Nicola Upson | The Christmas Clue
Sat 22 Nov 2025 | 2:00pm - 3:00pm
We can’t promise you the warmth of a cosy fire, but we can promise you a cosy festive crime courtesy of our doyenne of crime, Nicola Upson. Set on Christmas Eve, 1943; Anthony and Elva Pratt arrive in a snowy English village to run a murder mystery game – but instead discover a real murder. Join Nicola to hear about her Christmas cracker of a whodunnit and to discuss the enduring popularity of writing and reading in this most compelling of genres.
In conversation with Adrian Turpin.
Venue: Cambridge Union Library
Duration: 1 hour
Tickets available soon.
Author Biography
Nicola Upson was born in Suffolk and read English at Downing College, Cambridge. Her debut, An Expert in Murder, was the first in a series of crime novels to feature Josephine Tey — one of Britain’s finest Golden Age crime writers – and was dramatised for BBC Radio 4. Several of Nicola’s novels have been listed for the CWA Gold and Historical Daggers, and Sorry for the Dead was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month. She is a member of the Detection Club, and in 2024 curated the acclaimed Murder by the Book: a celebration of twentieth century British crime fiction at Cambridge University Library.
She is also the author of Stanley and Elsie, a novel about the painter Stanley Spencer, and lives with her partner in Cambridge and Cornwall.
Chair Biography
Adrian Turpin is the director designate of the Bridport Literary Festival and was formerly artistic director of the Wigtown Book Festival. A journalist by training, he has worked as a writer and editor for the Independent, Sunday Times, Financial Times and Scotsman group, specialising in features and culture. In 2017, he was awarded the OBE for services to literature and the economy.
