Crime confessions and witty humour in Cheshire West Libraries

This February, crime writers Trevor Wood and Rob Parker will be confessing to each other about their crime writing at Little Sutton Library and irreverent novelist Jasper Fforde will be in conversation at Neston Library.

Trevor Wood is the writer of the Jimmy Mullen trilogy set in Newcastle’s homeless community which began with the multi-award winning The Man on the Street. They were followed by You Can Run, a standalone thriller set in a remote Northumberland village, which was long listed for the Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year. His latest book, The Silent Killer, featuring a senior cop in the first stages of early-onset dementia has just been optioned for TV.

Rob Parker is the author of Far From The Tree, the number one bestselling thriller for Audible Original and the first instalment in the Thirty Miles trilogy, as well as eight novels for independent publishers. He is the host of Crime Central Manchester, a monthly showcase of emerging crime writing talent and blockbuster bestsellers, and a member of the Northern Crime Syndicate. Rob lives in Warrington with his wife, three children and their dogs, and was inspired to write The Troubled Deep by years of holidays in the Norfolk Broads - during which he has never, he is pleased to say, found a dead body.

Jasper Fforde spent twenty years in the film business before debuting on the New York Times Bestseller list with The Eyre Affair in 2001. His 18th novel, Dark Reading Matter, will be published in the UK/USA in 2025. Fforde's writing is an eclectic mix of genres, which might be described as a joyful blend of Comedy-Science Fiction-Thriller-Crime-Satire. He freely admits that he is fascinated not just by books themselves, but by the way we read and what we read, and his reinvigoration of tired genres have won him many enthusiastic supporters across the world.

Amongst Fforde's output are police procedurals featuring nursery rhyme characters; a four-book series for young adults about magic and dragons set in a shabby world of failing magical powers, Shades of Grey (2011) a post-apocalyptic dystopia where social hierarchy is based on the colours you can see, Early Riser (2018), a thriller set in a world in which humans have always hibernated, and The Constant Rabbit (2020), an allegory about racism and xenophobia in the UK. Fforde was born in England but has recently decided to adopt the nationality of where he lives when he heard that: 'When you truly love Wales, you are Welsh'.

The Council’s Cabinet Member for a Fairer Future, Councillor Lisa Denson said:

“Our Library Service is delighted to be able to host these amazing authors. At both events, there will be a chance to talk to the writers, purchase books, have refreshments and have books signed.”

Tickets are available from Ticketsource or the library.

Trevor Wood and Rob Parker, Friday 7 February, 7pm, Little Sutton Library: 

Partners in crime: crime writers Trevor Wood and Rob Parker confess at Little Sutton Library event tickets from TicketSource

Jasper Fforde, Thursday 27 February, 7pm, Neston Library: 

Jasper Fforde at Neston Library event tickets from TicketSource

For information about all library events sign up to their eNewsletter or follow libraries on social media: 

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There are 22 libraries across Cheshire West and Chester, a Mobile Library and Home Library Service. It is free to join and books can be borrowed from and returned to any library.

You can access computers and wi-fi for free or join in with a wide range of events and activities for all ages.

There are also thousands of free eBooks, eAudiobooks and eMagazines to borrow.

To find out more visit the Council’s website: 

www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/libraries.