The evening was a roaring success – the buzz in the room was phenomenal.
Jan Macartney – Borough Librarian – Douglas, Isle of Man
‘Martin Edwards is a most engaging speaker who delighted everyone who attended the two book launches we have held for him at Gladstone’s Library
Annette Lewis – Development Officer – Gladstone’s Library, Hawarden, Wales
Many thanks for giving such a perceptive and humorous talk last weekend at our Arts and Book Festival in Grasmere. It was fascinating to be given an insight into the writer’s craft, to see how you took the germ of an idea and built it into a complex, multi layered narrative.
Michael McGregor – Director – Wordsworth Trust
Festival goers really enjoyed \Martin’s events and have asked if he will be back next year!
Andrew Peden-Smith – Director – Newcastle Winter Books Festival
“The Victorian murder mystery at our Nottingham Crime Readers day was a great success, people really enjoyed the challenge of solving the crime. The format of the mystery works well as it means that the volunteer suspects only have to read from a script, they don’t have to read lines or act out a part. That makes it a lot easier to persuade people to take part.”
Martin also gave us a very interesting and informative talk on the golden age of crime at our Readers Day. It went down very well with our audience of crime buffs. In a day packed with workshops and speakers, many people picked Martin’s session as the highlight of the day”.
Jane Brierley – Development Librarian; Reader Development, Nottingham Communities Team, Libraries and Information Services
‘Martin knows the crime writing genre better than many published reviewers. His enthusiasm matches his encyclopaedic knowledge.’
Councillor Patricia Fairclough, Chair, Wellington Literary Festival
“We were delighted to have Martin appear at our inaugural event. His relaxed style combined with his encyclopaedic knowledge of the genre made him a popular speaker during two events on the opening day. We will have no hesitation in welcoming Martin back in future years.
Martin Daley, Organiser of the Carlisle Crime Writing Weekend
A most enjoyable evening where the whole audience had fun being detectives and our volunteer readers took their part in the evening with great enthusiasm. A successful and slightly different event for library promotion
Cathy Barber – Community Librarian, Holywell, North Wales
It is so nice when an author gives up their valuable time to visit libraries. Martin gave us a relaxed informative talk and a fascinating insight into the craft of the detective fiction writer. I particularly like the concept (Lake District Mysteries) “the historian is the detective”. Being an historian myself could this be a new career opportunity?
Elaine Bevans – Wyre Libraries, Poulton-le-Fylde
Martin Edwards was a valuable contributor to the Mystery Lover’s England and Scotland Smithsonian Journeys Tour in October this year. As a member of the panel discussion, the group enjoyed his wit and the chance to engage interactively with him, listening to his writing experiences and talking of his books
Tours of Discovery, Cumbria
“The Victorian Murder Mystery event that Martin did for us in 2007 was one of the best events we have ever hosted. There were over 80 people in attendance. The feedback received was excellent. People still talk about now in 2011! Martin’s recent Dr Crippen talk was excellent and very well received by the audience. By the end of the talk there was much discussion amongst the audience who enjoyed trying to work out the true facts of Dr Crippen’s crime! Feedback was very positive. We would not hesitate to book Martin Edward for another event in the future.”
Sarah Hall – Reader Development Officer – Salford Libraries and Information Service
Martin Edwards is one of Halton Libraries’ favourite authors and the Murder Mystery he has produced is witty, intelligent and well-written resulting in an evening that was very original and great fun. The audience loved every minute!
Janette Fleming – Reader Development Officer – Halton Libraries
Thank you very much for coming to Meadows Library and entertaining us with your brilliant talk about Dr Crippen. We have already had some excellent feedback about your book , and one lady described your talk as spellbinding. I do think that people were entranced, and were inside Crippen’s mind as the tale unfolded.
Diane Marsh – Maghull Library – Sefton
“The visit we had from Martin Edwards was well received and appreciated at Allenton Library. His talk on Dr Crippen had the customers on the edge of their seats. New evidence had been put together which put a different spin on the actual story and we found it all interesting. The crime that Dr Crippen was accused of will always have a question mark over it but Martin’s version has put it in a clearer light for the reader.”
Shirley Maund, Allenton Library Manager, Derby.
Martin managed to engage everyone, whilst still allowing questions from the group and his easy manner and willingness to involve the group was much appreciated. Martin answered many questions with great enthusiasm and humour, so much so that I am about to start reading one of his novels myself even though I don’t generally read crime fiction! An excellent talk, most impressive.
Mandy Glendenning – Acting Community Librarian – Buckley Library, Flintshire
Just want to say a big thank you for coming to Gateshead to do the Murder Mystery evening. People are still ringing me up to say how much they enjoyed the whole thing! I heard that Thursday’s “performance” at South Shields went well too – obviously a triumph!
Dot Cameron – Reader Development Librarian – Gateshead Council
“The audience loved the murder mystery event and the challenge of guessing who dunnit. The audience and staff were all really impressed with the event.”
Christopher Jones, Development Officer, Inspire: Culture, Learning and Libraries
“We did a special display of Martin’s books which resulted in one hundred extra loans. Martin was a good speaker who held the audience enthralled with his stories about his writing. Recommended.”
Ian Anstice, Winsford Library
“We have had very good audience feedback from your talk; everyone was very positive and very much enjoyed themselves…some of the written customer comments included: ‘a very entertaining and informative speaker’,’excellent quality and delivery of the talk’, ‘a brilliant presentatino by one of our best British crime noveliss and leading experts on the genre’.
Victoria Hunter, Team Leader, Northwich Library
Martin Edwards and fellow crime writer Mike Walters kindly agreed to visit Moreton Library on the Wirral to celebrate Crime Writers Month on a very wet evening in July. The audience was both enthralled & entertained as the authors drew one another out to talk about their writing experiences. They really enjoyed the banter and rapport between Martin & Mike and took full advantage of the opportunity to question them on their intricate plots and sinister characters – so much so that there was barely any time left for refreshments before the evening came to a close. I am sure Martin & Mike gained several new fans as well as pleasing their existing fans and we are delighted that they came to Wirral Libraries
Julie Mann – Wirral Libraries
It was a great evening. There was a really great interaction with the audience, which really made the event stand out above other author events I’ve been to and organised.
Victoria Heyes, Denton Library
‘A well presented and very entertaining murder mystery evening, that kept participants guessing right up to the end! More Please!’
Debbie Owen – Senior Librarian – Chester Library