Nicci French in conversation with Linda Stratmann, What Happened That Night
A Criminally Good Night to launch the Great Dunmow BookFest

Friday 12 June 2026, 6.30pm
Foakes Hall, Foakes House, 47 Stortford Road, Dunmow, CM6 1DG

We are delighted to be launching the Great Dunmow BookFest with a Criminally Good Night commencing with best-selling crime-writing duo Nicci French, who will be discussing their 27th novel, a new psychological thriller, What Happened That Night, with fellow crime-writer Linda Stratmann.

‘No one does it better than Nicci French’
– Lee Child

Tickets: £12 / £10 concessions (students, under 27s and unwaged)
A Criminally Good Night Ticket Deal:
Both events (Nicci French and Harriet Tyce) for £20 / £17 concessions
Box Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948

This event is sponsored by The Happy Ladder.

Ticket Deal

Make a night of it with our Criminally Good Night ticket deal.
Tickets £12 per event or both events for £20 (Concessions £10 per event or both events for £17).
Discount automatically applied at checkout when tickets for both events are booked:

6.30pm – Nicci French in conversation with Linda Stratmann, What Happened That Night
8.15pm – Harriet Tyce in conversation with Samantha Lee Howe, Witch Trial

Event Information

💬 The event will include an audience Q&A session.
📚 Copies of the book will be available to purchase on the night.
🖊️ After the event there will be an opportunity to get the book signed by the author.
🪑 Seats are unallocated.
☕ There will be refreshments available to buy from the bar.
🚗 The venue has limited free parking for approx 40 cars or there are several public car parks close-by. Parking information will be emailed to ticket-holders a few days before the event.
♿ The venue is wheelchair accessible. There are disabled facilities on site.

Nicci French

Nicci French is the pseudonym for the writing partnership of journalists Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. The couple are married and live in London. There are 27 novels by Nicci French, including the bestselling Frieda Klein series, published in thirty-one languages. Their 25th novel Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? was shortlisted for British Book Awards Book of the Year 2024 – Crime & Thriller. They have sold in excess of 15 million copies of their novels worldwide. Find them on Twitter/X at @FrenchNicci.

What Happened That Night

The 27th novel from the legendary crime writing duo.
International #1 Bestselling Author.

‘French always excels at depicting an ordinary life swept away by horror’
– Observer

The new psychological thriller from the bestselling author of Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? and the Freida Klein series.

After nearly thirty years in prison for the murder of his university friend Leo Bauer, Tyler Green is finally free. Meeting up with the group of friends who were there the night that Leo died, Tyler is looking to reconnect – but he’s also looking for answers. When another friend is found dead that night, his new found freedom is put in jeopardy. Detective Maud O’Connor is called to investigate – but can she discover the truth, or is Tyler Green never going to be free?

Order a copy of the book from bookshop.org.

Linda Stratmann

Nicci French will be in-conversation with Linda Stratmann.

Photo of Linda Stratmann © Gary Stratmann

Linda Stratmann is the author of three crime fiction series with Victorian settings. Frances Doughty and Mina Scarletti are her clever and determined lady sleuths, and in the Early Casebook of Sherlock Holmes a youthful Holmes is studying to achieve his ambition of becoming a consulting detective.

Linda’s fourteen non-fiction books include The Secret Poisoner which chronicles the efforts of science and the law to tackle poison murder in the nineteenth century, and an acclaimed biography, The Marquess of Queensberry: Wilde’s Nemesis. She has edited a volume in the iconic Notable British Trials Series, The Trial of the Mannings.

Praise for Nicci French:

‘I try not to repeat myself too much when it comes to the authors I pick for this column. But there is one name I always make an exception for: Nicci French, because this husband and wife duo just keep going from strength to strength . . . This is the pair’s 26th novel, and they are still keeping me
up far too late, rushing through the pages in a panicky, obsessive fashion as I race to the conclusion’
– The Observer on The Last Days of Kira Mullan

‘Classic Nicci French: an unputdownable missing-persons thriller that’s also a searing examination of family, memory and grief. A big-skied, full-blooded, broken-hearted book’
– Erin Kelly on Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?

‘I defy anyone to see the ending coming’
– Cara Hunter, on The Unheard

‘From the very first page, Nicci French remains one step ahead of us. Expertly paced, psychologically sharp, thoroughly enjoyable’
– Louise Candlish on The Lying Room