The magic of storytelling with Val McDermid, interviewed by crime writer Mari Hannah
“It’s not magic that takes us to another world – it’s storytelling.” — Val McDermid
Alnwick Story Fest is thrilled to host Val McDermid, author of international bestselling titles including The Wire in the Blood, Karen Pirie, and Allie Burns, which have sold over 19 million copies around the world. In our headline event to celebrate the publication of Val’s new book, Past Lying, fellow crime writer Mari Hannah joins Val in conversation to discuss the magic of storytelling and:
- The latest twisty crime secrets of Past Lying and DCI Pirie’s investigation into the disappearance of Lara Hardie, a University of Edinburgh student who vanished from her doorstep.
- The inspiration behind Val’s books
- The secret world of best-selling crime writers
Val McDermid is a number-one award-winning bestselling crime author whose novels have been translated into forty languages. Winner of the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year and the LA Times Book of the Year Award, she was inducted into the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame in 2009, was the recipient of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2010, and received the Lambda Literary Foundation Pioneer Award in 2011. In 2016, Val received the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award at Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, and in 2017, she received the DIVA Literary Prize for Crime and was elected a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Val writes full-time and divides her time between Edinburgh and East Neuk of Fife.
Mari Hannah is a multi-award-winning author and former probation officer. She lives in rural Northumberland with her partner, an ex-murder detective. Mari’s long-awaited Kate Daniels thriller, THE LONGEST GOODBYE, is out on January 17, 2024