It has been said that anthologies are not profitable enterprises. True or not, No Exit Press and Poisoned Pen Press generously agreed to publish this collection in the UK and U.S. respectively. All the royalties from this publication go to the Royal National Institute of Blind. We are also grateful to the exceptional contributors, and to Martin Edwards, one of the most respected anthology editors—and authors—in the business.
When it came to writing this afterword, I wasn’t sure if it should be a brief history of CrimeFest for those who are unaware of what it is, or whether it should be a thank-you to those who have made the convention and this anthology possible. But when I started writing, it quickly became clear that the two are inextricably linked.
CrimeFest came about because of the one-off visit to the UK of the American crime fiction convention Left Coast Crime (LCC) in 2006. During a visit to Janet Rudolph’s wonderful Berkeley reading group in California in 2004, one of the attendees mentioned that LCC was looking for people to organise the convention two years on. ‘Would Bristol be of interest as a location?’ I asked. ‘But Bristol isn’t on the left coast,’ was an initial response. When I pointed out that it was on the left coast of England (and, arguably, Europe) and reminded them of the rich history of British crime fiction, the offer was quickly accepted. Not feeling able to take on the project by myself, I was very lucky that Myles Allfrey said it sounded like something he would be interested in. Even more fortunate was that Donna Moore, whom we invited as the UK Fan Guest of Honour, only agreed to accept if she could help. We asked Donna to do the programming, and Myles and I realise it was one of the best decisions we made. It was a huge relief when the 2006 Bristol Left Coast Crime was declared a great success, and that was supposed to be it. Done. Over. Except…
A few weeks later, Beverley Cousins, then Crime Fiction Editor at Penguin, asked if we had considered continuing the convention, as she could sign up half a dozen or more crime writers for less than the cost of sponsoring one at similar events, and colleagues at other publishers followed suit. At the same time, authors also requested we continue, as it was the only large-scale crime-writing event in the UK where a commercially published writer could have a panel without being invited. (To this day, that still seems to be the case.) Readers also asked if we were going to continue, as it had been the first convention since Dead on Deansgate in the nineties where all participants were able to celebrate crime fiction in a friendly, informal and—most importantly—inclusive atmosphere.
As we had enjoyed organising LCC, the calls to continue easily persuaded us. To avoid confusion with the ongoing U.S. convention, we relaunched the Bristol event as CrimeFest. Bill Selby amended his 2006 Skeleton Bob logo, and agreeing to return were Liz Hatherell, who has been in charge of the registration desk every year (as well as proofing the programmes with Thalia Proctor); Jennifer Muller, who creates all the programmes; and Sue Trowbridge as the website mistress. And so the core team was formed.
In putting together LCC and CrimeFest, we received help from many people. The advice that LCC central committee members Enid and Tom Schantz, and Bill and Toby Gottfried, had for us was very helpful—Bill and Toby continue to be two of our most loyal attendees. Copied from LCC are trips, an idea from Dana Stabenow and her team for the 2001 Alaska convention, and which Nicky Godfrey-Evans of Tours of Discovery arranges on behalf of CrimeFest. Working with Janet Laurence when she chaired the first years of Dead on Deansgate inspired me to copy her organisational skills for CrimeFest. Basically we borrowed the best from the best.
Along the way there have been many other supporters. Barry Forshaw, Maggie Griffin, Peter Guttridge, and Maxim Jakubowski have advised us on, or helped us secure, some amazing authors. David Headley and Goldsboro Books have supported CrimeFest in many other ways as well, and it is fair to say that David and Edwin Buckhalter’s involvement ensured the convention’s continued existence. Add to these names the most recent benefactor and long-time delegate Jane Burfield, who also made this anthology possible.
Of course, we wouldn’t have made it past year one without the ongoing support of authors and their agents, booksellers, publishers, and, most importantly, readers. The greatest thing about ten years of CrimeFest is the friendships that have been forged. This anthology is a thank you to all those friends.
Adrian Muller
CrimeFest co-host