Tickets selling fast for Leonardslee Crime Festival

The Killer Women Murder Mystery tea has already sold out for the first Leonardslee Crime Festival on Saturday and Sunday, March 2-3, but there are still plenty of thrilling options for fans of crime fiction.
Erin KellyErin Kelly
Erin Kelly

Celebrating the best of crime writing in the South East, this weekend-long event – created by the Book Lovers’ Supper Club – combines the exceptional food of Leonardslee’s award-winning chefs with the talents of local crime writers.

Here’s a run-down of what’s still available at the festival at Leonardslee Gardens, near Horsham.

March 2: Crime, wine and fine dining, 7pm.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Restaurant Interlude offers inspirational dining with produce inspired by local farmers and their own kitchen garden.

The Leonardslee tasting menu usually starts at £90, but guests can take advantage of a great value package of canapés and a three-course dinner, then hear from award-winning writer Erin Kelly. ‘Have we killed the psychological thriller?’ is her subject.

Erin’s He Said/She Said, spent 12 weeks in the Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller lists. Tickets £75.

March 3: Crime writing workshop, 10am

You don’t need to be a published writer to enjoy this two-hour workshop with bestselling Brighton authors Dorothy Koomson and Graham Bartlett, plus coffee and home-made cake.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As well as learning how the police solve murders, you’ll find out how to avoid clichéd characters – and how the UK’s top crime and TV writers produce gripping yet authentic crime fiction.

Dorothy Koomson has written 13 books – including The Ice Cream Girls, which was made into a TV mini-series – and most recently The Brighton Mermaid.

Police procedure and forensic detail is the forte of former Brighton & Hove chief superintendent Graham Bartlett. As advisor to Peter James, Dorothy Koomson, Mark Billingham and dozens more, his unique style helps all authors to embed into the narrative how life at the sharp end really works. Tickets £35.

March 3: Crime cream tea, 2.30pm

There are just a few tickets left for this event.

Three top authors – Simon Brett, Debbie Howells and Julie Corbin – will debate the many ingredients that go into creating a good crime novel, followed by a cream tea.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Simon Brett wrote the Charles Paris, Mrs Pargeter, Fethering and Blotto & Twinks series of crime novels. In 2016 he was awarded an OBE for services to literature. Debbie Howells released her first psychological thriller, The Bones of You, in 2015 after a six-figure bidding war between publishers. Julie Corbin’s sixth novel, Her Watchful Eye, was published in September. Tickets £35.

Loxwood Joust 2019: Tickets available from Valentine’s Day. Click here to read more.