Andrew Taylor, Elly Griffiths & Nicola Upson | Murder by the Book
Fri 19 Apr 2024 | 6:00pm - 7:00pm
A special event to celebrate Cambridge University Library’s crime fiction exhibition, Murder by the Book. Its curator, Nicola Upson, is joined by fellow crime writers Andrew Taylor & Elly Griffiths to explore the craft behind our most widely read genre, looking at gripping plots, rich atmosphere, and complex characters in their own work and in the novels that have influenced them.
Chaired by Dr Chris Burgess.
Venue: Old Divinity School
Duration: 1 hour
In partnership with
Tickets available soon.
Author biography
Nicola Upson was born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, and read English at Downing College, Cambridge. She has worked in theatre and as a freelance journalist, and is the author of two non-fiction works, and the recipient of an Escalator Award from Arts Council England. She lives with her partner and splits her time between Cambridge and Cornwall.
Andrew Taylor is a highly-regarded British novelist, best-known for his historical novels and crime fiction. He holds a CWA Diamond Dagger for excellence in crime writing and is the only author to have won the CWA Historical Dagger three times. A full-time writer since 1981, Taylor is the author of more than 40 novels. These include the historical mysteries The Silent Boy, The Anatomy of Ghosts, Bleeding Heart Square and The American Boy. Taylor’s most recent novels are a bestselling crime series following James Marwood and Cat Lovett and set in seventeenth-century England.
Elly Griffiths worked in publishing before becoming a full-time writer. She is best known for her award-winning Dr Ruth Galloway series and The Brighton Mystery series. In 2018, Elly wrote her first standalone novel The Stranger Diaries. The novel was a top 10 paperback bestseller, selected for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club, as a summer 2019 Richard and Judy book and won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in the USA. Her second standalone The Postscript Murders followed and her third standalone Bleeding Heart Yard published to glowing reviews in October 2022. The paperback of Bleeding Heart Yard was published in April 2023 and triumphantly stood as Hachette’s highest selling title of the week. In spring 2019, Elly published her first children’s book A Girl Called Justice to great reviews. The fourth published in May 2022. Elly lives near Brighton with her husband, an archaeologist. She is #18 on the list of most borrowed authors from UK libraries and is a hugely in demand for events, regularly holding audiences spellbound.
Chair Biography
Dr Chris Burgess is Head of Exhibitions and Public Engagement at the University Library, Cambridge.
