Mark Billingham interviewed by Martyn Waites

And so onto Saturday!

First up, I headed to the 9am panel Name Your Price: The Hired Gun. Moderated by Meg Gardiner, with panellists Mason Cross, Hanna Jameson, John Gordon Sinclair, and Mark Allen Smith, the panel discussed the attraction of the ‘hired gun’ as protagonist, the mystery surrounding the character that rides into town, sorts out the problem, then disappears again, and the joys (and challenges) of writing them.

Next, I headed to the lounge to interview Mason Cross, author of The Killing Season and creator of the rather mysterious Carter Blake. It was a fun interview to do – watch this blog for the write-up coming soon.

After a leisurely lunch with friends, I headed to one of the main events of the weekend – Featured Guest of Honour: Mark Billingham interviewed by Martyn Waites. Both wearing fabulous western shirts that I’m sure Mark Billingham’s series character, Tom Thorne, would have been proud of, they took to the stage for a lively and entertaining interview covering everything from Mark’s books, the future of police procedurals, Thorne’s taste in music (it changed quite dramatically between the first book and the second) and even dachshund detectives!

Then it was on to the Arcadia Books Reception complete with tasty wine in beautiful Bristol Blue Glass glasses, followed by the Gala Awards Dinner. It was a fabulous evening with the merriment continuing way into the early hours of Sunday morning.

On Sunday I had a hangover, and it was a big one, which meant I didn’t get up very early! But I did make it along to the last event of the festival, Criminal Mastermind with Quiz Master Maxim Jakubowski interrogating contestants: Mason Cross (specialist subject Lee Child), Kate Ellis (specialist subject Josephine Tey), Paul Johnston (specialist subject Dashiell Hammett) and Susan Moody (specialist subject Raymond Chandler). It was great fun playing along in the audience, but the general crime fiction questions in the second round were seriously hard! In the end Paul Johnston was victorious.

And then the weekend was over.

As ever I was determined to resist the festival book shop – my ever multiplying ‘to be read’ pile already stretches across several rooms of the house! But, as usual, I was unable to resist the papery lure of the all those fabulous looking books, and over the weekend bought several bags full.

Authors whose books I’ve added to my mountainous ‘to be read’ pile are: Simon Kernick, Helen Giltrow, Nev Fountain, Tom Wood, Kevin Wignall, Tanya Carver, and Kate Griffin. Along with the latest books of a few of my favourite authors including Mark Billingham (The Bones Beneath), Meg Gardiner (The Shadow Tracer), and a signed copy of The Killing Season by Mason Cross.

All in all, it was a fabulously fun weekend.

Now I’m off to book my ticket for next year!