Northern Noir at the Bar

Liz Mistry is a crime writer whose gritty police procedurals are set in Bradford and Scotland. The latest Solanki and McQueen series draws on West Lothian’s landscape, heritage and culture to create dark yet often humorous stories. Mistry completed a doctorate in creative writing, exploring the representation of marginalised groups in crime fiction, and often addresses mental health themes in her work.

M.W. Craven was born in Carlisle but grew up in Newcastle. He joined the army at sixteen, leaving ten years later to complete a social work degree. Seventeen years after taking up a probation officer role in Cumbria, at the rank of assistant chief officer, he became a full-time author. He is a Sunday Times bestseller and, for his Cumbria-set Washington Poe series, a recipient of the 2019 Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger, the 2022 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2023. The series has now been translated into twenty-seven languages.

Trevor Mark Thomas was born in Manchester. While he was looking after his dad he decided to enrol in the creative writing MA at Manchester Metropolitan University. It was there he wrote his first book The Bothy which was published by Salt. His second book Dry Cleaning came out last year.