Apart from being set in a gorgeous Pennine valley, Sedbergh prides itself on being England’s premier book town. There are book shelters, book shelves in cafes and several book shops. It also hosts a rolling series of book festivals and for the first time one focussed on crime writing. Death in the Dales was ably organised by author Jean Briggs and a team of volunteers and trustees. It was well attended by the public and featured a strong turnout by northern writers – as we know each other this guaranteed a party atmosphere from the start.
A screening of the noir movie The Big Heat, accompanied by wine and pizza, set the mood. A further novelty was a one-man Sherlock Holmes show expertly performed by Matthew Booth.
I took part in two of the panel sessions, the first was a jolly affair considering we were discussing Villains. With Antony Johnston, Francis Brody and Matthew Booth we considered how a villain can play a central part in the crime or thriller, or may lurk unseen pulling the strings from the shadows. And how few people set out to be villains, becoming the heroes of their own story. A good author can even have the reader rooting for them, such as the lead in Caroline Kepnes’ You, or Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley. Amongst the favourite villains mentioned were of course Moriarty, with a special mention to Sauron from Lord of the Rings as perhaps the baddest bad guy of literature.
On the Sunday I moderated a panel digging into historical crime, even wearing my archaeologist hat at the outset for a laugh. Jean Briggs has employed Charles Dickens as her investigator, while Deborah Swift has written several books featuring Samuel Pepys so we talked about using real characters and situations when history is already written and the outcome known (or should be, unless writing alternative history). A point was made that a historical novelist is creating our own version of the past. Kate Ellis has written a trio of books set in the aftermath of the Great War, so we discussed how attitudes to death and trauma have changed – not a lot, we concluded. Approaching outdated attitudes and sensitive subjects was a meaty topic. We especially considered the role of women before the mid-twentieth century and how we can create active female leads without leaving credibility behind.
All in all, great fun and the bookstall did well. We all left hoping this is not the last time there will be Death in the Dales.
Lead photo credit: Sedbergh Book Town @sedberghbooktwn