Capital Crime brings crime and thriller readers together in London for conversations, panels and book signings. The next festival runs from 28 to 30 May 2027 at The Brewery on Chiswell Street, a new venue for the event. Ian Rankin, Richard Armitage and Ann Cleeves are among the first announced speakers. Their individual appearance dates and the full running order have not been announced yet.
Choose the talk or writer that would make the trip worthwhile before deciding how many nights to stay. A central London weekend can combine several sessions with a bookshop visit, a meal and time to read. Start with the ticket you need, the correct venue and a return journey that works after your final event. The cards below look back at the 2026 programme, which took place at a different venue.
Quick answers
Main site: The Brewery, 52 Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4SD. Official location
Next dates: 28–30 May 2027. Main site: The Brewery, 52 Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4SD. Programme: first speakers announced; full programme and individual appearance days not yet announced. Official tickets: use Capital Crime’s box office. Travel: compare routes through Barbican, Moorgate and Liverpool Street. Rooms: start with the Capital Crime stay guide.
If you attended an earlier edition, check the new address before reserving a familiar hotel or planning your arrival. The 2026 festival was at Leonardo Royal Hotel St Paul’s. A booking that suited that venue does not automatically suit the new site.
What’s on
The first announced 2027 names are Ian Rankin, Richard Armitage and Ann Cleeves. Follow the official line-up for additions and individual event details. An announced festival appearance does not identify a particular day, so avoid choosing a non-refundable room solely around a guessed session date.
Earlier 2026 conversations
Time, Memory and Murder
· London Stage, Leonardo Royal Hotel St Paul’s
Griffiths and Douglas examined the past’s influence on investigations.
2026 event detailsAt 2 festivals in 2026
How worried should we be about AI?
· Goldsboro Books Stage, Leonardo Royal Hotel St Paul’s
Chowdhury and Callaghan debated artificial intelligence with Khan.
2026 event detailsAt 4 festivals in 2026
Trials and Tribulations
· London Stage, Leonardo Royal Hotel St Paul’s
Mahmood and Tyce discussed courtroom storytelling with Mazzola.
2026 event detailsAt 5 festivals in 2026
Goldsboro Books’s Class of 2026
· London Stage, Leonardo Royal Hotel St Paul’s
Three novelists joined Headley for a group conversation.
Years in the Making
· Goldsboro Books Stage, Leonardo Royal Hotel St Paul’s
Three writers reflected on sustaining a writing career.
2026 event detailsAt 6 festivals in 2026
It’s Not What You Think
· London Stage, Leonardo Royal Hotel St Paul’s
Mackintosh connected her police experience with writing thrillers.
Christie Coded
· London Stage, Leonardo Royal Hotel St Paul’s
The panel considered Agatha Christie’s continuing literary influence.
2026 event detailsAt 4 festivals in 2026
The Rebels Behind The Hero
· London Stage, Leonardo Royal Hotel St Paul’s
The Child brothers discussed writing Jack Reacher with Abell.
2026 event detailsAt 2 festivals in 2026
Those earlier events show how crime writing can lead into discussion of memory, technology, courtroom stories and the long life of a fictional detective. Use them to explore the festival’s range, while choosing 2027 tickets from the new programme when it is available. The 2026 room names and session times belong to the earlier venue.
About the festival
Capital Crime is a festival for crime and thriller fiction, with writers and readers sharing panels, conversations and signings. Its appeal for a visitor is the chance to put several kinds of crime writing beside one another. A discussion about a familiar detective can sit alongside a debut novelist or a conversation about the real experience behind a fictional investigation.
You do not need to have read every speaker to enjoy choosing a programme. Start with one book, subject or writer you already know, then add a session that takes you somewhere different. Read the event description for the format: a conversation with one author asks something different of the afternoon from a panel covering several books.
For a first visit, fewer carefully chosen sessions can be more satisfying than a packed schedule. Leave enough time to find the room, collect a book and decide whether to join a signing. If you are attending with someone whose reading differs from yours, agree which events to share and which to attend separately. A clear meeting point afterwards makes that freedom easier to enjoy.
Compare Capital Crime with the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival and Bloody Scotland if you are choosing a longer crime-reading trip. Each has its own dates, setting and programme. Begin with the conversations you want and the journey that fits them.
When it runs
The next edition is Friday 28 to Sunday 30 May 2027. The previous festival ran from 18 to 20 June 2026. The change of month matters if an earlier visit is your reference point: use the published 2027 dates for accommodation searches and travel planning.
Set out the trip in nights as well as festival days. Arriving the night before may help if the first session you eventually choose would be difficult to reach from home. Leaving after the final event can work for another visitor, provided the actual finish, luggage collection and journey to the station fit together. Those choices should follow the programme and your own journey.
If you reserve a room before individual events are announced, read the cancellation deadline and payment conditions for that exact rate. Keep the deadline beside your festival plans, then review the booking when the running order appears. A provisional room is most helpful when it can accommodate the trip you later decide to make.
Venue and finding your way
The 2027 festival’s new home is The Brewery, 52 Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4SD. The organiser’s Plan Your Visit page gives the address and directions. Use the complete address when comparing hotels, planning a taxi or saving an offline route.
Reaching the building and finding your individual event are separate parts of the arrival. When room allocations are published, put the room name with the start time on your itinerary. Allow a margin for arrival and registration instead of aiming to reach the street at the advertised session time. Ask the organiser about any entrance or drop-off detail essential to your visit.
Keep the venue and accommodation addresses separately on your phone. An old confirmation, a search result for another brewery or the address of the 2026 festival can send you in the wrong direction. Before travelling, check that your ticket, route and room reservation all relate to the 2027 visit you intend to make.
Tickets and the official box office
Book through the official festival box office. The organiser distinguishes weekend, day and individual-event tickets. Compare what the ticket actually admits you to, especially if your reason for travelling includes an evening activity as well as an author conversation.
A weekend pass and a tightly planned single-day visit solve different problems. List your essential sessions first, then compare the relevant admission options. Do not assume that buying access to one event includes everything else happening on the site. Read the current terms and any event-specific conditions before paying.
The organiser’s FAQs state that tickets are non-refundable, with possible carry-over at the team’s discretion in some circumstances. Check directly before relying on an exception. Accommodation and rail bookings have their own conditions, so keep their deadlines separate from the festival ticket.
If you are buying for someone else, agree which dates work and whether you will choose events together. For a group, decide who holds each ticket and how everyone will retrieve it if phones or plans become separated. Save the confirmation and venue address somewhere you can find without searching an email inbox at the entrance.
Getting there
By train and Underground
The venue and organiser identify Barbican, Moorgate and Liverpool Street as nearby transport references. Use The Brewery’s directions and TfL’s journey planner to compare the route from your arrival station to the event address.
Choose the route for the actual travel date and time, including any access requirements. Reaching a familiar London terminus is only part of the journey. Include interchanges, the final approach to Chiswell Street and whatever you need to do with luggage before the first session. Check planned changes again closer to departure.
For the return, work backwards from the train you intend to catch. Add the event’s finish, leaving the room, collecting a bag and reaching the correct station or platform. If that produces a hurried connection, choose an earlier final event, another train or an extra night instead of depending on every part of the evening running perfectly.
By bus
The organiser and venue point visitors towards local bus services. Use the operator’s planner for the precise stop, direction and time that fit your journey. A bus that suits the morning arrival may not be the right choice after an evening event.
Save the final walking directions as well as the service number. If you are travelling with someone else, agree whether you will leave together and where to meet if one person stays for a signing. That small decision can prevent a rushed search outside the venue.
By car or taxi
The Brewery states that it has no on-site car parking. Before deciding to drive, compare a complete parking plan with the public-transport journey. Check the chosen car park’s opening hours, charges and collection details directly, especially if you expect to leave after an evening event.
If you need a taxi or a specific drop-off, ask about the appropriate meeting point before the day. Keep the full venue address available and distinguish the event building from your hotel. A nearby room does not remove the need to confirm its own arrival and parking details.
Where to stay
For a visit centred on the festival, begin around Chiswell Street and the Barbican, then compare Moorgate and the Liverpool Street or Shoreditch side of the area. Put the accommodation’s actual address beside The Brewery’s address. A broad central-London description cannot settle the route.
The Capital Crime stay guide compares these bases and names properties to investigate. A room selected for easy railway arrival may produce a different evening from one selected around the venue. Consider both, especially if you intend to return for a rest between sessions or collect luggage before a train.
Ask each property about the room features you need: lift access, bathroom layout, sleeping configuration, late entry or luggage storage. Read the actual rate’s cancellation terms. A promising location is only one part of a suitable reservation, and the lowest headline room price does not describe the total cost of your visit.
Food and breaks
Plan breaks around the sessions you most want, not simply around the gaps that remain after filling the day. Give a meal enough space that it does not depend on leaving a talk early or abandoning a signing halfway through. If eating elsewhere, include finding the place and returning to the correct entrance.
Check current details with the organiser if a specific dietary requirement or food plan is essential. Do not assume a festival ticket includes a meal or that a venue’s ordinary catering offer will operate in exactly the same way during the festival. Keep water, medication and other personal essentials within the event’s current admission rules.
A longer gap can also be reading time. You might prefer to stay close to the venue with a new book instead of adding another journey. If you plan a separate London outing, keep it on a day with enough room to enjoy it and return without watching the clock throughout.
Accessibility
Capital Crime’s FAQs confirm wheelchair accessibility and accessible facilities at the new venue. They link to the venue’s access information and invite visitors with questions to contact info@capitalcrime.org.
Describe the support or facilities you need instead of relying on a general accessibility label. Ask about the event room, entrance, seating, drop-off and any other detail that determines whether the visit works for you. If hearing support, a companion arrangement or a specific route matters, obtain an answer before making an inflexible booking.
Check the accommodation and transport separately. Access to an event building does not confirm the features of a bedroom or every interchange on the journey there. Keep replies with your ticket, and tell the organiser if a change to your needs affects the details discussed.
Plan your days
A focused day visit
Choose one essential conversation and build the rest of the day around it. Confirm admission, work out the arrival and return, then decide whether another session fits without squeezing out lunch or a signing. A single well-planned day can give you a clear festival experience without requiring a full weekend away.
When the programme is published, check the end of each event as carefully as the start of the next. Leave time to move, find a seat and take a break. If two sessions compete for the same part of the day, choose the one you would most regret missing instead of treating both as a realistic plan.
A longer festival weekend
For a two- or three-day visit, spread your priorities across the programme before reserving nights you cannot change. A longer stay can make room for different kinds of conversation, but it also needs meals, rest and practical arrival and departure days. Avoid making every hour dependent on the previous session finishing exactly on time.
Agree the pace if you are travelling with a companion. You can share a room and a festival weekend without attending identical events. Keep a meeting point, the accommodation address and any shared ticket details accessible to both people. If one person leaves earlier, check that the remaining visitor still has everything needed for the final night.
First-timer tips
Read one book by a speaker you especially want to hear, or make a short list of questions the event raises for you. You do not need an expert’s knowledge of the whole programme. A little preparation can make the conversation more rewarding while leaving room to discover someone unfamiliar.
Take care with books and luggage. If you hope to buy several titles, decide how you will carry them during the day and on the journey home. Ask the accommodation about storing a bag before check-in or after checkout; do not build a train connection around storage that has not been confirmed.
Keep your plan simple enough to use at a glance: event title, time, room, admission and the next practical step. Save the official programme link alongside it. When something changes, update that short plan instead of relying on several screenshots with different versions.
FAQs
Is Capital Crime at the same venue as in 2026?
No. The 2026 festival took place at Leonardo Royal Hotel St Paul’s. The announced 2027 venue is The Brewery on Chiswell Street. Use the new address for your room search and travel plan.
Are the 2027 speakers’ individual days announced?
The first headliners are announced, but their individual appearance dates and the full running order have not been announced yet. Check the official line-up before choosing travel around a specific author.
Can I go without buying a festival ticket?
Use the official box office to check the admission needed for the event or activity you want. Do not assume that a bookshop visit, signing or evening activity has the same admission conditions as an individual conversation.
How far ahead should I book a room?
Begin comparing rooms once the published dates fit your diary. If choosing accommodation before individual events are announced, retain the flexibility you need and review the reservation when the programme appears.
Where should I start if I want another crime festival?
Browse the crime festival guide, then compare the settings, published dates and programmes at Harrogate and Bloody Scotland. Choose the event that fits your reading interests and the journey you want.
Can you go to Capital Crime without a ticket?
Use the official box office to check the admission needed for the event or activity you want. Do not assume that a bookshop visit, signing or evening activity has the same admission conditions as an individual conversation.
How far ahead should I book a room for Capital Crime?
You can compare accommodation using the confirmed festival dates, but individual speaker days remain unannounced. If you reserve early, retain the flexibility you need and put the cancellation deadline beside your event plans. Compare the stay advice.
Venue map
Use The Brewery, 52 Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4SD as the festival reference. Check the entrance and event room separately when planning your arrival.
Festival venue map
- The Brewery: 52 Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4SD
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Check the event entrance separately.
Sources
Official information checked 28 October 2026: Capital Crime, 2027 line-up, festival FAQs, Plan Your Visit, 2027 box office, 2026 box office, The Brewery’s directions and TfL journey planning. The eight programme cards link to the official June 2026 schedule.