Saturday 27 June 2026, 1.30pm
Harlow Museum & Walled Gardens, Muskham Road, Harlow, CM20 2LF

Join us in the enchanted Harlow Museum’s Walled Garden and enter a world of mystery, espionage and illusion with author Syd Moore as she discusses the second in her thrilling new series about Britain’s secret wartime history.

The Great Deception, set in Iceland, is the second in the thrilling WW2 series and explores deceiving occultists, age-old magic and a war-torn world.

Join us at Harlow Museum & Walled Gardens for a day of storytelling, author events and poetry.

Syd Moore will also be leading a Writing the Archive Workshop at Harlow Museum earlier in the day.

Tickets: £10 / £8 concessions (students, under 27s and unwaged)
Box Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948

Part of our Harlow weekend – Essex Book Festival is delighted to be heading to Harlow for a weekend of writing workshops, author and artist talks, family games, and poetry. Find out more at essexbookfestival.org.uk/harlow-weekend/.

Syd Moore

Photo of Syd Moore © JMoore photos

Syd Moore has been a Royal Literary Fund fellow and is currently working with them to pioneer ‘Reading Round’ courses in hospices. Her novel The Witching Hour was a Top Twenty bestselling horror title of 2024. She was the first Author in Residence for Essex Libraries and is best known for her Essex Witch Museum Mysteries, which was shortlisted for the Good Reader Holmes and Watson Award in 2018 and 2019. She has been shortlisted twice for a CWA dagger for her short stories. Syd founded the Essex Girls’ Liberation Front and successfully removed the term ‘Essex girl’ from the Oxford dictionary in 2020. She lives in Essex.

The Great Deception

Enter a world of mystery, espionage and illusion.

May 1940. As the Nazis overrun Denmark, Britain counters by invading Iceland. Secret agent Daphne Devine is dropped into occupied territory to assess a clairvoyant in Reykjavik, who may be passing information to the enemy. Alone, Daphne must navigate her way through this strange, frozen landscape, where the Allies aren’t always welcomed with open arms.

When a new lead takes her North into Strandir, the land of sorcerers, she encounters fresh peril and discovers that now she, the hunter, has become the hunted. Daphne must use all her Secret Service training to outwit the enemy agents in her midst.

Twice shortlisted for a CWA dagger, Syd Moore returns with a thrilling new series, exploring Britain’s secret wartime history.

Praise for The Grand Illusion

‘Vivid and thoroughly entertaining… More, please.’

– Guardian

‘A breathtaking historical thriller… Magical, lyrical, weird, suspenseful, dark and totally, utterly original.’

– Erin Kelly , author of The Skeleton Key

Order a copy of the book from bookshop.org.

The post The Great Deception appeared first on Essex Book Festival.

Saturday 27 June 2026, 10.30am – 12.30pm
Harlow Museum & Walled Gardens, Muskham Road, Harlow, CM20 2LF

Join best-selling author Syd Moore for a special writing workshop using objects from the archives of Harlow Museum to inspire your work.

Explore the archive at Harlow Museum – the collection holds a huge variety of paper-based documents, including original town plans, photos, parish registers, newspapers, and books. All these items contain rare and invaluable information about Harlow from the time of the individual parishes, through the new town era, up to the present day. The various items included within the archives provide a unique insight into the people who lived in the town and their way of life over multiple decades.

During this writing workshop best-selling author, Syd Moore, will guide you through using items from the Harlow Museum collection to inspire you to write your own piece of creative work.

This workshop is for writers of all abilities – all welcome.

Tickets: £20 / £15 concessions (students, under 27s and unwaged)
Box Office: eventbrite.co.uk

Part of our Harlow weekend – Essex Book Festival is delighted to be heading to Harlow for a weekend of writing workshops, author and artist talks, family games, and poetry. Find out more at essexbookfestival.org.uk/harlow-weekend/.

Syd Moore

Photo of Syd Moore © JMoore photos

Syd Moore has been a Royal Literary Fund fellow and is currently working with them to pioneer ‘Reading Round’ courses in hospices. Her novel The Witching Hour was a Top Twenty bestselling horror title of 2024. She was the first Author in Residence for Essex Libraries and is best known for her Essex Witch Museum Mysteries, which was shortlisted for the
Good Reader Holmes and Watson Award in 2018 and 2019. She has been shortlisted twice for a CWA dagger for her short stories. Syd founded the Essex Girls’ Liberation Front and successfully removed the term ‘Essex girl’ from the Oxford dictionary in 2020. She lives in Essex.

Syd Moore will also be taking part in an author event later in the day in the Walled Gardens at Harlow Museum, talking about her latest novel, The Great Deception – the second in her thrilling new series about Britain’s secret wartime history.

The post Writing the Archive Workshop appeared first on Essex Book Festival.