Crime fiction is a booming category of the book industry: readers are flocking to contemporary cosy crime, atmospheric Australian mysteries, domestic thrillers, police procedurals, historical whodunnits – the list goes on and on! In such a jostling, crowded market, how can a crime novelist make their work stand out?

If you’re keen to learn about what readers and reviewers are looking for in crime fiction, don’t miss this Q&A with two top experts of the crime fiction genre, Michael Robotham and Sue Turnbull.

Having chaired Michael’s first writers festival appearance twenty years ago, Sue knows all the right questions to ask to help crime novelists learn from Michael’s stellar career trajectory. And Michael is looking forward to the rare opportunity to turn the questions on Sue and pick her brain about what she, as an avid reader and published reviewer, is seeking from authors hoping to break out in crime fiction. 

There will be time for questions.