When I'm not writing...
I love writing. It's a treat. And these days it's squashed into weekends and evenings. More of my time is spent talking to readers, not just to promote my own work, but a huge range of authors who deserve to reach a wider audience.
Celebrating 25 years of Murder Squad
In 2025, Murder Squad celebrates its 25th Anniversary. Yes, astonishingly, it's a quarter century since seven, unknown, mid-list crime writers joined forces to publicise our work. Four of the original founders remain, plus two (relative) newbies. The squad has garnered many accolades and awards during that time - and now boasts not one, but TWO Diamond Dagger winners!
Murder Squad, left to right: Martin Edwards, Ann Cleeves, Cath Staincliffe, Kate Ellis, Chris Simms and Margaret Murphy
To mark this special year, we are running a short story competition with the theme 'Anniversary'. The competition is open to new/emerging writers (aged over 18) who have not had a full-length novel or story collection published. We are looking for original stories up to 1500 words in length that grip us and make us eager to find out what happens. Entries are open now and will close on Friday 15th February 2025. All the details are on the Murder Squad website.
Ann says: "A short story brought me my very first award nomination. I didn't win, but I still remember the excitement of it. I hope many of you enter Murder Squad's very special short story competition. After all, we're nearly as old as Vera!"
Good luck!
The original Murder Squad (right) were John Baker, Chaz Brenchley, Martin Edwards, Stuart Pawson, Cath Staincliffe, Margaret Murphy and Ann. Since then, the Squad has lost some members and attracted others. Two of the original line-up, John Baker and Chaz Brenchley, have since stepped down from the Squad, and Stuart Pawson retired due to ill-health. Stuart died in February 2016 and is sorely missed, though his Charlie Priest books live on. Kate Ellis and Chris Simms have joined us to provide new voices.
Ann Cleeves is delighted at progress on a scheme she is helping to fund, looking at the importance of reading on health and wellbeing. Pictured above, Ann at a celebration event at The Word, South Shields, in February 2023.
The first Community Reading Workers are now in place for a pilot project. The scheme is also being supported by five North East local authorities: Northumberland, North Tyneside, Gateshead, Co Durham and South Tees. GPs, social prescribers and community workers will be able to refer individuals who may be struggling with chronic pain, anxiety, stress, depression or loneliness to the reading workers, who will provide friendship and a listening ear, as well as access to books, enthusiastic librarians and other readers.
Working in areas of high social deprivation, the workers will take a holistic and personalised approach to support, empower and motivate individuals to take proactive steps to improve their health and wellbeing by providing practical help though access to books and spaces/places for reading, and emotional support through improved confidence in reading and relationship building.
All the workers - nine in total over the five local authorities - will complete a bespoke Reading for Wellbeing course designed by the brilliant Opening The Book as part of their induction, and the project will undergo evaluation by academics in the region. While initial funding is for one year, Ann hopes the evaluation will support future investment and scale up.
Read more about the background to Ann's idea here.
And now: Reading for Wellbeing - the website.
DIY Murder Mystery kits
I have been working with my publisher, Pan Macmillan, to come up with a way of doing events in libraries that don't involve me being there - I receive far more requests than I could possibly deal with. It's important too because libraries don't have the funds that they did to pay author expenses, publishers are getting much tighter and unless they're very successful authors can't pay their own way. So with the Reading Agency we put together a pack which should bring a new audience into the libraries but which staff should be able to manage by themselves.
It started with a murder mystery script based on my novel The Glass Room, starring DI Vera Stanhope, which I had already written for independent bookshops, festivals and public libraries: now I have teamed up with The Reading Agency to produce a special murder mystery night pack for libraries. The pack includes my script, a CSI report (prepared by Professor Lorna Dawson, a forensic soil scientist of the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen), 'whodunnit' forms to be completed by attendees, and a prize - everything librarians to hold spine-chillingly successful murder mystery nights for the readers in their libraries.
Libraries and independent bookshops will only survive if they provide a social, vibrant and interesting place for readers to talk about books. This project provides a template for a book-based event which will engage with regular readers and pull in a new audience. The traditional murder mystery has the accessibility of a familiar format - we've all played Cluedo or watched Poirot - but gives readers the chance to discuss their favourite crime fiction across the range of the genre. There are opportunities for income generation through books and tickets sales, for developing partnerships with community organisations and between libraries and bookshops, and for reader development training for frontline staff. But above all, it's great fun.
Download the Glass Room Murder Mystery pack from the Reading Agency website.
I followed up with a murder mystery based around a traditional Shetland Sunday tea: there's a script for four actors (with a guest appearance from detective Jimmy Perez), and - for a really authentic experience! - there are recipes for Shetland homebakes! The full kit is available on the Pan MacMillan website.
Finally - for now - there is a Darkest Evening Murder Mystery, conceived during lockdown, and designed to be run online. Scripts are availablem and it too can be run as an in person event, but it has also been filmed, with four actors reading the parts, turning St Aidan's church Thorneyburn into a grand house.