​An acoustic evening of songs and conversation to die for.

​​Having once again put down their pens and picked up guitars, and fresh off their Glastonbury performance, The Fun Lovin' Crime Writers are coming to Manchester! This crime-writing supergroup – made up of Mark Billingham, Doug Johnstone, Luca Veste, Stuart Neville and Chris Brookmyre – will be happily murdering much-loved songs by The Clash, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, The Beatles and many others currently considering legal action.

​In the absence of regular lead vocalist and Queen of Crime Val McDermid, the band will be appearing as the same fun lovin’ five-piece that rocked Glastonbury in the summer and promise a selection of toe-tapping bangers. Murder on the dance floor is guaranteed!

​​“Fuelled by whisky, beer and distinctly murderous tendencies, the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers deliver the most rocking night out this side of a library" - Scottish Field 

​​Hosted at St Michael's, join your favourite authors for a captivating conversation about their latest books and a few killer tunes. Plus plenty of time for questions.

​​Every ticket includes a paperback copy of one of the band's new titles, with other copies available to buy on the night.

​About The Band

​Mark Billingham

​Described as "the best in business" by Richard Osman, Mark Billingham is the Sunday Times Bestselling author behind The Wrong Hands.

​"Simply fantastic" - LISA JEWELL

​
'Neat plot twists and a likeable cast of offbeat characters, all served up with plenty of black humour' - MAIL ON SUNDAY

​Unconventional Detective Declan Miller has a problem. Still desperate to solve the murder of his wife, a young man has just appeared on his doorstep with a briefcase . . . containing a pair of severed hands.

Miller knows this case is proof of a contract killing commissioned by local ne'er do well Wayne Cutler - a man he suspects might also be responsible for his wife's death. Now Miller has leverage, but unfortunately, he also has something that both Cutler and a villainous fast-food kingpin are desperate to get hold of.

Chuck in a Midsomer Murders-obsessed hitman, a psychotic welder and a woman driven over the edge by a wayward Crème Egg, and Miller is in a mess that even he might not be able to dance his way out of.

​Chris Brookmyre

​"Chris Brookmyre is a magician with words and his latest sleight-of-hand will have you asking "How did he do that?!" So clever, witty and rewarding" - Ian Rankin

​Winner of the McIlvanney Award for Best Scottish Crime Book of the Year, Chris Brookmyre is one of Scotland's biggest crime writers.

​
One hen weekend, seven secrets... but only one worth killing for

Jen's hen party is going to be out of control... She's rented a luxury getaway on its own private island. The helicopter won't be back for seventy-two hours. They are alone. They think.

As well as Jen, there's the pop diva and the estranged ex-bandmate, the tennis pro and the fashion guru, the embittered ex-sister-in-law and the mouthy future sister-in-law.

It's a combustible cocktail, one that takes little time to ignite, and in the midst of the drunken chaos, one of them disappears. Then a message tells them that unless someone confesses her terrible secret to the others, their missing friend will be killed.

Problem is, everybody has a secret. And nobody wants to tell.

​Doug Johnstone

​Doug Johnstone is the bestselling author of eighteen novels, many of which have been bestsellers. The Space Between Us was chosen for BBC Two’s Between the Covers, while Black Hearts was shortlisted for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, The Big Chill was longlisted for the same prize.

​ 
The Skelf women are back on an even keel after everything they've been through. But when a funeral they're conducting is attacked by a drone, Jenny fears they're in the middle of an Edinburgh gangland vendetta.
 
At the same time, Yana, a Ukrainian member of the refugee choir that plays with Dorothy's band, has gone missing. Searching for her leads Dorothy into strange and ominous territory.
 
And Brodie, the newest member of the extended Skelf family, comes to Hannah with a case: Something or someone has been disturbing the grave of his stillborn son.
 
Everything is changing for the Skelfs … Dorothy's boyfriend Thomas is suffering PTSD after previous violent trauma, Jenny and Archie are becoming close, and Hannah's case leads her to consider the curious concept of panpsychism, which brings new danger … while ghosts from the family's past return to threaten their very lives.
 
Funny, shocking and profound, Living Is a Problem is the highly anticipated sixth instalment of the unforgettable Skelfs series – shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Best Scottish Crime Novel and Theakston Old Peculier Crime Book of the Year – where life and death become intertwined more than ever before…

​Stuart Neville

​Since his debut novel, the modern classic The Ghosts of Belfast, was published a decade ago, award-winning author Stuart Neville has published eight other critically acclaimed novels and achieved international recognition as one of crime fiction’s great living writers.

​For Sara Keane, it was supposed to be a second chance. A new country. A new house. A new beginning with her husband Damien.

Then came the knock on the door.

Elderly Mary Jackson can't understand why Sara and her husband are living in her home. She remembers the fire, and the house burning down. But she also remembers the children. The children who need her, whom she must protect.

'The children will find you,' she tells Sara, because Mary knows she needs help too. Sara soon becomes obsessed with what happened in that house nearly sixty years ago - the tragic, bloody night her husband never intended for her to discover. And Mary - silent for six decades - is finally ready to tell her story . . .

The House of Ashes is the stunning new thriller from the award-winning master of the genre, Stuart Neville - perfect for fans of John Connolly, Alex North and Brian McGilloway.

​Luca Veste

​Author of the Murphy and Rossi series, set in Liverpool. The first book in the series – Dead Gone – was described as ‘Darkly Impressive’ by The Times and was a Top 20 bestseller across Amazon.

​

​"One of the best psychological thrillers I've read in years. Thought-provoking, unsettling and compelling" - John Marrs, bestselling author of The One

A STRING OF MURDERS. AND THE PERSON WHO LINKS THEM ALL IS . . . YOUR DAUGHTER.

Alison Lennon receives the worst news a parent can expect - her son, Ben, has been killed, in what looks at first like a random attack on a dark street in the middle of the night. Only, she knows that he isn't the first victim.

Mia Johnstone has just turned eighteen. Ready for the next phase of her life, she should be looking forward to university, studying, partying. Instead, she's thinking about how her boyfriend Ben is the third person close to her to have died.

Alison believes that Mia killed her son.

Mia needs people to stop calling her a killer.

And someone is desperate for the truth to never come out . . .

​About the evening

​We'll be flinging open the doors to St Michael's from 7.00 PM, giving you enough time to grab a drink from our fully licensed bar and take your pick of The Fun Lovin' Crime Writer's titles on offer.

​If you have any accessibility issues we need to be aware of, please just let us know at hello@simplybooks.co.uk