Not That Innocent

Crime and Thrillers are arguably the bestselling genres in the market, but where are the queer writers? How can more queer writers get their thrilling, criminal ideas onto the page and out into the world? We’ll be joined by some of the most exciting authors in the genre to discuss their books, delving deep into the minds of their flawed protagonists to explore the world of queer crime and thriller writing.

Jack Jordan is the global number one bestselling author of Anything for Her (2015), My Girl (2016), A Woman Scorned (2018), Before Her Eyes (2018) and Night by Night (2019). His thriller, Do No Harm, was an instant Times bestseller and shortlisted for the Most Recommended Book in the DeadGood Reader Awards. Conviction was published in June 2023 and featured in Cosmopolitan’s ‘best new books out in June’ round-up, it was also chosen as one of the June featured books by Magic Radio’s Book Club and the audiobook was selected for Fingerprint Award at Capital Crime 2024. His latest book, Redemption, is out now.

DG Coutinho landed the Bloody Scotland Harvill Secker Crime Writing Award in 2021. They also perform spoken word as DGC. They are the cofounder and MC of Boisterous Ravens, a spoken word event featuring  Black, Brown and Global Majority women and Non- Binary performers. They write short stories, dabbled in scriptwriting. The Light and Shade of Ellen Swithin is their first novel, out now.

Piotr Cieplak is the author of Zofia Nowak’s Book of Superior Detecting (2025) – a novel with biting humour and a “detective” you’ve definitely never met before. He is also an award-winning filmmaker and the author/editor of two non-fiction books about Rwanda and Argentina. Piotr lives in London and is a professor at the University of Sussex.

Lesley Thomson’s A Kind of Vanishing (2010 People’s Book Prize winner) is ‘a novel to treasure’ Ian Rankin. Her no. 1 bestselling series The Detective’s Daughter has sold over 850K. The Sunday Times described cleaner/detective Stella Darnell, as ’one of the most original characters in British crime fiction.  Lesley’s most recent novel, The Mystery of Yew Tree House (‘fiercely unique’ – The Sun) was in The Times’ top ten for 2023 and in their top 50 round up for that year and again in 2024.. With Elly Griffiths, Lesley ran the Crime Writing Certificate at West Dean College where, for fifteen years she taught on the MA in Creative Writing. Lesley lives in Lewes with her partner and her dog where she is writing The Shrine set in Prestbury, the most haunted village in Britain. It’s #10 in The Detective’s Daughter series.

(Chair) Lifelong bookworm Ayse Huseyin is the founder of the Queer Girls Book Club: a London based group that was born out of a passion to spotlight and celebrate queer literature.  Whilst writing her dissertation for her English Literature degree, Ayse discovered the works of Sappho, Amy Lowell and Alison Bechdel. Nurtured through her coming out journey by this literary canon, one thing became clear: queer literature was expansive, healing and sharing it was a radical act of community building and love. When she isn’t doing book club admin or her day job, Ayse can be found dragging a bag of books around and insisting she doesn’t need an E-reader, in her local indie bookshop, or passionately supporting other queer community events around London.

Important: If you have booked a festival or day pass, you still need to register for this event to ensure your space. Follow the book now link and select the Festival or Day Pass Holder Free Registration. No registration means we cannot guarantee you a space for this event.