Vaseem Khan
@VaseemKhanUK
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Author, Q novels (from Bond franchise) & Malabar House & Baby Ganesh agency series. Cricket mad @AuthorsCC @RedbridgeCrkt. UCL Security & Crime Science.
Joined January 2014
Last night, reading in bed, I realised Ive been doing this for 30+ years. My late mum used to tell me to turn off light. Id say OK, then use torch to read under covers. Lately, I get feeling people are so tired, this ritual is dying out. Hope others still read before lights out?
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As we enter 2023, a plug for local libraries, facing yet more cuts. This is Canning Town lib @NewhamLibraries I love writing in there; browsing books. Always all sorts in, a real community vibe. Make some noise about how important your local library is. Give them a mention here.
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1/4 OK. The news is finally out. I am writing a series of mystery novels featuring my reimagining of Q from the James Bond franchise. Exciting & terrifying, in equal measure. First book: QUANTUM OF MENACE, out autumn 2025. Pre-order here:
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So, yesterday, I officially took over as Chair of the 70 year old Crime Writers Association @The_CWA . The incoming Chair receives the Creasey Bell and must promise to guard it with their life & polish it daily. Here I am bashing it for the first time. (cont)
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So, this just happened. Midnight at Malabar House won @CWA Sapere Books Historical Dagger, the most prestigious historical crime fiction prize in the world. I'm gobsmacked but grateful to all who've made me welcome in this industry-30 yrs after I wrote my first (unpublishd) book!
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So today, my latest book, The Lost Man of Bombay, is published. Hooray! Here's me going on about it. India, 1950. A dead white man is found in the Himalayas with only a notebook containing cryptic clues. Go on, treat yourself!. Pre-order here:
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So once again millions of people worldwide are dressing in weird & wacky costumes to celebrate my birthday. I keep telling them not to, but such is their adoration they keep doing it. Yes, I'm a Halloween baby. Can't think of a better place to be today than the British Library:)
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Twisted & Whodunnit Daggers. When I became @The_CWA Chair this year I pledged to introduce new Daggers reflecting changing trends in crime fiction - for psychological crime & for cosy/GoldenAge/traditional crime. Here they are. Read more here:
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1/4 . A word about the NHS . I've spent most of the last week in hospital - nothing major, a kidney stone - which is unbelievably painful! Hours before I was due to go into the operating theatre, the stone came out. A miracle! Thank you for all prayers/good wishes. Cont:
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Reminded today of my dads recent passing. He had a battered old briefcase which he'd never let us look inside. What treasures r in there we thought! We finally went through it. Useless old papers, an old watch and this - my graduation pic. He'd kept it for a quarter of a century.
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Not often I have an entire row to myself on a flight. Worth a tweet. Off to a lit fest in the Big Apple.
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Thank you, all, for the kind words about the new Q series. The book community is made up of v. passionate & generous people. Writing is a precarious endeavour. Always ups and downs - being published is just the first hurdle. It's generosity that sustains us in this business.
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So. its publication day for DEATH OF A LESSER GOD! 1950 India. James Whitby is convicted of murdering Indian lawyer. Persis & Archie have 11 days to reinvestigate before he's hanged. Thank u to all who bought. If u enjoy thoughtful crime fic, order here:
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Cover reveal time. DEATH OF A LESSER GOD, bk 4 in @The_CWA Dagger-winning Malabar House series. 1950 Bombay. A dead Indian lawyer. An Englishman due to hang. A murdered American GI in Calcutta. Persis & Archie investigate in post-Raj India. Pre-order:
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Honoured & delighted to chair the worlds most prestigious crime festival #TheakstonsCrime 2023, in its 20th year. When they gave Captain Kirk the Enterprise, he promised not to crash the ship. With a great team, we've charted a brill programme: #Harrogate.
📢 We are delighted to announce our 2023 #TheakstonsCrime Programming Chair, multi award-winning author of the Malabar House historical crime novels, @VaseemKhanUK. See who has made his 20th anniversary programme 👇.#Harrogate
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The glamorous lives of crime writers. After speaking at @Wordfest_by_Sea @ellygriffiths and I end up in a chippie. Did have very posh after-dinner mints, though. And piped music in the loos.
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Sir Ian Rankin @Beathhigh just popped up on the BBC sofa with the star of the new (young) Rebus (Richard Rankin). "We pretend I'm his uncle". Legend.
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One of the initiatives I announced yesterday is my aim to introduce new Dagger Awards that reflect current trends in crime fiction. So a Dagger for psychological/suspense thrillers & a Dagger for cosy/traditional/Golden Age crime. Names to be finalised! Watch this space.
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The Queen was born before both my parents and died after they both passed on. She was here when they migrated to the UK 50 years ago. She was their Queen. They liked her, admired her &, were they alive today, would have mourned her passing. I was born here. For me, she's (cont)
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The view from my room at The Golden Lion in Stirling, where I'm up for @BloodyScotland . The adventurer in me wants to leap out of the window and climb those distant hills. The writer in me says 'f**k that shit, I'm going back to bed.'
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Lovely to see The Lost Man of Bombay make the @The_CWA Gold Dagger Longlist. In company of friends & great books. Always a reflective moment to be nominated for anything. Will now look thoughtful on next author photo, staring into distance. Book details:
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So today #midnightatmalabarhouse is published @HodderBooks! Its Bombay, 1950. Persis Wadia, India's first female police detective investigates the murder of diplomat Sir James Herriot. Here's a few words. Order from bookshops & online: If you do. 1/2
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And now we're at the British Book Awards (aka the #Nibbies) . Abir Mukherjee (aka @radiomukhers ) and I will be presenting the Crime and Thriller award. Tune in! @thebookseller
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Hard at work in my local library. What would writers do without these amazing spaces? @NewhamLibraries @CILIPinfo @NewhamLondon
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Quite like this picture from @BloodyScotland , taken during the Wickedest Link quiz night. Bathed in divine radiance. Moments later I was voted off the stage. Stabbed in the back by my fellow writers. Never trust crime authors.
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Paperback is out today for The Lost Man of Bombay. Hooray! . Here's me giving you three reasons to check it out. It's India, 1950. A dead white man is found in the Himalayas with only a notebook containing cryptic clues. Order here, my people!
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So my nephew wrote a book - to help me, he says. It comes with its own sequin-studded book envelope - he has an eye for marketing. The book's back cover blurb tells us it's exciting. I'm tempted to just send this in to my editor in place of the book I'm supposed to hand in.
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Planning murder over scones at @AnnCleeves house-at the table where she writes her books. Turns out shes a pretty good baker too. Next stop, celeb Bake Off! Ann was kindly helpin me launch DEATH OF A LESSER GOD. Dont let Ann's baking go in vain. Order here
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Obligatory book box opening video, but perhaps not the kind you're used to. DEATH OF A LESSER GOD is out on Aug 10th, so Ill be irritating everyone for the next week or so. 1950, Bombay. A dead Indian lawyer. An Englishman due to hang. Order options:
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Dinner at @HildasCrime in Oxford, in the company of crime writers. Followed by an impromptu quiz by @richardosman where Marple is voted best detective and we learn that some people can't recognise the planet Earth even when given a picture of it.
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Im feeling Xmassy. Going to give away ONE signed hardback of The Lost Man of Bombay PLUS one other new bestselling thriller, soon to be on HBO (not mine). To enter: Retweet this & follow. Ill get a friend to pick winner at random. Deadline: Midnight Sat 24th Dec. Beat that, Santa
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I turn up in Bethesda, USA for the 35th @Malice_Domestic crime convention and the first person I bump in to is @AnnCleeves . Trying to steal hotel laundry. Crime writers. Can't take them anywhere.
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"Cultural appropriation: why people need to get a grip". When the Internet broke down earlier this week at the sight of Adele sporting Bantu knots, it was, for me, the final straw. Here are my thoughts on this insidious new frontier of outrage:
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There's a great feeling of relief/achievement when you finish a book, like reaching a mountain peak without dramatically killing yourself. DEATH OF A LESSER GOD is the next in the Malabar House series. If you haven't read the others. why not? Start here:
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Five British crime writers turn up in sunny Bethesda, USA for the @Malice_Domestic crime convention. The next day it rains. ALL BLOODY DAY. @AnnCleeves @medwardsbooks @CatrionaMcP @victoria_dowd (not in pic). We all had anoraks. Of course we did.
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1/6 Friendship. A theme that struck me at this year’s @TheakstonsCrime I was published at 40. Ten years later, I have made friendships that will last until I head off into the great bookshop in the sky. Friends of all feathers, brought together by our passion for.
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Today THE DYING DAY paperback is out. @The_CWA Historical Dagger winning series. Bombay, 1950. A 600-year-old copy of Dante’s The Divine Comedy vanishes leaving behind a series of complex riddles & bodies. Here's me going on about it! Buy here: & RT pls!
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It's going to be another incredible festival @HarrogateFest . Thrills, chills, and, of course, a healthy dose of murder. Basically, all the good stuff.
#TheakstonsCrime programming day! Lots of plans for 2024 - we cannot wait to reveal all soon! More anon… #NJCooper
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came through yesterday. We can debate the monarchy as much as we wish. But this isnt about the monarchy. This is about an individual who made a promise to serve when she was crowned Queen and fulfilled that promise beyond all expectation. I will miss her. Its that simple, really.
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Crime readers seem to be getting younger. (Either that or young people are getting more bloodthirsty. ) Signing books at @ImaginedThings bookshop in Harrogate.
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So. My 2014 debut, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, is out all over Japan. Brilliantly translated by @FunayamaMutsumi . The cover is v different to the English cover, but equally colourful! Middle-aged Mumbai policeman solves murder. & inherits baby elephant.
🎉『チョプラ警部の思いがけない相続』, Japanese version of “The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra” by #VaseemKhan hit the shelves of bookstores nationwide Japan today!!🐘
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I'm often asked what my favourite crime/thriller series is. Impossible to choose. Poirot. The Wire. Sopranos. But I confess I have a soft spot for Columbo. Subverted the genre by revealing the killer up front. Peter Falk inhabited the role as if born to it.
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The coziest plane I've ever been on. On the way to Alderney Lit Fest. Flight ended in fog with a couple of circuits back into the clouds and a Die Hard style landing. Next time I'll just swim.
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Launching a new book now feels like sending a soldier into No Man's Land armed with a banana. Nevertheless, if ud like to be transportd outside of it all for a few hours, heres my latest. Bad Day at the Vulture Club Murder, mystery & vultures. Stay safe!
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Today my latest book #TheDyingDay is publishd, the follow up to @The_CWA Historical Dagger winning Midnight at Malabar House. Former Gold Dagger winner @MWCravenUK says ‘The Da Vinci Code meets post-Independence India.' Intrigued? Find out more/order here:
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Right. The night before the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival and all is quiet. except the bunch of early authors shooting the breeze on the lawn. Tomorrow this place will be utterly rammed.
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Loved chatting to @MattNixson for this #ExpressFeatures piece detailing my years in India, my Malabar House crime novels set in 1950s Bombay & being first British Asian chair of #TheakstonCrime Festival @HarrogateFest Reflecting on Empire, post-colonialism. and crime fiction.
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Road trip #4 . Driving back from @AppledoreBkFest . On our last road trip @radiomukhers got us lost, so my hopes of getting home anytime this week are slim. Plus I have to listen to him talk for 4 hours. I should've walked back.
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Nov 28 - CITY OF DESTRUCTION, 5th in the Malabar House series. Better start banging the drum: 1951, India. The dying words of a political assassin send Persis to Delhi, India's ancient capital. PRE-ORDER: 1st in series-99p Kindle:
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THE LOST MAN OF BOMBAY in some lovely company here as it makes the longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. If you enjoyed the book, get those thumbs out and vote. Please & thank you. Plus I'm far from home on a train platform. Do it to cheer me up.
It's finally here! We've just revealed the longlist for the most coveted prize in crime fiction - the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award!. Congratulations to all our longlisted authors! More here 👉 #TheakstonAward #TheakstonsCrime
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Ep.1 of The Turkish Detective, on BBC, based on the books by @BarbaraNadel was excellent. I love the books and this really captures their essence, with a charismatic cast and a gritty plot. Ikmen is riveting in every scene. Definite recommend from me.
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Cover reveal time, folks! A striking look for THE LOST MAN OF BOMBAY, third in @The_CWA Dagger-winning Malabar House series. 1950, Bombay. A murdered white man is found frozen in the Himalayas, with a cryptic notebook. @HodderBooks Details / pre-order:
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So. this year I'm Chairing the #TheakstonsCrime festival in Harrogate, now in its 20th year, one of the biggest crime fiction fests in the world. It began with super-agent Jane Gregory demonstrating her newly honed martial arts skills. The woman is a lethal weapon!
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‘Is this a Dagger I see before me?’ – Lessons from 30 years of writing . On the eve of the @The_CWA Daggers Awards night, I reflect on my long journey to, and beyond, publication: the highs, the lows, the occasional punches in the teeth. Read more:
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A single sneeze and my wife makes 50 litres of chicken soup. I love chicken soup, but where's the evidence that it's a panacea for all fluey ills? Maybe we should have just distributed millions of bowls of chicken soup during the pandemic instead of vaccines.
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1/4 A busy year or so for me with three very different books out. First up: CITY OF DESTRUCTION (Nov 2024) the fifth in the Malabar House series, set in 1950s India. THE GIRL IN CELL A (May 2025) is my first psychological thriller set in contemporary small town America.
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1/3 When I posted the below tweet reminiscing on 30 years of bedtime reading, I hadn't expected it to go viral. Thank you to the almost 9000 of you who interacted & all who replied assuring me that reading before lights out is still a THING. I now have a cosy image of.
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The famous giant grass chair at @HarrogateFest #TheakstonCrime . Wonder how it would look in my living room.
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When I agreed to edit (with @The_CWA Chair Maxim Jakubowski) & contribute to THE PERFECT CRIME anthology by @HarperCollinsUK I hadn't imagined we'd get such a roll call of legends & rising stars. The anthology is a landmark collection, a marker of a changing industry 1/3
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Cover reveal time. Delighted to reveal THE DYING DAY, 2nd in Malabar House series. Bombay 1950. A 600-yr old copy of Dante's The Divine Comedy goes missing from the Asiatic Society leaving behind a trail of riddles & bodies. Preorder here: Pls RT if poss.
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I like this reflective pic from @HarrogateFest . Two statesmen putting the world to rights. Or me explaining to @imranmahmood777 why combining cucumber and chicken in a dish is a culinary atrocity. Or just come up with your own captions.
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Lovely evening at Agatha Awards yesterday in Bethesda, USA @Malice_Domestic . Said a few words to a glamorously dressed audience, received this intriguing tea cup as one of the co-International Guests of Honour & accepted @radiomukhers cup in his absence. May have dropped his.
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Finnish edition of Midnight at Malabar House. Nice to see they've kept the original cover. Not confident I could translate a single word, but I love it. Feel free to read in English if you're equally Finnish-incompetent. 1950s Bombay-set crime.
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As Chair of @The_CWA one of the year's highlights is presiding over our Daggers night. Thank u to all who helped make it a special event. Congrats to all winners. Guest of honour @lisajewelluk made a thumping speech for women in crime. So she got mango pudding & I got an apple.
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Lovely to see The Lost Man of Bombay shortlisted for @The_CWA Gold Dagger, especially in company of good friends @WilliamRyan_ (who fed me) & @Anna_Mazz (who didn't!) . I've read most on this list & they're high quality crime novels. Judging panel have their work cut out.
🗡 THE GOLD DAGGER.#CWADaggers. George Dawes Green: The Kingdoms of Savannah.Vaseem Khan: The Lost Man of Bombay.Simon Mason: A Killing in November.Anna Mazzola: The Clockwork Girl.WC Ryan: The Winter Guest.Simon Van Der Velde: The Silent Brother
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Blue skies herald my advance northwards to Whitley Bay for @bay_tales . Will be onstage tomm with @AnnCleeves & Ayo @Shotsblog talking crime fiction, Indian history, Worzel Gummidge & evil b#stards. Whole day ticket only £30:
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Wandering around Appledore with @AnnCleeves , we spy a location from her novel The Long Call in the background. We'll be speaking together at @AppledoreBkFest later today with the all new and improved @radiomukhers aka the Beardless Wonder.
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Earlier this week. Signing a mountainous pile of the @GoldsboroBooks 25 year anthology. How long did it take? A long time.
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So, today the paperback of Midnight at Malabar House is out … A turbulent 1950s Bombay, a murdered British diplomat & India's first female police detective in the thick of it. @The_CWA Sapere Historical Dagger shortlisted. Buy in bookshops or RT if poss!
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It's not every day that the murder weapon in your novel suddenly appears on TV. The Antiques Roadshow examining an Indian 'push' dagger, as featured in my latest, DEATH OF A LESSER GOD. Sunday is a good time to buy books! More about it here:
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So @imranmahmood777 gave me this mug today. Read the inscription. This was his attempt at sympathy for my excruciating kidney stone pain last week. With friends like this. ? #TheakstonsCrime . Aided and abetted by Mick Herron, @SteveCavanagh_ & @radiomukhers
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The vagaries of cricket. After being out with a frozen shoulder for almost two months - during which we enjoyed a heatwave - I come back and this happens. Here's me trying to convince the opposition to carry on playing. "It's only a bit of rain."
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Even after all these years in the industry I still get a thrill from meeting my own literary heroes. Fatherland and Imperium are two of my favourite novels. @Robert___Harris breathes life into history and politics in a way few do. Great day at @CapitalCrime1
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It's publication day for the 5th in the #BabyGanesh series, Bad Day at the Vulture Club. Inspector Chopra investigates murder of a wealthy Parsee whose body is found in Mumbai’s Towers of Silence where the Parsees lay out their dead to be eaten by vultures
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I don't like to blow my own trumpet (to quote Blackadder) but a recent graduate from this has just joined a top agency, after getting offers from A LOT of agents for their debut. Moral of story. If you're looking to write crime, you could do worse than listen to me :) @cbcreative.
Last chance to join our six-week online Writing Crime Fiction course with bestselling author @VaseemKhanUK 🕵️♂️. Draw your readers into a web of intrigue that will keep them guessing till the final page 🔎. Starts 11 Apr, enrol now:
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The tiger arch is prowling #TheakstonsCrime festival. Get your pic taken inside it & pick up copy of DEATH OF A LESSER GOD in @Waterstones tent! Book 4 in the Malabar House series. 1950 Bombay. A dead Indian lawyer. An Englishman due to hang. Or pre-order:
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I reach Oxford for @HildasCrime weekend & the bells ring out, as they did at Whitley Bay earlier this week. I'll have to hire bellringers to follow me to every talk. Like boxers with their ring walk music.
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Love this pic by Keiko Ikeuchi at @HildasCrime weekend, Oxford. I dressed up for a talk about the colonial history of the subcontinent & my new book, Death of a Lesser God. Unsure who Im wagging finger at. Hecklers? Man's follies? Anyway, book details here
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A comfort dog for other sick dogs ! What a wonderful, wonderful thing. Look at the expressions on their furry little faces :)
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Playing cricket on the weekend with my young nephews. Lovely to see their passion and talent for the game. I didn't make any runs but it didn't matter because it was such a joy to see young cricketers embrace the key principles of cricket: fun, friendship, and big teas.
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While all sorts were going on in the Ashes, @AdamRutherford and I were playing for the @AuthorsCC in our own grudge match against the Publishers XI. The author-publisher feud almost boiled over when it was discovered there may not be tea & scones. but this was swiftly rectified.
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Thank you to @CriFiLover and to those who nominated me for this at The Crime Fiction Lover Awards 2023 . I'm as pleased as a cat with nine lives and a big bowl of melted chocolate.
Big congratulations to @CaraHunterBooks @VaseemKhanUK @joelansdale and Mick Herron, who have all been nominated as Best Author in the Crime Fiction Lover Awards of 2023. There’s still time to add your favourite into the mix! .
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Two grown men enjoying ice cream cones with all the trimmings. Lovely lunchtime shenanigans with @imranmahmood777 @radiomukhers @Ayisha_Malik
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The Lost Man of Bombay makes it to the @FT top crime novels of the year. "Vivid, bracing crime writing married to a picture of a country seeking its post-Raj identity." Can't give you better reasons to buy it for Xmas. Thank you @BarryForshaw3 Buy here:
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Drum-banging time! Mar 16, paperback of The Lost Man of Bombay is out. Picked in top crime books of the year by Guardian, FT, Daily Express . India, 1950. A dead white man is found in the Himalayas with only a notebook containing cryptic clues. Pre-order:
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Libraries change lives. Changed mine when I was young & had no money to buy books. Im an author today bcoz of them. They're NOT a lifestyle choice for govns. @The_CWA Dagger in the Library is picked by librarians. Thank you & delighted to be on list. @libsconnected @CILIPinfo
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Three Men and a Ferry. An epic crossing over to Bute with @MarkBillingham and @LucaVeste . @ButeNoir
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Signing DEATH OF A LESSER GOD at @GoldsboroBooks before heading to @HildasCrime . The tigers look hungry. Order now before they start thinking about lunch.
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Lovely to be back in a library again, even if I do look like I'm about to rob it @NewhamLibraries
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So a million great books came out yesterday, incl the paperback of my latest DEATH OF A LESSER GOD. 1950, Bombay. A dead Indian lawyer. An Englishman due to hang. If you like history, a cryptic mystery, & a v. cool cover. Buy local or options here:
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As fate would have it @radiomukhers is in the seat in front. Clip round the earhole a distinct possibility.
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Delivering the annual #dorothylsayerslecture yesterday in Witham @EssexLibraries for the @EssexBookFest I had the chance to meet Dorothy & her cat Blitz. Did u know that DLS is on the curriculum in the Indian state of Bihar with questions about her essay 'How Free is the Press?'
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The most perfect rainbow I've ever seen, yesterday in Dun Loughairie. And now a bright morning for a brisk walk along the pier. Good omens as I set off to explore Dublin. Trinity College Library awaits.
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A great session chairing these terrific writers at a packed @bay_tales in Whitley Bay this morning. And they also managed to squeeze us all into this cutout for a post-event pic.
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