Stowmarket crime writing festival wows crowds with two-day library event

A crime writing festival has given some of the genre’s bestselling authors a chance to talk about their latest releases.

This year’s ‘Skulduggery in Stowmarket’ was held at Stowmarket Library in Milton Road North from Friday, April 28 to Saturday, April 29 and saw talks from authors including Tony Kent, Lesley Kara and William Shaw.

Author and former probation officer Ruth Dugdall, from Felixstowe, gave a talk to answer questions about her novel ‘The Woman Before Me’.

Ruth said: “It was absolutely fantastic - having the opportunity to be amongst and to listen to that many crime authors was a real treat.

“It was quite a full-on day - but it was really well attended, I spoke to one woman from Cambridgeshire who left her house at 5am to be there.

“It was honestly the best crime-writing festival I’ve ever attended - it just felt very relaxed and unpretentious.”

Other authors at Skulduggery in Stowmarket included Amen Alonge, Simon Mason and Jane Casey.

Festival attendees were able to purchase and have their books signed at the event and many in the crowd were writers learning more about the industry.

Suffolk Libraries is holding another crime writing festival called ‘Slaughter in Southwold’ and more information can be found here.

This event is part of Southwold Arts Festival which kicks off on Friday, June 16.