” “A Sense of Menace: Tension, Dread and Creeping Fear,” “Ghosts from the Past: When Yesterday’s Crimes Are Felt Today,” and “One of A Kind: Atypical Characters.” Prolific English mystery-maker and ex-president of the Detection Club Simon Brett (creator of the Charlie Paris tales) returned to chair an afternoon exchange titled “The Last Laugh: What’s So
Funny About Murder?” With him behind the mics were Ruth Dudley Edwards, Nev Fountain, Mike Ripley, and Olga Wojtas.(Left) Ayo Onatade with Andrew Grant, Lee Child's brother and now—as “Andrew Child”—co-author of the Jack Reacher series.
Friday afternoon’s signal event, though, was certainly Shots blogmaster Ayo Onatade’s interview of Vaseem Khan, this year’s CrimeFest toastmaster. She asked him about the writing of his first thriller, 2025’s The Girl in Cell A; his work, through Ian Fleming Publications, to pen Quantum of Menace, the premiere of a brand-new series built around Q, known to fans of the James Bond films as head of the British Secret Service’s research and development division (though in Khan’s yarn, he has been ousted from that post); and his current stint as chair of Britain’s Crime Writers’ Association. As if those responsibilities weren’t enough, Khan also has his sixth Malabar House mystery, The Edge of Darkness, due out in the UK early next year.
One other Friday panel event worth noting looked forward to the late-August release of CrimeFest: Leaving the Scene (No Exit Press), a new anthology of stories from authors “who have had a close relationship with CrimeFest over the years.” (Proceeds from that book’s sales will go to the Royal National Institute for the Blind.) Joining moderator Donna Moore to chew over the facets of this endeavor were contributors Cathy Ace, Jane Burfield, Peter Guttridge, and Maxim Jakubowski. And during the subsequent signing of copies of the book was Lee Child, who composed its Foreword. This was a well-organized and good-natured endeavor that proved we Brits have fine-tuned “The Queue” into an art form.
Donna Moore (far left) moderated Friday’s CrimeFest anthology panel. With her were contributors Peter Guttridge, Maxim Jakubowski, Cathy Ace, and Jane Burfield.
Day Three (Saturday)
Donna Moore, who as I mentioned had responsibility for CrimeFest programming, made sure to promote diversity in each day’s discussion topics. Saturday morning brought Part 2 of her audience introduction to “Fresh Blood” authors, with Lucy Andrew (A Very Vexing Murder), Roger Corke (Deadly Protocol), Kingsley Pearson (Flat 401), and Lynne Marie Taylor (Death in Valletta) now given their own chance to shine. Other early Saturday presentations covered the crafting of police procedurals, multidimensional characters, and young-adult mysteries. And Bookish creators Mark Gatiss and Matthew Sweet were on hand to chat with Nev Fountain (Lies and Dolls) about their recently introduced TV crime drama, which has as its protagonist a singular bookshop proprietor (played by Gatiss) who helps solve crimes in 1946 London.
The most emotional moment that day came during a public turnout of Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger winners, when chairs holding Simon Brett, Lee Child, Lindsey Davis, and Martin Edwards were joined at the front of the room by an empty one left in respect for Peter Lovesey, a frequent CrimeFest visitor who passed away this last April. (Click here to watch video footage of Lovesey in conversation with Martin Edwards during the 2017 convention.)
Afternoon panels that day forced attendees to make several hard choices. One, for instance, had the seemingly ubiquitous Simon Brett interviewing Nick Harkaway, together with Simon and Clare Cornwell—the grown children on this year’s CrimeFest “Ghost of Honour,” John le Carré. Another revisited the very first CrimeFest panel discussion of 2008, sending Kevin Wignall to chat with fellow fictionists Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and Steve Mosby (aka Alex North). Those two sessions clashed with yet another I considered particularly interesting, “Crime in Translation.” It featured Quentin Bates, who was behind the recently published English-language edition of Icelandic author Jón Atli Jónasson’s Broken, a character-propelled novel (the first in a trilogy)
I was most excited to read. In my review for Shots, I called it “a deeply thought-provoking narrative, written in an urgent present-tense style making the reader pause to collate and evaluate the proceedings as well as to take a breath.”(Right) Lindsey Davis
and Mike Ripley.
Rounding out that day’s sessions were another two worth taking in. One addressed the latest Detection Club anthology, Playing Dead, and found its editor, Martin Edwards, in consultation with Ruth Dudley Edwards, Kate Ellis, Alison Joseph, Len (L.C.) Tyler … and Simon Brett. The other, “Keep Crime and Carry On: Continuing Established Characters,” was chaired by Peter Guttridge (who is now publishing Sherlock Holmes novellas), with Andrew Child, Felix Francis, Tom Harper, and Mike Ripley all ready and willing to answer questions about their storytelling advice.
Then it was a mad dash to get suited and booted, for we had drinks to enjoy prior to the CrimeFest Awards Gala Dinner.
The meal was excellent, and the company at my table mirthful. Thriller writer Alex Shaw and blog-mistress Ayo Onatade were both present, as were Australian author Liam Saville and Peter Rozovsky (who spent most of the evening wandering about in a seemingly bewildered state). There was a bittersweet air to that occasion, though, as Adrian Muller took to the stage and the hotel staff cleared away our plates, returning with coffee for most and yet another flask of green tea for yours truly. I say bittersweet, because we knew this would be the final naming of CrimeFest award winners. Toastmaster Vaseem Khan did lift spirits, though, with his witty after-dinner valedictory, and we all applauded as authors received their prizes and delivered amusing and gracious acceptance speeches—Mike Ripley’s being the most mellifluous of the lot.
The evening closed with a heart-warming and rousing speech and round of “Auld Lang Syne,” while we all sang the chorus.
But there was one further surprise to come: an impromptu announcement by Muller that Barry Ryan, the joint managing and creative director at Free@Last TV, a British scripted-television production company, would like to say a few words.
Ryan told the audience that he’s been a CrimeFest enthusiast for many years, even debuting at the gathering a preview of what is now his hugely popular Sky One/Acorn TV comedy-drama Agatha Raisin, based on the novels of M.C. Beaton (aka Marion Chesney). He said it was a sad loss and a massive shame that 2025 would mark the end of CrimeFest. Then, with the crowd fallen silent, he declared his hope of resurrecting this annual convention—though he wasn’t clear on how that would take place, or in what form the festival would be relaunched. Yes, he added, he and his team at Free@Last TV were very busy, but he insisted he wants to help revive CrimeFest. Somehow. Someday soon. “When there is news,” he assured us, “you will be the first to know.” Not surprisingly, that promise prompted a standing ovation! (My gonzo-style filming of Ryan’s address is here.)
Day Four (Sunday)
Despite its 9:30 a.m. kick-off, and the residual affects the previous evening’s merrymaking had had on some attendees, CrimeFest’s concluding morn was just as packed as the prior three days. Martin Edwards came back to lead a panel talk on historical crime fiction in times of both war and peace. Zoë Sharp moderated a presentation on independent publishing. “Lights! Camera! Murder: Adapting for Film and TV” had Lee Child (Reacher) swapping anecdotes about transforming books for visual media with Chris Chibnall (Broadchurch), Barbara Nadel (The Turkish Detective), Barry Ryan (Agatha Raisin), and Matthew Sweet (Bookish). And writer Elizabeth Chakrabarty (Lessons in Love and Other Crimes) managed a colloquy on how crime-fiction authors need to remain relevant.
The CrimeFest organizers quiz team featured (left to right) registration desk manager Gianna Faccenda, Adrian Muller, former CrimeFest co-host Myles Allfrey, and Mike Stotter.
At length, we came to the capper of that Sunday schedule—the CrimeFest Criminal Challenge Quiz, a competition that required two rooms to accommodate all of its spectators.
There were eight participants, split into opposing foursomes. The Crime Writers team was captained by Lee Child, with Cathy Ace, Peter Guttridge, and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir all supporting him. On the other side was the CrimeFest team, comprising Myles Allfrey (captain), with Gianna Faccenda, Adrian Muller, and Mike Stotter. As usual, the “InQuizitor” was Maxim Jakubowski; Liz Hatherall kept time. While this was obviously an intellectual bout, with the players required to answer obscure questions about this literary genre we all love so much, it was conducted in good-natured fun. There was ample laughter to go around! Muller, Stotter, and Child proved to be the most knowledgeable contestants, with the CrimeFest team ultimately scoring highest—190 points—compared to the Crime Writers’ 165 points.
As soon as spectators were done cheering, UK fictionists Stuart Field (Ice Cold Steel) and Paul Gitsham (Web of Lies) made their way to the front of the room. There they handed gifts to both Adrian Muller and Donna Moore, and thanked them for ensuring that mid-list authors found places on CrimeFest panels that would likely not have been open to them at comparable events—attention that helped them gain new readers. The recipients looked more than a bit touched by it all.
The culmination of any crime-fiction convention leaves one mournful, but that was particularly true in this case. Unless Barry Ryan can extract a miracle from his chapeau, CrimeFest is now history, and the last page of an enriching chapter in my humble life has turned. I just want to express my gratitude to Adrian, Donna, Myles, Liz, and everyone else behind the scenes of this amazing annual celebration for their hard work over the last 17 years. I will never forget all of the delightful times I’ve had in Bristol.
Next stop, Bouchercon in New Orleans (September 3-7), marking the first time Mike Stotter and I have ventured across the Atlantic since that same convention was held there in 2016.
But before I go, let me share five more shots from CrimeFest 2025.
(Left to right) Karen Meek, keeper of the Euro Crime Web site and administrator of the annual Petrona Award, with Quentin Bates.
Authors A.J. (Andy) Hill and Steve Mosby (aka Alex North).
Miles Allfrey takes a much-needed break between events.
Kevin Wignall with fellow thriller writer Simon Kernick.
Irrepressible Rap Sheet contributor Ali Karim with Peter Rozovsky. (Photograph by Mike Stotter.)
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