When it comes to genre fiction, tropes are usually good – they offer us happy endings or trick us into missing twist endings. In the case of crime and psychological thrillers, however, maybe it’s time to leave some of those tropes – white male detectives; dead, victimised women– behind. Join two women writers to hear how they are changing the dominant narrative.

Known as the ‘Queen of the Big Reveal’, Dorothy Koomson’s latest novel, Every Smile You Fake, features a profiler and therapist, who is shocked when she finds a baby on the backseat of her car, with her instincts telling her that she is running out of time to save the baby’s mother.

Important event update: We regret to inform you that Gillian McAllister will not be able to join us for tomorrow night’s event due to illness. We sincerely apologise for any disappointment this may cause.

We understand this change in line-up may lead some of you to reconsider attending. If you feel you need to cancel your booking, please contact Box Office by email  at ticketservices@birmingham-rep.co.uk or call 0121 236 4455.

On a brighter note, we are delighted to announce that the talented crime fiction author Jo Callaghan – winner of the prestigious Crime Novel of the Year award at the Theakston Old Peculier Festival 2024 for her debut In the Blink of An Eye – will be stepping in. Jo will engage in a thought-provoking discussion about pushing the boundaries of crime fiction alongside internationally bestselling and multi-award-winning author Dorothy Koomson, chaired by Birmingham Literature Festival Director, Shantel Edwards.

Jo Callaghan works fulltime as a senior strategist, where she has carried out research into the future impact of AI and genomics on the workforce. After losing her husband to cancer in 2019 she started writing In The Blink of an Eye, her debut crime novel, which explores learning to live with loss and what it means to be human. In The Blink of an Eyewas selected for BBC 2’s ‘Between the Covers’ in Spring 2023, and Jo was a featured debut at Harrogate Crime Festival and Bloody Scotland Festival. She lives with her two children in the Midlands. Leave No Trace is her second novel.

Dorothy Koomson is an award-winning, global bestselling author of 19 novels. Known as ‘Queen of the Big Reveal’, her thrillers have connected with readers all over the world and are regularly Sunday Times bestsellers with sales of over 2.5 million copies in the UK alone. Dorothy featured on the 2021 Powerlist as one of the most influential Black people in Britain, appeared in GQ Style as a Black British trailblazer, and was a judge for the 2022 Women’s Prize for Fiction. 2023 marked Dorothy’s 20th anniversary as a published author. Her most recent novel, Every Smile You Fake was published in February 2024, with the paperback due to publish in August 2024.