Blood in t'Dales

Author of:

• All the Dead Men Lie

• Hollow - Who Put Bella in the Wych-Elm?

• Broken Wings

• Keeper of Souls

• Only the Silence Moves

Born in Birmingham and now resident in North Yorkshire, Barry turned to crime writing because he saw it offering the opportunity to create compelling narratives that draw the audience in whilst being able to engage with wider ideas beyond just the consideration of 'cops and robbers' or even 'right and wrong'. For him the genre provides the possibility to consider many of the issues he feels strongly about, issues that arise from his roots and from his experiences teaching in difficult, deprived areas of a major city.

Set in the social and political turmoil of the 1984 miner’s strike, the debut novel ALL THE DEAD MEN LIE tackles such themes head on. Having lived for much of his life in and around the Staffordshire mining communities where the novel is set, he sees the time he lived through as pivotal in defining the modern world – the mistrust of police, the undermining of authority figures and the destruction of local communities and the industries that sustained them. The novel attempts to reveal a time and events that tore the social fabric of Britain.

In much the same way, the novel Hollow-Who Put Bella in the Wych-Elm? tackles themes of justice, truth, and corruption but this time set during World War 2. The novel is a fictionalised version of the events surrounding the discovery of the remains of a murdered young woman inside the hollow of a tree in Hagley Wood. Based on access to police files, the novel explores the social fabric of the era and how this impacted on the police search to discover the identity of the dead woman and her killers. The case remains unsolved and the identity of the young woman remains unknown. Meanwhile, the legends and the myths surrounding the case continue to grow...

Author of:

• DI ‘Ziggy’ Thorne 5-part series: The Shadow Killer (5); Catch Me Twice(4); When We Deceive (3); The Web They Wove (2); The Lie She Told (1)

Catherine Yaffe is the author of crime thrillers that readers and reviewers frequently describe as compulsively readable. A graduate of Curtis Brown Creative academy, Catherine wrote her first crime thriller, The Lie She Told in 2020 whilst the UK was in Lockdown.

Cat is fascinated with how people’s minds work, and why they make the decisions they do - particularly criminals! In each of her books she aims to make the reader suspect everyone, trust no one and question everything, including those closest to them.
Cat lives in Yorkshire with her husband and two cats (with the occasional visit from her grandpuppy Milo.)

Author of:

• Moat Hill Hall
• The Night Counsellor

L K Pang is a writer whose works are deeply influenced by the gothic classics of Jane Eyre, Rebecca, and Wuthering Heights. She made her debut in 2023 with Moat Hill Hall, a romantic thriller published by Chronos Publishing. It was during this debut that she discovered her passion for exploring the darker corners of the human psyche.

In 2024, she released The Night Counsellor, a gripping 1950s thriller set in a mental hospital in West Yorkshire, which further solidified her love for psychological suspense.

Formerly an architect, L K Pang now dedicates her time to writing, painting, and caring for her family in North Yorkshire, where the haunting landscapes often inspire her creative work.

Author of 

• The Miss Clara Vale Mysteries 

• The Picture House Murders

• The Pantomime Murders

• The Pyramid Murders

• The Penford Manor Murders

• The Berlin Murders

• The Poppy Denby Investigates Series

Fiona Veitch Smith writes Golden Age mysteries and historical fiction and has been shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger. Her breakthrough series was Poppy Denby Investigates about a young reporter sleuth in 1920s London. The first book in the series, The Jazz Files, was shortlisted for the prestigious CWA Historical Dagger.

Fiona has also written for theatre, short film and podcasts, and started out her creative career writing children’s picture books (SPCK).

She was born in Corbridge, Northumberland, then spent her teenage years and 20s in South Africa in the 1980s and 90s. She returned to the UK in 2002. As a journalist she worked on the arts and crime beats of a Cape Town newspaper, and then lectured in journalism in the UK for ten years. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism (Hons) and a Bachelor of History (Rhodes University), as well as an MA in Creative Writing (Northumbria University). She is also a board member of the Crime Writers’ Association,

Author of:

• DCI Harry Grimm Series

• DI Haig Series

David J. Gatward is a celebrated author known for the DCI Harry Grimm crime series, which has captivated readers worldwide with over 2 million copies sold. His other works include a new DI Haig crime thriller series, as well as numerous books for children, teenagers, and young adults. He has also ghost-written for many well known and popular crime titles. David lives with his two sons in rural Somerset.

David’s publishing journey dates back to 1992 when he released his first novel at just eighteen years old. Though it took time, perseverance led him to realise his ambition of becoming a full-time author, drawing on a wealth of life experiences to enrich his writing. His career evolved through various publishers, eventually culminating in the successful launch of the DCI Harry Grimm series. In 2020, he published Grimm Up North – the first in the acclaimed 
‘DCI Harry Grimm’ crime series – and David never looked back.