A Val McDermid festival visit can begin with the investigator you keep returning to, or with the wish to follow her into a new story. Her 2026 conversations moved between crime and historical fiction. For fans, the attraction was time with a novelist whose writing offers more than one familiar world.
Quick facts
Best known for
Karen Pirie, Tony Hill and Carol Jordan crime novels
Genre or subject
Crime fiction, historical fiction and non-fiction
Latest book
This Door of the Seas, co-written with Jo Sharp (2026)
McDermid writes continuing crime series, standalone novels, shorter fiction and non-fiction. Karen Pirie’s cold-case investigations have been adapted for television. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan give readers another long-running strand to follow, while books outside those series open different places and periods.
Her awards include the CWA Gold Dagger and Diamond Dagger. Those honours sit alongside the more private relationship a reader forms with a detective, a setting or a way of telling a story. A festival conversation can deepen that pleasure without requiring you to have followed every branch of her writing.
Silent Bones continued the Pirie series in October 2025, with a paperback in June 2026. The later historical collaboration This Door of the Seas was published by Polygon in August 2026. Part of the Darkland Tales sequence, it uses letters to look back towards the Darien venture, taking her fiction into another form and historical setting.
Where to start with their books
The Distant Echo
Four students discover a dying woman, and suspicion follows them long after that winter night. A cold-case review decades later reopens the danger. Begin here if you want the first Karen Pirie book and are drawn to the lasting consequences of an unsolved death.
The Mermaids Singing
Clinical psychologist Tony Hill is brought into a serial-killer investigation and becomes a target himself. This opening book introduces a different strand of McDermid’s crime writing, for readers interested in psychological profiling and the risks of getting close to a murderer.
Report for Murder
Freelance journalist Lindsay Gordon covers a school fundraising gala, only to find herself investigating a death. It begins another series and offers a route into McDermid through a reporter whose working assignment becomes something much more dangerous.
Festival appearances
For tickets, use the host festival’s official box office. Confirm the date, venue and access details before paying.
At Hay on 26 May, McDermid spoke with Fflur Dafydd about the cold-case novel on the Discovery Stage. Edinburgh’s The Front List brought her and co-writer Jo Sharp to McEwan Hall on 17 August for their historical collaboration.
At Bloody Scotland on 20 September, she shared the Albert Halls stage with Denise Mina. The crime-festival pairing gave readers another way to hear her: through an exchange between writers, alongside the book-focused conversations elsewhere in the year.
Where to see them next
Val McDermid is due to appear at Aye Write on 11 November 2026 for Val McDermid & Jo Sharp: This Door of the Seas. Official event and tickets.
No 2027 appearances announced yet. Check the festival guides for programme dates.
Plan your trip
For a crime-focused break, choose the conversation that has made you want to travel, then add other sessions around it. You could take a friend who loves the same detective, or someone whose reading follows a different strand and compare what each of you heard afterwards.
If you hope for a signed book, ask the box office about the signing before making it the centre of the trip. Give yourself a gap after the event for a meal or a walk and time to reach your next venue. The Glasgow evening has its own booking details; the guide links below cover the earlier festival bases.
The 2026 programmes featured Val McDermid at Bloody Scotland, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Hay Festival; follow those guides for event information and practical visit details.
Do I need to begin at the start of every series?
Choose the strand that attracts you. The reading suggestions above each offer an entry point, but a festival visit is not a reading test. A favourite investigation or one question about the writing is enough to give your listening a personal focus.
Where do I book tickets to see her?
Follow the official programme link for the event you choose. For a pass, check whether the session also needs a reservation. Ask the organiser directly about access support and companion tickets so the practical side is settled before travelling.
Can I go because I know the television adaptation?
Yes. Recognising a character from the screen can be the reason to explore the novels and hear the writer. You may notice different things from a companion who read the books first, giving you an enjoyable conversation on the way home.
What should I read for a historical-fiction event?
Use the festival links on Val McDermid’s profile for the event’s own ticket and audience guidance.
