We can now announce two more speakers confirmed for this year’s Bodies From The Library conference. We are delighted to welcome back both Jim Noy and Tom Mead who have spoken at past conferences on a diverse range of topics including obscure locked room mysteries, impossible crimes, fair-play clueing and Enid Blyton (a mystery writer not to be overlooked).

Tom Mead

Tom Mead is a Derbyshire mystery writer and aficionado of Golden Age Crime Fiction. His novels include Death and the Conjuror, The Murder Wheel, Cabaret Macabre and The House at Devil’s Neck. He also recently published a collection of mystery stories, The Indian Rope Trick (and Other Violent Entertainments). His books have been translated into twelve languages (and counting), nominated for various awards and named books of the year by The Guardian, The Telegraph, Publishers Weekly and Crimereads.

Jim Noy

Jim Noy has a particular enthusiasm for the golden age detection of the 1920 to the 1950s, especially locked room mysteries and impossible crimes. He blogs at The Invisible Event, where he also publishes the infuriatingly occasional In GAD We Trust podcast.

We are delighted to announce that Martin Edwards and Victoria Dowd will be speaking at this year’s Bodies From The Library conference. Martin has been a regular speaker at past conferences and Victoria was a very popular debut speaker at last year’s conference so it is great to welcome her back.

Martin Edwards’ most recent novel is Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife; he has published five novels (with a sixth, Fever Island, due in September) set in the 1930s and featuring Rachel Savernake, as well as series based in the Lake District and Liverpool. He has won two Edgar awards and lifetime achievement awards for fiction (the CWA Diamond Dagger and the Dagger in the Library), scholarship (the Popular Culture Association’s George N. Dove award), non-fiction (the Poirot award) and short fiction (the Golden Derringer). He is President of the Detection Club and consultant to the bestselling British Library Crime Classics.

http://www.martinedwardsbooks.com
http://www.doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com/

Victoria is the award-winning author of the Smart Woman’s Mystery series and has been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger. Her novel, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder, won The People’s Book Prize for fiction and was In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel’s Book of the Year. Her novel Murder Most Cold won the Grand Puzzly award. Her short fiction has been widely published and was awarded the Gothic Fiction prize, and the Sykehouse Filmfest Silken Noose award. She is also the author of the historical crime series, The Charlotte Blood Chronicles. Victoria is the Vice-chair of the Crime Writers’ Association and was a criminal defence barrister.

https://victoriadowd.com/adapting-agatha/

Booking has now opened for the 11th annual Bodies From The Library conference taking place at the British Library in London on 20th June 2026.

We are also very pleased to announce that we have been able to keep the price down to the same as last year…a bargain at £45 (plus Eventbrite booking fee).

To book your place go to:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bodies-from-the-library-2026-tickets-1977907487539?aff

We are delighted to reveal the date for the 2026 Bodies From The Library conference which will be taking place at the British Library in London on Saturday 20th June.

We are in the advanced stages of finalising the programme with the speakers. Watch this space for further announcements of who will be speaking – we can confirm that there will be both regular favourites and newcomers to the British Library stage – and the topics that will be covered. (Far be it for me to mention important anniversaries that should not be overlooked but a quick check of publication dates may give a hint about centenarian titles that may receive some attention.)

Tickets will go on sale from 1st January 2026.

Recommendations from Jake Kerridge and Moira Redmond (requested by many attendees at this year’s conference):

Taking Detective Stories Seriously – the collected crime reviews of Dorothy L. Sayers with an introduction by Martin Edwards

Murder for Pleasure – the life and times of the Detective Story by Howard Haycraft

Snobbery with Violence – English crime stories and their audience by Colin Watson

The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards

Guilty but Insane – Mind and Law in Golden Age Detective Fiction by Samantha Walton

Deadlier than the Male by Jessica Mann

The Hooded Gunman – an illustrated history of the Collins Crime Club by John Curran

Talking about Detective Fiction by P. D. James

Murder Ink – the mystery reader’s companion by Dilys Winn

Murderess Ink – the better half of the mystery by Dilys Winn

A Catalogue of Crime by Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hertig Taylor

Bloody Murder – from the Detective Story to the Crime Novel: A History by Julian Symons

The Bedside Companion to Crime by H. R. F. Keating

The Puritan Pleasures of the Detective Story  – from Sherlock Holmes to Van der Valk by Erik Routley

Who Killed Roger Ackroyd? by Pierre Bayard

The novels of Gilbert Adair

A Talent To Deceive – an appreciation of Agatha Christie by Robert Barnard

To mark 150 years of the Metropolitan Police Crime Museum (sometimes referred to as Scotland Yard’s “Black Museum”), it is opening its doors for a limited period to members of the public to view items from its collection of artifacts relating to crimes the force has investigated. Museum curator, Dr Clare Smith, says “The exhibits relate to cases that inspired or are referenced by Golden Age writers such as the Emily Kaye and Patrick Mahon case mentioned by Dorothy L Sayers and The Brides in the Bath and Crippen cases referenced by Agatha Christie.” Normally members of the public are not permitted to view the collection, which is primarily a resource for the police for training and historical record-keeping purposes, so this is an opportunity not to be missed for anyone interested in the overlap between true crime and detective fiction, especially of the Golden Age.

Tickets are free of charge but must be reserved in advance through the Museum’s website: https://police-museum-tour.eventbrite.co.uk/

We are delighted to announce that three of the leading UK-based bloggers on Golden Age Detective Fiction will be appearing together to discuss The Pleasures and The Pitfalls of GA Blogging at this year’s Bodies From The Library conference. Ronaldo Fagarazzi, Kate Jackson and Moira Redmond will be revealing their secrets (where do they get all their ideas for what to write about is my big question) and giving us a glimpse into their approach to keeping us hooked.

This session replaces the planned talk by Carla Valentine which, unfortunately, has had to be cancelled due to the pressure of her other work commitments.

We are very sorry to have to announce a change in the programme for this year’s conference due to circumstances beyond everyone’s control. Unfortunately Jim Noy is no longer going to be available to discuss inverted mysteries as advertised in the original programme. 

However, we are delighted that the wonderful L C Tyler has very kindly agreed to step in to fill the vacant slot with what looks to be an intriguing talk in prospect, entitled: “More Baffling than Any Detective Story” – John Dickson Carr and the Murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey. 

We are delighted to welcome two first time speakers to this year’s Bodies From The Library Conference: Victoria Dowd and Carla Valentine.

Victoria Dowd is the award-winning author of the Smart Woman’s Mystery series and has been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger. Her novel, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder, won The People’s Book Prize for fiction and was In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel’s Book of the Year. Her novel Murder Most Cold won the Grand Puzzly award. Victoria was also awarded the Gothic Fiction prize for her short fiction. Her historical crime novel, Death in the Aviary, will be published in September 2025, and is the first book in her new series, The Blood Chronicles. Victoria is head of the London Crime Writers’ Association and was a criminal defence barrister for many years on the London circuit appearing at the Old Bailey.

You can buy your copy of Victoria’s Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B087C12B9L?geniuslink=true

Carla Valentine is a Senior Anatomical Pathology Technician and curator of Barts Pathology Museum in London. She is also the author of The Chick and the Dead: Life and Death Behind Mortuary Doors and her newest book Past Mortems: Life and Death Behind Mortuary Doors topped the Amazon best-sellers list.

Her book ‘Murder Isn’t Easy: The Forensics of Agatha Christie’ was nominated for the HRF Keating Award for non-fiction in 2021, and was a Barnes & Noble ‘Monthly Pick’ in the USA (as The Science of Murder). Her podcast Mortem is currently on BBC sounds, and her forthcoming books include Planted Evidence: Gardens and Graves in Golden Era Detective Fiction.

You can get your copy of Carla’s Murder Isn’t Easy here:

https://www.carlavalentine.co.uk/books

We are delighted to announce the Programme for our Tenth Anniversary Conference has been finalised and speakers confirmed.

The full programme is available via the following link:

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased through the website.