Faversham Literary Festival

Crime writers William Shaw, Vicky Newham and AK Benedict discuss their craft and their latest novels.

William Shaw’s Salt Lane is a darkly-told crime novel set in the rugged Kentish countryside and coastlines. He is the author of The Birdwatcher, A Song from Dead Lips, A House of Knives, A Book of Scars and Sympathy for the Devil and has worked as a journalist for over twenty years. He lives in Brighton.

An exciting new voice on the crime scene, Whitstable-based author Vicki Newham’s debut novel, Turn A Blind Eye, explores the psychology of violence, cultural dislocation and contemporary urban life – a reflective police procedural set in east London. A headmistress is found strangled at school, her death the result of a brutal and ritualistic act of violence. Found at the scene is a single piece of card, written upon which is an ancient Buddhist precept: I shall abstain from taking the ungiven.

AK Benedict’s The Evidence of Ghosts, a haunting psychological novel, depicts a city of lost souls, where the living and the dead are sometimes too close for comfort… Her debut novel The Beauty of Murder was shortlisted for an eDunnit award and is in development for an eight-part TV series. She is the author of The Stone House.