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June 2024
Photo of Louise Doughty credit Max Kennedy. Image of A Bird in Winter book cover
June 14, 2024 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
  • Thriller

A Bird in Winter

Louise Doughty

From the author of the bestselling Apple Tree Yard comes a riveting thriller of a woman on the run from both sinister pursuers and the ghosts of her past. Read more

June 19, 2024 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
  • Thriller

Death on the Thames

Alan Johnson

Much-loved former politician turned award-winning author, Alan Johnson, makes a welcome return to Essex Book Festival to discuss his latest thriller, Death on the Thames. There is blood in the water. And this is just the beginning... Read more

June 2025
Photo of Abigail Dean alongside image of book cover for The Death of Us
June 4, 2025 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
  • Thriller
  • Crime Fiction

The Death of Us

Abigail Dean

Join Abigail Dean, New York Times bestselling author of Girl A, as she discusses her new book, The Death of Us. Inspired by a long-held nightmare of home invasions – and a long-held dream to write a love story - it is a heart-wrenching new novel about love, tragedy and forgiveness. Read more

Photo of Sarah Hornsley alongside image of book cover of Bad Blood
June 8, 2025 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
  • Thriller
  • A Criminally Good Day
  • Crime Fiction

Bad Blood

Sarah Hornsley

Essex-based author Sarah Hornsley lived for years in Maldon, where her thrilling debut Bad Blood is set. A huge new voice in crime fiction, Sarah will be talking about writing and releasing her tense, compelling and cleverly plotted thriller. Secrets, lies and family ties unspool in this gripping, twisty, thrill-ride of a book. Read more

June 8, 2025 @ 2:45 pm - 3:45 pm
  • Thriller
  • A Criminally Good Day
  • Crime Fiction

Making A Killing

Cara Hunter

Author of Sunday Times & New York Times bestseller and TikTok sensation, Murder in the Family, the always impressive Cara Hunter will be discussing her latest book in the DI Adam Fawley series. Making a Killing is a brilliantly twisty and hugely entertaining police thriller. Read more

Photo of Stig Abell alongside image of book cover of The Burial Place
June 8, 2025 @ 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
  • Thriller
  • A Criminally Good Day
  • Crime Fiction

The Burial Place

Stig Abell

Times Radio presenter, Stig Abell, will be reflecting on how his love for classic crime and the detective novels of Dorothy L Sayers, Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, to name but a few, have influenced his own crime writing including his latest evocative book in the Jake Jackson crime series, The Burial Place. Read more

June 12, 2025 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
  • Thriller
  • Crime Fiction

DLS Lecture: The Secret Room

Jane Casey

Sunday Times bestselling author, Jane Casey, will introduce her latest gripping new thriller featuring DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent, The Secret Room. Delving into how to create a main character, Casey will reflect on the different approaches of Dorothy L Sayers and other classic crime authors in developing compelling detective characters. Read more

June 18, 2025 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
  • Thriller
  • Crime Fiction

Essex Wives / The Brothers

Kimberley Chambers in conversation with Chris Penhall

The No.1 bestselling Queen of Gangland Crime, Kimberley Chambers, will be discussing her epic, pulse-pounding, The Family Man series. The latest thriller, Essex Wives (July 2025) sees the return of Sharon, Jolene and Evie and they’re out for revenge. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Read more

Photo of Asia Mackay alongside book cover image of A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage
June 19, 2025 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
  • Thriller
  • Crime Fiction

A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage

Asia Mackay

Due to unforeseen circumstances this event has been cancelled. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused. Read more

Photo of Fiona Cummins alongside book cover image of Some of Us Are Liars
June 20, 2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
  • Thriller
  • Crime Fiction
  • Partner Event

Some of Us Are Liars

Fiona Cummins

An exciting evening with Fiona Cummins talking about her latest book coming out the 19th of June, Some of Us are Liars. Read more

June 2026
June 2 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
  • Thriller

Troublemaker

Lesley Kara in conversation with Chris Penhall

Best-selling author of The Rumour, Lesley Kara, will be talking about her sharp, incisive and claustrophobic new novel. Troublemaker is a masterful psychological thriller which asks how do you solve a murder when no one believes it took place? Read more

June 4 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
  • Thriller

When I Kill You

B.A. Paris

The Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller and global phenomenon B. A. Paris joins us to talk about writing twisty and nail-biting thrillers, including her latest chilling and unsettling book, When I Kill You. Read more

June 12 @ 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
  • Great Dunmow BookFest
  • Thriller

A Criminally Good Night – What Happened That Night

Nicci French in conversation with Linda Stratmann

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. Read more

June 12 @ 8:15 pm - 9:15 pm
  • Great Dunmow BookFest
  • Thriller

A Criminally Good Night – Witch Trial

Harriet Tyce in conversation with Samantha Lee Howe

Continuing our Criminally Good Night we have Traitors’ Faithful and best-selling author of Blood Orange, Harriet Tyce, discussing her page-turning extra-ordinary new novel, Witch Trial. Two teenage girls. One murdered classmate. And a modern-day witch trial that will divide the nation. Read more

June 23 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
  • Thriller

Based on a True Story

Sarah Vaughan

Sarah Vaughan, million copy best-selling author of Anatomy of a Scandal, talks about her latest ‘utterly addictive’ thriller, Based on a True Story - a compelling novel about power, money and lies. A famed children’s author summons her family and friends to her exquisite manor house on the cliffs but on the eve of a lavish party someone threatens to expose the lie she’s kept up for over half a century. Read more

June 24 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
  • Thriller

From Bombay to Bond, via a Small Town Killing

Vaseem Khan

Best-selling crime writer Vaseem Khan takes us on an exhilarating journey from the post-Independence complexities of his Malabar House novels to contemporary Britain's MI6 and the exploits of James Bond. His new series, beginning with Quantum of Menace, brings to life one of spy fiction's most iconic characters - but who was the real Q? Read more