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Portsmouth Central Library will be hosting the first ever Crime and the City (CSI Portsmouth) event on Saturday 6 November. Four of my fellow crime writers will join me and experts from Hampshire Constabulary and The International Centre for Research in Forensic Psychology to discuss crime fiction and fact in a unique event, as part of the Portsmouth Book fest. More to follow but I can annouce that joining me, Pauline Rowson will be  Simon Brett , June Hampson , Peter Lovesey and Graham Hurley. On the expert side will be DS Martin Chudley, in charge of the Crime Scene Investigation team for Hampshire Constabulary and Jane Aston and her team from the Fingerprinting Bureau. With them will be Dr Claire Nee, Director of the International Centre for Research in Forensic Psychology at Portsmouth University, an expert in forensic psychology, and Paul Smith, an expert in Crime Scenes. A mobile bookshop will be provided by the Hayling Island Bookshop. It looks like...

When a body of a woman was found in Portsmouth Central Library, on the evening of 25 July 2008, I, and my fellow crime writer, June Hampson, from Gosport, (that's me on the right) were on hand to help solve the puzzle, but we were banned from doing so. Why? Because this was a murder mystery evening organised by Portsmouth library staff. And a hugely successful event it was too. Over sixty people were asked to follow a trail of clues scattered around the three floors of the library to uncover the murderer, before being rewarded with a glass of Pimms. ‘The body in the library’ was written by librarian, Donna Tebb, herself a professional actress and member of Equity as well as being a librarian. She was assisted in the organisation by librarian, Annie Aust, plus other staff and volunteer readers who were roped in to give a hand and enact their parts in the play. Annie Aust says that the moment the tickets went on sale the event was sold out and there is a waiting list for the next ev...