Stockport, the jewel of the North-West. Well, it was yesterday, anyway, not that I saw an awful lot of it apart from the immediate environs of the Masonic Guildhall. But yesterday was the second running of Stockport Noir, a crime fiction festival that I went to last year, and based on the strength of that, bought a ticket for the following year almost immediately.

At the time of buying the ticket, if I recall correctly, there was only one announced guest, namely Vaseem Khan – more on him later – but I figured what the heck, I’m sure there will be some other authors who I’ve read too. One or two at least…

So, I got there a little early – well, so I thought – only to find people queuing round the corner to get in. To be fair, the doors hadn’t opened just yet, but I was soon in the warm and got a seat in the main hall. The capacity must have nearly doubled from the previous year, as now the talks were in a much bigger room – I think the capacity was 300 – and it had been sold out for at least six months.

So let’s go panel by panel. For each of these, I’ll mention the author’s latest book so you can take a look if you want to give it a try.

1: Debut

Featuring Sarah Mellor (The Departed), Mel Pennant (A Murder For Miss Hortense), Sean Watkin (Black Water Rising), Rebecca Philipson (How To Get Away With Murder).

I’ve only read one title from the panel, and I’ve got an e-copy of Rebecca’s to review nearer the release date. I suppose the best way to say how much the panel intrigued me is to say that during the talk, I bought Sarah and Sean’s books. Admittedly on Kindle – I’ve a limited budget for book buying at the mo – but I’ll be looking forward to these, especially as they’re both set in my old stomping ground, Liverpool.

2: Historical

Featuring Beth Lewis (The Rush), Kate Foster (The Mourning Necklace) and Vaseem Khan (The Edge Of Darkness)

A nod as well to the moderator, Rob Parker – recent inductee into the Puzzly Hall of Fame – this was a really fun panel. Wasn’t expecting as much discussion of urine, but two new authors to go on my TBR and a chance to have a quick chat with Vaseem afterwards whose wife is a fan of the blog – which is why he asked for a selfie with me. That really feels like the wrong way round… I do wish I’d had a haircut though…

3. Creepy

Featuring A A Dhand (The Chemist), C J Tudor (The Gathering), Will Carver (Kill Them With Kindness) and C K McDonnell (Ring The Bells).

Probably the panel that I expected the least from, as deviating too far from the norm isn’t my cup of tea in crime writing. Having said that, a) this was a really entertaining panel to listen to and b) I am really intrigued by The Gathering and may well take a look at it anyway.

4. Cosy

Featuring C L Miller (The Antique Hunter’s: Murder At The Castle), Janice Hallett (The Killer Question), Tom Hindle (A Killer In Paradise) and Oskar Jensen (Helle’s Hound).

Much more my cup of tea, and I was very interested in the fact (as evidenced by my question) is that while some of my readers have an issue with the term “cosy” – indeed, it can put people off when a book is overtly described as such, as per some comments from my readers – in fact it really helps sell books and authors really don’t mind it at all. Having said that, I’m not convinced there’s any way, given their structure, you can call Janice’s books cosy.

Anyway, it was nice to have a little chat with the authors when I got a book signed afterwards, especially Oskar Jensen, who was incredibly understanding about my review of Helle’s Hound. Looking forward to the next one…

5: Psychological v Action

Featuring Abigail Dean (The Death Of Us), Sam Holland (The Countdown Killer), Ruth Ware (The Woman In Suite 11) and David Goodman (A Reluctant Spy)

A panel where it sounds like they struggled a little to find a theme to link the four authors, but it worked well. In particular, David Goodman has enticed me to try A Reluctant Spy, despite it not really being my preferred genre. That’s a recurring theme…

6. In Conversation

Featuring Elly Griffiths (The Killing Time), Alice Feeney (My Husband’s Wife) and Jane Casey (The Secret Room).

A panel with the linking theme of “authors who I’ve read, enjoyed and then not got round to reading more of”. No idea how the organisers knew that, but I do appreciate them doing it. Looking forward to reading more from all three in the near future.

7: Can You Solve The Murder

The day finished with a murder game from Antony Johnston, author of The Dog Sitter Detective mysteries (cosy and proud of it) and, well, Can You Solve The Murder? Pleased to say that my team of sleuths solved it, but it was a fun little problem and I’m looking forward to having a go at the book version.

All in all, it was an excellent day. Any hiccups – confusing queues, no hot water, a collapsing light stand – were dealt with swiftly and efficiently, with good humour. Everyone involved in running it were extremely efficient and helpful, every other attendee I talked to was having a really good time. I met a couple of other authors who’d come along as guests, had a chat with some of panellists and generally had a great day. I think the best way I can praise the festival is this. At five o’clock, we were told that tickets for next year – a two day festival with only one confirmed guest (admittedly Ian Rankin) – and a number of people were immediately refreshing their phones trying to buy tickets. I found the link eventually – it’s here – and didn’t think twice about signing up. So, Stockport, see you next year…