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The Festival Murders

Francis Meadowes, Book 1

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The Festival Murders

By: Mark McCrum
Narrated by: Rory Bremner
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Summary

A literary festival turns lethal, in this sharp-witted series debut.

"A marvellous set of unsavoury suspects... good, nasty fun with a ring of truth." -The Mail on Sunday, Thriller of the Week

Bryce Peabody is ready to give a scandalous talk at the annual literary festival in the pretty English town of Mold-on-Wold. Scathing in his reviews and unseemly in his affairs, Bryce is known to have many enemies. So when he's discovered dead in his hotel room, festival attendees are desperate to know what happened. Could one of the numerous writers he has insulted have taken revenge? Or perhaps one of his scorned lovers? Soon, author Francis Meadowes is drawn into a role he knows only from his own fiction—that of amateur detective. But will he catch the culprit before more festival-goers meet a grisly end? Brilliantly interpreted by comedian, satirist and impressionist Rory Bremner.

"A rollicking read." -London Evening Standard; "A very engaging literary romp." -The Sydney Morning Herald

"Ingenious." -The Independent.

Chosen for the Independent on Sunday's "Alternative Booker Prize Longlist"

©2026 Caleb and Kyle Publishing Ltd., Bloodhound Books (P)2026 Caleb and Kyle Publishing Ltd. Amateur Sleuths Crime Fiction Dark Humour Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Mystery Fiction Funny
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Cruising to Murder cover art
Cruising to Murder By: Mark McCrum
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Gruesome middle-aged male fantasy about younger women that made me despair - full of cliches - and no wit or criminal intrigue to compensate for these failings. I don’t understand why stuff like this is promoted by audible, it’s dire. (And I write as a keen audiobook listener, not as a bitter hag/ thwarted writer, unlike most of the older women in this novel.) Also factually incorrect on various fronts, not least that it is not safe to shout at cows - had the hero tried doing this with cows with calves he might not have lived to tell the tale, which would at least have spared us this turgid offering.

Mediocre mush stuffed with cliches - ugh

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