Episode Details

Philippa is joined by three brilliant crime writers — Abir Mukherjee, Jane Casey, and Sarah Hilary — to talk all about St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend, the unique Oxford crime fiction event running 4th–6th September. Each guest is allotted a school role (head girl, school council rep, and chair stacker) which determines the questions they're asked — and the chaos that follows is exactly as fun as it sounds.

🎓 St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend 🔗 Book tickets for St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend

• What makes St Hilda's different from every other crime festival — long-form talks on themes rather than authors plugging their own books
• This year's theme: Bad Apples: Crime Fiction's Enemies and Antiheroes
• The legendary annual Whodunit, costumes, accents, and Abir's reputation for staying in character (and wig) all weekend
• The Friday Night Special ticket — drinks on the lawn, a talk on Bond villains, a three-course chef-prepared dinner, and an after-dinner speaker
• Guest of honour Andrew Taylor, and returning speaker Natasha Cooper
• The online option for people joining from Australia, Japan, and beyond
• Punting mishaps, Jimi Hendrix-via-laptop disasters, and other backstage panic stories
• The on-site Blackwell's bookshop and the chance to win a rare first edition at the Whodunit

📚 The Books

The Pinnacle – Abir Mukherjee

A failing Hollywood actor moves to Mumbai with his Bollywood star wife, wakes up after a bender to find her murdered, and becomes suspect number one to 1.4 billion people. Described by Abir as "exotic satire crime fiction."

Everything She Didn't Say – Jane Casey

Set on the windswept west coast of Ireland — a woman wakes covered in blood with no memory of what happened to her missing best friend. A twisty, modern gothic thriller.

The Drowning Place – Sarah Hilary

Seventeen years after a school bus tragedy drowned everyone aboard except one survivor, DS Joseph Ash investigates a murdered family in a small Peak District town — accompanied by a best friend who may or may not be a ghost.

🍎 The Final Question (Bad Apples Edition)

No biscuits this time — favourite apples instead (Golden Delicious, Braeburn, and Pink Lady all get a mention) — though the conversation inevitably swings back to biscuits anyway, sparking a full-blown debate about thin arrowroots, fig rolls, dunking etiquette, and the legal status of the Jaffa Cake.

🔗 Book tickets for St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend

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