08:45 Doors Open
Playhouse Whitley Bay will open their doors for the 2026 show to give you around thirty minutes
to browse our independent festival bookstore’s brilliant display of books, grab a coffee and visit
the Bay Tales merchandise store – or just to get to your seat early and make yourself comfortable!
09:25 – 09:30
Welcome and Introduction
Festival organiser, Vic Watson, will give you a quick introduction to the day’s events.
09:30 – 10:30
Patron’s Pick: Ann Cleeves in Conversation with Belinda Bauer
Ann Cleeves, OBE
Our patron, Ann Cleeves, is the international bestselling author of the Vera, Shetland and Two Rivers series. Ann was chosen as the 2017 recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers’ Association for “sustained excellence” in crime fiction. In addition to her many accolades for writing, Ann’s commitment to public libraries was recognised in 2024 when she was presented with the first Public Library Champion award at the Libraries Connected 2024 Awards Ceremony.
Belinda Bauer
Belinda grew up in England and South Africa and now lives in Wales. She worked as a journalist and a screenwriter before finally writing a book to appease her nagging mother. For her debut, Blacklands, Belinda was awarded the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the year. She went on to win the CWA Dagger in the Library for her body of work. Her fourth novel, Rubbernecker, was voted Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Her eighth novel, Snap, was a Sunday Times bestseller. It was longlisted for the Man Booker prize and voted Crime & Thriller Book of the Year at the Specsavers National Book Awards.
Her books have been translated into twenty-five languages.
Interviewed by Alis Hawkins
Alis Hawkins grew up on a farm in west Wales and now lives on the Welsh-English border. Her Teifi Valley Coroner historical crime series – featuring partially-sighted ex-barrister Harry Probert-Lloyd and his chippy assistant John Davies – has twice been shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger. Her Oxford Mystery series featuring young Welsh polymath and contrarian Rhiannon Vaughan and university don, Basil Rice has been shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger and longlisted for the Gold Dagger. Alis is a founder of the Welsh crime writers’ collective Crime Cymru and was the inaugural chair of Wales’ premier crime fiction festival, Gŵyl Crime Cymru Festival.
10:30 – 11:00
Break and Book Signing
Ann, Belinda & Alis will be available to sign copies of their books at our signing table on the first
floor. You can also use this opportunity to grab refreshments, enter our charity raffle and pick up your 2026 Bay Tales tote bag (while stocks last!) from the merch stand.
11:00 – 12:00: Simon & Schuster Panel
Ruth Ware
Ruth Ware is an international number one bestseller. Her thrillers In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, The Lying Game, The Death of Mrs Westaway, The Turn of the Key, One by One, The It Girl, Zero Days, One Perfect Couple and The Woman in Suite 11 have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including the Sunday Times and New York Times, and have sold more than ten million copies. Her books have been optioned for both film and TV, and she is published in more than 40 languages. Ruth lives near Brighton with her family on the south coast of England.
Katherine Bradley
Katherine Bradley enjoyed a twenty-year career managing services for homeless people in Brighton, before retraining as a teacher. She now teaches English in a secondary school academy, finding time to also teach creative writing to adults. She holds a first-class degree in English Literature, in addition to qualifications in teaching, creative writing and coaching. As Kate Bradley, she has published two suspense thrillers – To Keep You Safe (2020) and What I Did (2021). In 2023 she published The Sisterhood. Katherine lives near Brighton with her family.
A.K. Benedict
A. K. (ALEXANDRA) BENEDICT is a best-selling, award-winning writer of short stories, novels and scripts. Educated at Cambridge, Sussex and Clown School, she has been an indie-rock singer, an actor, RLF Fellow, and a composer for film and TV, as well as teaching and running the prestigious MA in Crime Thrillers at City University. She is now a full-time writer and creative coach.
As A. K. Benedict, she writes acclaimed short stories, high-concept novels and award-winning audio drama for Big Finish, Audible UK, Audible US and BBC Sounds, among others. She won the Scribe Award for her Doctor Who radio drama, The Calendar Man, and was shortlisted for the eDunnit Novel Award for The Beauty of Murder and the BBC Audio Drama Podcast Award for Children of the Stones. As Alexandra Benedict she writes puzzle-filled Christmas mysteries, of which The Christmas Murder Game and Murder on the Christmas Express were both bestsellers and The Christmas Murder Game was longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger. Her most recent festive thriller, The Christmas Jigsaw Murders, was published in 2023.
Jenny Morris
Jenny Morris lives in Crowborough, the home of Winnie the Pooh and an outrageous number of charity shops. She loves a moral dilemma, and writes high-concept crime novels that explore deep philosophical questions like ‘How much would I have to pay you to eat a human toe?’ She has a PhD in Cognitive Psychology and works as a behavioural scientist. When not reading or writing, she enjoys galloping around the Ashdown Forest on a horse, foraging for mushrooms and getting way too intense about board games at the pub. Her first novel, An Ethical Guide to Murder, is out now.
Moderated by Sarah Hilary
Sarah Hilary is the critically-acclaimed author of nine novels. Her debut, Someone Else’s Skin, won the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year 2015 and was a World Book Night selection, a Richard & Judy Book Club pick and a finalist for both the Silver Falchion and Macavity Awards in the US. No Other Darkness, the second in her DI Marnie Rome series, was shortlisted for a Barry Award.
In April 2026, The Drowning Place will introduce readers to DS Joseph Ashe at the start of a brand new series set in the Peak District.
Sarah is Programme Director for St Hilda’s Crime Fiction Weekend, and co-founder of Ledburied, a crime fiction festival in her home town. Her short stories have won the Fish Criminally Short Histories Prize, the Cheshire Prize for Literature, and the SENSE Prize.
12:00 – 12:30
Break and Book signing
Panel authors will be available to sign copies of their books. You could also use the break to pick up some merch (if there’s any left!) or to enter our charity raffle, proceeds of which will be donated to The Bay Foodbank.
12:30 – 13:30: Transworld Debut Panel
Tanya Sweeney
Tanya Sweeney is an Irish journalist, columnist and regular contributor to radio and TV. Her personal columns focus on a variety of subjects including parenting, pregnancy, friendship, culture, and body issues.
She currently works on the Weekend magazine at the Irish Independent, and her experience working in the music, film & TV industries helped inspire her debut novel, Esther is Now Following You.
Rebecca Philipson
Rebecca Jayne Philipson grew up in a mining town in County Durham, where she still lives. Educated in a small convent, she deferred her university degree to set up her own business at 21. Rebecca went on to become North East Young Entrepreneur of the Year and won the Artemis Award for inspirational women in business.
Rebecca finished her BA in English Literature at Northumbria University, graduating with First Class Honours, and completed a PGCE in English at Durham University whilst on maternity leave. After returning to her business, Rebecca also lectured part-time in Literature and Language in Newcastle.
Having sold her business in 2020, Rebecca is now devoted to her writing career. She graduated from the University of East Anglia (UEA) Masters Program in 2024 and won a scholarship to Liverpool University where she will be reading for a PhD in Creative Writing.
Rebecca’s debut novel, How To Get Away With Murder, was pre-empted by Transworld, Penguin in the UK, MacMillan in the US and will be published in multiple languages. How To Get Away With Murder comes out 12th March 2026 and is available to pre-order online now
Frances Crawford
As a passionate advocate of lifelong learning, Frances was delighted to graduate aged 60 with MLitt (Distinction) Creative Writing from Glasgow University. In 2023, she won Bloody Scotland/ Glencairn Crime Short Story Competition and the first chapters of her debut novel, A Bad, Bad Place, won Highly Commended in Moniack Mohr Emerging Writer 2024.
Frances grew up in North Glasgow, and credits the people of Possilpark and Milton as her writing inspiration. She still lives in Glasgow with her family, and likes libraries and punk rock.
Moderated by Lin Anderson
Lin Anderson is a Scottish novelist and screenwriter best known for her bestselling series featuring forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod. This year Lin published no 19 in the series, The Dead and the Dying. Lin is also co-founder of the international crime writing festival Bloody Scotland which takes place annually in Stirling,Scotland, mid September. She also set up Pitch Perfect at Bloody Scotland which has now had 25 books published in its 14 years of existence.
This year she had the honour of being invited to be one of the judges for the Claymore Award at the Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference in August.
13:30 – 14:45
Lunch Break and Book Signings
As well as giving you time to get your books signed by the Pan Macmillan authors, we’ve allocated seventy-five minutes for our lunch break to give you the chance to get out and stretch your legs in Whitley. Be sure to check out which local establishments are offering deals for ticket holders. Our friends from Cullercoats RNLI will be in the foyer to chat with you about the work they do and how you can help.
*Please note, this will be your final opportunity to buy raffle tickets.*
14:45 – 15:45: Penguin Michael Joseph Panel
Mark Edwards
Mark Edwards writes psychological thrillers in which scary things happen to ordinary people. He has sold 5 million books since his first novel, The Magpies was published in 2013, and has topped the bestseller lists numerous times.
His other novels include Follow You Home, The Retreat, In Her Shadow, Because She Loves Me, The Hollows and Here to Stay.
He has also co-authored six books with Louise Voss. Originally from Hastings in East Sussex, Mark now lives in Wolverhampton with his wife, their children and two cats
Leodora Darlington
Leodora Darlington is a writer from London with Ghanaian heritage. She received a distinction for her Masters in Creative Writing from Brunel University, where she studied under authors like Benjamin Zepheniah and Will Self. A Bookseller Rising Star in 2021, Leodora is also an editor and has published a range of bestselling fiction.
The Exes is her debut novel.
S.M. Govett
S.M. Govett read Law at Trinity College, Oxford, before qualifying as a solicitor in the City. After realising that didn’t suit her, she started tutoring before turning her hand to writing, which she discovered was her true calling. She has since authored several bestselling YA novels, including The Territory trilogy and We Go On Forever. She also co-wrote the screenplay for the feature film, T.I.M., which was the no. 1 film on Netflix upon release. Believe is her debut adult thriller.
Moderated by Trevor Wood
Trevor Wood has lived in Newcastle for 30 years and considers himself an adopted Geordie, though he still can’t speak the language. He’s a successful playwright who has also worked as a journalist and spin-doctor for the City Council.
Trevor holds an MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) from UEA. His first novel, The Man on the Street, won the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger, the Crimefest Specsavers Best Crime Debut Award and was shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. It was followed by two more critically-acclaimed books in the Jimmy Mullen trilogy, One Way Street and Dead End Street. His next book, You Can Run, a standalone thriller set in a remote Northumberland village, was also long-listed for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year.
15:45 – 16:15
Break and Book Signing
Panelists will be available to sign copies of their books. The bookshop will, of course, still be
open as will our merch stand.
16:15 – 16:30
Raffle Draw
With goodies provided by authors, publishers and local businesses, we’re confident we’ll raise plenty of money for our chosen charity: The Bay Foodbank. Last year’s raffle raised almost 1,500, can we beat that total this year?
Buy tickets for the raffle throughout the day (ticket selling ends at 2:45pm) and be in with a chance of winning one of our fantastic prizes.
16:30 – 17:30
2026’s Special Guests: Elly Griffiths & Steph McGovern
Elly Griffiths
Elly Griffiths is the bestselling author of the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries; the Brighton Mysteries, several standalone thrillers and most recently the Ali Dawson Mysteries. She has won the CWA Dagger in the Library and the Edgar Award; has been shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger, shortlisted seven times for the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year and was the 2025 recipient of the Theakston Old Peculiar Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction award. Elly has two grown-up children and lives near Brighton with her archaeologist husband and their cat, Pip.
Steph McGovern
Award-winning broadcaster Steph currently presents The Rest is Money with Robert Peston. Steph has worked in journalism for over twenty years, with eight of them as part of the BBC Breakfast family. Steph then went on to present her own BAFTA-nominated live show, Steph’s Packed Lunch on Channel 4. Steph is a regular on Have I Got News for You. Steph is an avid reader and has interviewed countless authors including Ann Cleeves, Hillary Clinton, Harlan Coben, Lee Child, Don Winslow and Val McDermid. After having her at Bay Tales to moderate a couple of slots, it’s a delight to have her joining us to celebrate her debut novel Deadline.
Interviewed by Tim Rideout
A Bay Tales regular, Tim has become as much a part of the festival as Vic and Ann. Embodying all of the values that we hold so dear here at Bay Tales, Tim is the perfect person to host the closing discussion of 2026.
17:30 – 18:00: Signing & Raffle Prize Collection
Immediately after the final session, Elly & Steph will be signing copies of their books upstairs while winners can collect their raffle prizes from the merchandise stand on the ground floor.