Crime Writing Festival
Tickets go live 1 November 2026
Festival News
We are delighted to announce that Val McDermid will headline the opening night of Bloody Barnes 2027 on Friday 5 February.
One of the biggest names in crime writing, McDermid has sold more than 19 million books worldwide and been translated into over 40 languages. She is the creator of the Tony Hill series — adapted as ITV’s long-running Wire in the Blood, starring Robson Green — and the Karen Pirie novels, now an Edgar-nominated ITV/BritBox drama.
Winner of the CWA Gold Dagger for The Mermaids Singing and the Cartier Diamond Dagger for her lifetime contribution to crime writing, McDermid is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Society of Literature.
Join us for an unmissable opening night with the “Queen of Crime” at the OSO Arts Centre.
We are thrilled to announce that Mick Herron will headline the 2027 festival.
Herron is the creator of the Slough House series — the darkly comic spy novels following a band of disgraced MI5 agents banished to a crumbling office near the Barbican. Led by the magnificently repellent Jackson Lamb, the “slow horses” handle the drudge work nobody else wants, until real danger finds them. The books inspired the hit Apple TV+ series Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman.
Don’t miss your chance to see one of crime fiction’s biggest names live at the OSO Arts Centre.
About the Festival
Bloody Barnes brings together the sharpest voices in crime fiction for a weekend of panels, workshops, readings, and late-night conversations at the intimate OSO Arts Centre on the banks of the Thames. Whether you write it, read it, or simply can't resist a good whodunit — this is your festival.