Crime Central at Central Library

Crime Central at Manchester Central Library, Manchester, 1 September 2022, from £0.00 - Book now

Following a summer hiatus, fear not, murder and mayhem returns to Central Library, as Manchester Libraries’ Crime Central is back to shine a spotlight on the best and brightest crime writing talent both locally and from around the country. Hosted by Rob Parker – the Warrington-based author of ten novels including the Thirty Miles Trilogy and the Ben Bracken thrillers, Crook’s Hollow and the Audible bestseller Far From The Tree, and co-host of the For Your Reconsideration film podcast – the now regular Crime Central showcases emerging talent alongside blockbuster bestselling authors offering audience members a moment inside their minds.

The now regular Crime Central showcases emerging talent alongside blockbuster bestselling authors offering audience members a moment inside their minds.

So far, Rob Parker has introduced the likes of Lesley Kara, Sunday Times Top Ten author, Russ Thomas, Sunday Times bestselling author of the DS Adam Tyler series, and Costa Book Award-winning Stuart Turton. For September, his guests are MJ White, Paul Finch and Adam Simcox.

Rob’s first guest is Miranda Dickinson writing as MJ White, author of the Dr Cora Lael series of crime novels, featuring Cora, Acting DS Rob Minshull and the detectives of South Suffolk CID. She has sold a million books to date and has been a Sunday Times bestseller no fewer than six times. She has written 10 books, beginning with The Secret Voices, and she has been shortlisted twice for the RNA awards: for Novel of the Year in 2010 with Fairytale Of New York and again in 2012 for Contemporary Novel of the Year for It Started With A Kiss. Her books have been published in 15 languages and been bestsellers in four countries. A huge fan of crime fiction and particularly police procedurals, Miranda wrote The Secret Voices largely in secret – so is quite the inspiration to aspiring crime novelists.

Wigan native Paul Finch is a former cop and journalist turned bestselling crime and thriller writer. Paul cut his writing teeth penning episodes of the British TV crime drama The Bill, and has written for Dr Who as well as extensively for the horror, fantasy and science-fiction genres. However, he is probably best known for his crime/thriller novels, especially the popular DS Mark “Heck” Heckenburg police-actioners, of which there are seven to date, and DC Lucy Clayburn procedurals, of which there are two. The first three books in the Heck line achieved official bestseller status, the second being the fastest pre-ordered title in HarperCollins’ history, while the first Lucy Clayburn novel made the Sunday Times Top 10 list. 

Adam Simcox is a London-based filmmaker who has written and directed three features plus music videos and commercials for brands such as McLaren, Primark and Unilever. His debut – the acclaimed The Dying Squad – was released in 2021, and its follow-up, Manchester-based The Generation Killer, is published in August 2022. Bringing the supernatural and spec fic into the crime writing arena, Adam’s first novel The Dying Squad introduces readers to Detective Inspector Joe Lazarus, who, on storming a Lincolnshire farmhouse to bring down a notorious drug gang, discovers his own body. He is enlisted to The Dying Squad, a spectral police force who solve crimes their flesh and blood counterparts cannot, and returns in The Generation Killer. The blurb says: “There’s a new serial killer in Manchester – and it’s up to a dead guy to catch him. Joe Lazarus, specifically: his latest Dying Squad assignment demands he bring to justice The Generation Killer, a psychopath who murders the oldest member of a family, as well as the youngest. Joe and his new partner Bits have mere hours to catch the killer and save his latest kidnap victim.”

The monthly events also give you the chance to turn sleuth and ask your own questions to the panel of experts; expect insider info, anecdotes and laughs, audience interaction, giveaways and book signings.

For more information about libraries in Manchester, check out our guide here.