Libraries launch ‘Crimes and Capers’ events for children and adults

If you enjoy award-winning crime fiction or are looking for something to do with the children over the half term school holiday, then Cheshire West and Chester Libraries may well have the event for you.

Coming soon, the “Crimes and Capers” season is divided into two parts with children’s events (the “Capers”) taking place over the February half-term and the adult events (the “Crimes”) taking place in late February and early March.

The events include author talks, dance, stage shows and even a murder mystery.  Some events take place in libraries and others are online.

The children’s events include:

Dommy B’s Best Adventure Ever, one man show at Ellesmere Port Library (Monday 21 February 2.30pm, free, ages 5+).

Emma Beswetherick’s Playdate Adventures (online, Tuesday 22 February 2.30pm, free, ages 7 to 12) which gives children a chance to talk to the author and discover how they can write their own environmentally themed books.

Same Same But Different (Thursday 24 February, first at Neston Library, 10.30am, then Northwich at 2.30pm, ages 5+) a family show by the Sonia Sabri Company, mixing Kathak, Hip Hop dance, contemporary dance, hints of live music, physical storytelling and dance.

John Kirk’s Capers Story Hunt (online, Thursday 24 February at 2pm, ages 3+) which gets children involved finding items in their house to help complete a story.  All the children’s events are free.

The adult events include:

The Murder Mystery, by Ann Cleeves – award-winning author and creator of characters such as the incomparable Vera Stanhope, played by Brenda Blethyn on TV's Vera, and Shetland's DI Jimmy Perez.
(Friday 4 March at 7pm, Helsby Library, £5 per ticket, not including drinks) with guests working out which of the four suspects murdered a tutor.

Multiple award-winning author, Stephen Booth, speaks about his popular Derbyshire-set Cooper and Fry series.
(Monday 28 February at 7pm, Great Boughton Library, £5 per ticket).

“Howdunnit”, the author Martin Edwards, widely recognised as a leading authority on the crime fiction genre, talks about how to write crime fiction. In 2020, he was awarded the Crime Writers’ Association’s Diamond Dagger, the highest honour in British crime writing, in recognition of the ‘sustained excellence’ of his work in the genre (Tuesday 1 March at 6.30pm, Barnton Library, £5 per ticket).

Unsettling thrillers with strong female leads: Jen Williams and the art of writing.  As well as writing thrillers Jen also writes character-driven fantasy novels with plenty of adventure and magic.  She has twice won the British Fantasy Award for her Winnowing Flame trilogy. (Wednesday 9 March, 7pm, online, free)

Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Wellbeing, Councillor Louise Gittins said: “This is an amazing series of events bringing together an impressive list of multi-award-winning authors.  There will definitely be something for both children and adults to enjoy in our libraries and on-line this spring!”

All events can be booked online via:

www.ticketsource.co.uk/cwaclibraries

... or can be booked at the relevant libraries, plus more events to be added soon.

This series of events is supported by Arts Council England.