Orion invites crime fans to hotel room at Theakston festival

Orion is launching an exclusive space for events by its crime fiction authors at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, called The Incident Room.

The space will be hotel room 166, located on the first floor of the Old Swan Hotel, which will be transformed to host exclusive, intimate events with Ian Rankin (pictured), Isabel Ashdown and Steve Cavanagh, among others, from Friday 21st to Saturday 22nd July.

The line-up will include "Blogger Room Service", where book bloggers can meet crime writers over nibbles; "Would I Lie to You?", a live podcast with Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste, "Thriller Writing Kickstart", a tutorial with author Isabel Ashdown; and "Whisky and Reading with Ian Rankin", an intimate event with the creator of Rebus.

Orion will also be launching its lead crime title of 2018, Fear by Dirk Kurbjuweit - a German novel won in an eight-way auction - with a proof giveaway and signing with the author.

Punters will have the chance to win bookish prizes during the festival by solving "a bathroom murder mystery", cracking a "book safe", taking a selfie with a killer, and getting inked with a "murderous" temporary tattoo.

Tickets to all events are free, with details available on Orion's Incident Room website.