A chance to hear from two crime writers at the top of their game. Author of 21 Sunday Times bestsellers Mark Billingham introduces his first new series for 20 years with The Last Dance. The award-winning author of the bestselling Sam Wyndham crime novels set in 1920s India, Abir Mukherjee introduces his new and exciting contemporary thriller Hunted.

The Last Dance: meet Declan Miller: unique, unconventional and criminally underestimated. He’s a detective and a dancer with no respect for authority – and he’s the best hope Blackpool has for keeping criminals off the streets. The Last Dance is Mark Billingham’s first new series for 20 years.

Hunted: After a bomb goes off in an LA shopping mall, Sajid and Carrie are thrown together in a race against time to find his son and her daughter, prove their innocence and stop a catastrophe. Abir Mukhajee’s blockbuster contemporary thriller is “a masterclass in intelligent suspense fiction” (Mick Herron).

Mark Billingham started his career, 22 years ago, bringing a fresh, edgy and terrifying twist to the genre, and his lead character, Tom Thorne, was every bit as quirky and different as his creator. Since then, his novels have sold over six million copies and he has had 21 Sunday Times bestsellers. Two TV series have been made of Mark’s books – Thorne by Sky starring David Morrissey, and In the Dark by the BBC. A third is currently in development. Rabbit Hole, his 2020 novel, was named as Crime Book of the Year by The Times.

Abir Mukherjee is the Times bestselling author of the Sam Wyndham series of crime novels set in Raj era India. His debut, A Rising Man, won the CWA Endeavour Dagger for best historical crime novel of 2017 and was shortlisted for the MWA Edgar for best novel. His second novel, A Necessary Evil, won the Wilbur Smith Award for Adventure Writing and was a Zoe Ball Book Club pick. His third novel, Smoke and Ashes, was chosen by the Sunday Times as one of the 100 Best Crime & Thriller Novels since 1945. Abir grew up in Scotland and now lives in London with his wife and two sons.

HYBRID EVENT – this is a Hybrid event, which can be attended in person at the venue or accessed online. This event listing is for the Online event.

ACCESSIBILITY – This event will have live subtitling by Stagetext to make it more accessible to those who are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing. If you are attending with a carer, please book an additional free ticket for them.

Date: Sunday 28 April

Time: 5pm-6pm

Venue: Cellar, Lawrence Batley Theatre, Queen Street, Huddersfield HD1 2SP

Tickets: £8 (£5 conc), online tickets £3, free for University of Huddersfield staff and students & essential carers

Age guidance: 16+

Access Guide: https://www.accessable.co.uk/huddersfield-literature-festival/access-guides/syngenta-cellar