Dark Deeds in Lonely Places

Three crime writers uncover dark secrets in remote places, in three thrilling new books: THE SHARK by Emma Styles, THE SPIRIT GUIDE by Bridget Walsh, and THE LOST DETECTIVE by Elspeth Latimer. With a shared passion for compelling characters, gripping stories and vivid settings – from the coast of Western Australia to the depths of East Anglia – Emma, Bridget, and Elspeth will read from their latest novels and discuss what inspires them to write about the undercurrents of human nature, and the unsettling power of landscape.

Elspeth Latimer’s debut murder mystery The Lost Detective is shortlisted for the 2026 Crime Writers’ Association First Novel Dagger. The story was inspired by the haunting landscape of the Brecks, where she lives with her family. Elspeth has also written a guide to crime fiction series, Writing the Detectives.

Emma Styles writes Australian noir about badass young women. She grew up in Western Australia, loves open water swimming, and lives on the Sussex coast. Emma’s debut novel, No Country for Girls, won the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize. Her second novel, subversive serial killer thriller The Shark, is out now.

An obsessive interest in the weirder elements of nineteenth-century life has led Bridget Walsh to write a series of crime novels set in a down-at-heel Victorian London music hall. Her books have been described as ‘delightful, dark and depraved’, a description she likes to think suits her as well as the novels.