Special Guest: Chris Brookmyre - Old Swan Hotel

Incredibly, it is 30 years since Chris Brookmyre’s debut novel Quite Ugly One Morning introduced us to the hard-drinking, wise-cracking investigative journalist Jack Parlabane - as well as a certain object on a mantlepiece that has gone down in crime fiction folklore. In the three decades since, Chris has firmly established himself as one of the very best, boldest and most brilliant crime writers in the business, winning the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, the CWA Dagger in the Library, and twice winning the McIlvanney Prize.

His iconic protagonist Parlabane makes his return, older and wider, in a sort-of-but-not-really sequel Quite Ugly One Evening, which sees Jack trying to solve a murder on a cruise liner but only succeeding in stumbling over one of his own. Chris will be interviewed by Mark Billingham, the recipient of the 2026 CWA Diamond Dagger and a fellow member of the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers.

Kindly sponsored by T&R Theakston.