Tastes Like Fear director's commentary

Written for the WH Smith blog as part of this week's build-up to the paperback publication on Tastes Like Fear on Thursday 28 July.

Battersea Power Station, the best and most evocative of London’s derelict landmarks, plays a central part in Tastes Like Fear. I’d been wanting to write about it for a long time, and this is the story where it belongs.

On publication day itself I am reading at the Polari literary salon in the Southbank Centre from 7.30pm. Do come if you can, it promises to be a terrific evening.

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Creative Thursday in Harrogate

On Thursday 20 July, Alex Marwood and I will be sharing our award-winning, bestselling crime writing secrets as part of Creative Thursday which kicks off this year's Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. It's going to be a great day and a great weekend. Do come if you can.

Details and tickets here

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Dead Good Reader Awards

Thrilled to be on two shortlists for the Dead Good Reader Awards. Tastes Like Fear is contending for the Reader Recommends Award, and the Marnie Rome series is up for the Tess Gerritsen Award for best series. Much thanks to everyone who nominated me, and it would tickle me pink if you voted for me in these two categories. Thank you!

Full shortlists and voting here

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Knocking on Highsmith's Door

The Sunday Times Crime Club has a link to my introduction to the new Patricia Highsmiths, as well as much else of interest to crime fans. Times Crime Club

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Patricia Highsmith's Gift for Killing

Here's a little feature I wrote for Virago's blog to celebrate the publication of their latest re-issues of Highsmith's novels.

Highsmith wrestled the descriptive ‘psychological’ from the broader tag of ‘crime fiction’ and for that we owe her a debt.

The new books, with beautiful new covers, are published tomorrow. The Two Faces of January is more complex and insidious than the film with Oscar Isaac. This Sweet Sickness is her most existential work. People Who Knock on the Door strips the pious veneer from suburban America.

All three are brilliant and brittle as only Highsmith's books can be. If you think heartsick unreliable narrators are a recent invention, you should and must read her.

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Someone Else's Skin FREE from iBooks UK

My debut, Someone Else's Skin, is free this Bank Holiday as part of iBooks UK 'Discover Authors' initiative. They don't pick many authors to be in these features so I'm excited to be part of it. Here's what they say:

"With competition so fierce, crime fiction can be a tough genre to crack. But British author Sarah Hilary has a gift for writing about startlingly dark subject matter with skillful subtlety. Her first three thrillers introduce us to London-based D.I. Marnie Rome: a tough, captivating protagonist. In Someone Else’s Skin, Rome investigates a women’s refuge and unearths a lurid web of violence. Soon, the detective’s own macabre backstory weaves its way into a devastating tale."

You can download Someone Else's Skin for FREE, and also get No Other Darkness for the special price of £1.99.

Click here to download. 

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Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival : Creative Thursday

This is going to great fun. With one of my favourite writers, up in Harrogate on 21st July where we'll be running a workshop about writing psychological thrillers. Part of a day of events designed to help aspiring writers. If you fit the bill, do come. Here’s the lowdown:

How To Write a WhyDunnit: The psychological thriller is nothing new, although its popularity is soaring. But what elements distinguish a “WhyDunnit” within the broad and varied world of crime fiction? And how do you go about writing a successful thriller where the focus is on drama rather than punishment, and where the culprits and victims take centre stage? Award-winning writers Sarah Hilary and Alex Marwood talk you through the basics from their very different perspectives. Expect insider secrets, and tips on getting published.

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