Crimes within Crimes

Is it just me or is Tom Rob Smith a hottie? I don’t mean to be pervy or anything, but check him out on YouTube talking about his debut novel from last year, Child 44. He’s written another one since then, The Secret Speech, and he’s still so young! I think he’s 30 at the most. (Too young for me anyway).

Child 44 is a thriller set in Stalinist Russia and based on the true story of serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, also known as the Butcher of Rostov. Child 44 was long-listed for the 2008 Man Booker Prize, it won the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award for best thriller of 2008, and it has been translated into 17 languages. Not to mention that the film rights have been sold to Ridley Scott/Fox 2000!

The novel Tom Rob (or is that just Tom?) is promoting in his visit – all the way from London – to the festival is The Secret Speech. Again it’s gripping, cinematic (not surprising as he is also a screen-writer) filled with historical detail about the post-Stalin period in Russia and contains characters you can care about.

One festival session I will definitely be rushing to get a front-row seat for is Crimes Within Crimes . This session is where the lovely Tom Rob meets our very own Crime King Marshall Browne.

Marshall Browne is the author of thirteen books of fiction. Several of his detective novels and thrillers have been published in the US and other countries to critical acclaim. His novels are set in various places including historical Melbourne and Japan, but his two Franz Schmidt novels,  The Eye of the Abyss and The Iron Heart, are set in Hitler’s Germany. The Eye of the Abyss was a Gumshoe Award finalist, a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book, and one of The Australian’s Books of the Year. The Iron Heart is his latest novel.

In The Iron Heart Franz Schmidt arrives in Berlin in January 1939 to take up the position of Chief Auditor at the Reichsbank, the financial heart of the Third Reich. As he battles with political intrigue,  murder, power, and the Gestapo, Schmidt’s brief becomes clear. He must steal a copy of the Reich’s financing blueprint in an attempt to prevent the country’s march to war.

Tickets are still available to Crimes Within Crimes, which promises to be a fascinating discussion of how war and chaos can provide the perfect cover for other crimes. I recommend it for couples. Why? Because it has something for everyone: war and history, fascinating back-ground stories and characters, interesting settings and a little bit of eye candy too. Depending on your taste of course.

Nina
Development Manager