Global Noir Festival - Crime Fiction from around the world at Chorleywood

Global Noir: featuring acclaimed crime fiction authors and stories from around the world, plus pitch to a literary agent one-to-one. Welcome to the first Global Noir crime writing festival at Chorleywood Library at 2.45pm on Saturday 3rd October 2026, in partnership with the Chorleywood Bookshop, & in support of the Wycombe Homeless Connection charity (registered charity no. 1156211). Join us from 3pm until early evening on Saturday 3rd October 2026 for a series of intimate panels featuring Nordic Noir, whodunnits, psychological crime, cosy crime & thrillers. Refreshments on site. Our authors include: Vaseem Khan, Sólveig Pálsdóttir, Tim Sullivan, Jón Atli Jónasson, Anna Mazzola, Felix Francis, AA Chaudhuri, Erlender Arason, Paul Waters & Quentin Bates. (Details below.) And you can also book a one-to-one session with celebrated literary agent Nicky Lovick of WGM Atlantic. Pitch your own book or idea to her. Feed your mind & imagination at the festival, then go for dinner at one of Chorleywood's nearby restaurants. Please come by public transport if possible - Chiltern Railways & the Metropolitan Line can drop you at Chorleywood railway station, very close to the library. Or there is parking on street nearby, or at the Ferry Car Park further along Lower Road, or at Chorleywood railway station car park. Meet our authors and literary agent: Vaseem Khan is the author of two award-winning crime series set in India, & the Q Mysteries, beginning with Quantum of Menace, the first in a murder mystery series featuring Q from the James Bond franchise. His debut, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, was selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 40 best crime novels published 2015-2020. In 2021, Midnight at Malabar House, the first in the Malabar House novels set in 1950s Bombay, won the CWA Historical Dagger. In 2025, his first psychological thriller, The Girl in Cell A, set in small town America, was published in 2025. Vaseem was born in England, but spent a decade working in India. He’s the former Chair of the UK Crime Writers’ Association. His website is vaseemkhan.com Sólveig Pálsdóttir lives in Reykjavík. She’s an actor, academic & broadcaster, as well as an award-winning crime author. Her books, including The Fox (Refurinn), Silenced, Harm & Shrouded, have all won or been shortlisted for prizes including the Icelandic Drop of Blood Award, the Icelandic Crime Fiction Award, & the Nordic Glass Key Award). Her next book, Ice Bears, will be published in 2027. Find out more via https://corylusbooks.com/solveig-palsdottir/ Tim Sullivan is a prolific filmmaker, screen writer & author. His directorial credits include the movie Jack and Sarah (starring Richard E Grant, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench & Eileen Atkins), & the TV shows Cold Feet, Coronation Street, Thatcher - the Final Days, & The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett. He wrote scripts for the crime dramas Mysterious Ways & Maigret, plus the screenplays for the movies A Handful of Dust (starring Kristen Scott Thomas, Judi Dench & Alec Guinness), Where Angels Fear to Tread (starring Helen Mirren & Helena Bonham Carter), Letters to Juliet (starring Amanda Seyfried & Vanessa Redgrave), & My Little Pony: A New Generation. He also worked on Chariots of Fire & Brideshead Revisited. Tim’s popular series of crime novels features the eccentric & socially-awkward, but brilliantly persistent DS George Cross. They include The Dentist, The Cyclist, The Patient, The Politician, The Monk, The Teacher, and most recently, The Bookseller. The touching & funny series has sold more than a million copies & is the winner of the 2026 CWA Dagger in the Library award. Jón Atli Jónasson is one of Iceland’s foremost playwrights, with his work performed across Europe. His film The Deep was shortlisted for an Oscar. His crime novels, Broken & Toxic, focus on changing dynamics in modern Icelandic society & its evolving underworld. Find out more via https://corylusbooks.com/jon-atli-jonasson/ Anna Mazzola is the award-winning author of historical, crime & Gothic novels. She also writes legal thrillers under the name Anna Sharpe, the first of which, Notes on a Drowning, was inspired by cases of powerful men who are brought to justice too late, or not at all. It was a Times thriller of the month. The second, Lie for Your Life, will be out in January 2027. Her latest historical novel, The Book of Secrets, won the CWA Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of the Year 2025; her third, The Clockwork Girl, was a Times bestseller; her fourth The House of Whispers, won a Fingerprint Award for best historical crime, & her debut, The Unseeing, won an Edgar Allan Poe award. When not writing or teaching, Anna is a human rights and criminal justice solicitor, working with survivors of crime. Her website is http://annamazzola.com Felix Francis is a pilot & a Sunday Times & New York Times international bestselling author & has sold almost a million books. He began his career as an author by co-writing thrillers with his father, the legendary jockey & author Dick Francis. Art-world scandal and racecourse danger collide in his own latest novel, The Chase. His website is felixfrancis.com AA Chaudhuri is a former world ranked tennis player & City lawyer, now turned bestselling psychological thriller writer in the UK, Australia & Canada. Her latest book is House Swap (Sept 2026), and she is also the author of The Scribe, The Abduction, The Lawyer, The Partner, She’s Mine, The Loyal Friend, The Final Party, Under Her Roof, & The School Gates. Her website is aachaudhuri.com Erlendur Arason is the pen name of an established Icelandic writer now branching out in a new direction with a trilogy of novels set around Reykjavík. The Hotel Manager’s Guide to Murder has been well received, and will be followed by Chop Job & Twenty Fathoms of Trouble in 2027. Paul Waters is the author of the Irish-Indian Delhi Haveli Hotel cosy crime series set in contemporary India, including Murder in Moonlit Square (which was No.3 in the Indian bestseller charts) & Death at the Elephant House. He's also the author of the Irish historical thriller Blackwatertown, a BBC broadcaster, & Co-Host of the We'd Like A Word books & authors podcast. He also works in climate tech & organises literary festivals. His website is www.paulwatersauthor.com Quentin Bates has deep roots in Iceland & has translated many of the country’s leading writers. He’s also a former trawlerman & truck driver, & the author of crime novels including Frozen Out, Chilled to the Bone, Thin Ice, Cold Breath and Cold Malice. Find out more via https://graskeggur.com Lee-Anne Fox is a proof reader, regular visitor to and lover of Iceland, and a passionate reader of all books set in Iceland or written by Icelanders. On instagram she's at @onefootiniceland Literary agent Nicky Lovick is a book agent at WGM Atlantic & also works with many self-publishing authors. She worked in-house for publishers for ten years & freelanced continuously for twenty years. She’s currently working for Penguin, Random House, Transworld, BBC Books, Orion, John Blake, Blink, Bonnier, Quercus, Profile & Atlantic, among many others. You can also book a one-to-one session with Nicky, one of the gatekeepers to the publishing industry. We will connect you in advance so you can prepare for your 15 minute session. Nicky will look at or listen to your pitch or idea, & give you an honest opionion of your best way forward. She has previously signed new talent through sessions like this, and bagged a four-book deal for one lucky pitcher - but nothing is guaranteed! Still, this may be your best chance for a peek behind mainstream publishing's high walls. Her website is nickylovick.com Vaseem Khan Sólveig Pálsdóttir Tim Sullivan Jón Atli Jónasson Felix Francis A. A. Chaudhuri Erlendur Arason Paul Waters Nicky Lovick Anna Mazzola / Anna Sharpe Lee-Anne Fox