TV presenter Richard Osman and best-selling Scottish crime writer Val McDermid are among the guest speakers at an upcoming crime fiction weekend.

The two-day feast of fabled felonies at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, will be celebrating its 30th year with a line-up of bestselling authors from Friday to Sunday, August 11-13.

This year’s theme is ‘celebrations: innocent parties, guilty pleasures’, and speakers will explore why dinner parties and other festivities are so often the setting for dark deeds in fiction.

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Over the course of the weekend, attendees will enjoy a variety of talks and book signings from authors and experts including Winnie Li and Alex Wheatle.

Presenter and comedian turned bestselling crime writer Richard Osman will be giving the after-dinner speech on Friday.

A Saturday night gala dinner will be followed by a specially written celebrity ‘whodunnit’ murder mystery featuring a cast of much-loved authors.

The weekend’s guest of honour is Robert Goddard, winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger Award (2018).

The author of the BBC Two hit, The Fine Art of Invisible Detection, Robert’s latest novel, The Fine Art of Uncanny Prediction, will be published in August.

Established in 1994 by the then Alumnae Officer, Eileen Roberts, and St Hilda's alumna, writer Jean Buchanan, St Hilda’s Crime Fiction Weekend is now one of the longest running crime fiction events in the UK.

Acclaimed novelist PD James appeared at the first ever event, and the Saturday night dinner is named in her honour.

The Weekend has also benefitted from the longstanding support of crime writer Val McDermid, an alumna and Honorary Fellow of St Hilda’s College.

The event will take place both in person and online, allowing for an international audience to participate from anywhere in the world.

Ticket options range from a Friday night special to a full weekend package plus accommodation.

In person attendees will enjoy the hospitality of St Hilda’s College, Oxford, and its idyllic riverside setting. Val McDermid said: “St Hilda’s is unique for its intimacy and the passionate conversations it provokes – that’s why I love it.”

Ann Cleeves, last year’s guest of honour, added: “I love the calm of St Hilda’s and the courtesy.

“This is a place where people listen to the writers and to the readers’ questions with attention and respect.”

The latest book in Mr Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series is titled The Last Devil to Die, and will be hitting stores on September 14.

Keen readers of the towering author can pre order the fourth novel in the record-breaking series on Amazon.

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1