Murder most foul - a discussion with award-winning crime writer Belinda Bauer and biographer Claire Harman

Murder was the topic of the day when writers Belinda Bauer and Claire Harman shared a stage at Scarborough Library.
Belinda BauerBelinda Bauer
Belinda Bauer

They were sharing their writing experiences with critic and author Barry Forshaw at a Books by the Beach event - a celebration of books and reading that runs from April 11 to April 14.

Bauer is a CWA award-winning writer whose books include Rubbernecker and Snap, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize.

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Harman is a biographer and critic as well as the author of a book on the Brontes. Her latest work is Murder by the Book - the story of the killing of Lord William Russell and the investigation which scandalised Victorian literary London.

This was a discussion of what murder does to those left behind - the victims rather than the killer or killers.

The two women are less bloodthirsty and more anxious for their readers to understand the impact of sudden, violent death.

Snap, for example, examines how three children cope in the aftermath of the murder of their pregnant mother. The answer, in a nutshell, is badly. It is a heartbreakingly sad book - with neither family of the victim or the police charged with investigating the murder unaffected by it.

The event gave lovers of crime-writing much food for thought: it was interesting, intelligent and by turns amusing and deadly serious.