Charles Cumming, SJ Parris, Francesca Kay

Three bestselling spy authors Charles Cumming, SJ Parris and Francesca Kay come together to discuss writing in the genre, from the rise of the literary spy novel, to Tudor spy plots, and the end of the Cold War changing spy fiction forever.

The authors will reveal to Jane Wenham Jones their influences, inspirations and how they researched the real world of espionage.

SJ Parris is the fastest selling historical crime writer in the UK. Her bestselling novels Prophecy, Heresy, Sacrilege (set in Canterbury) and Conspiracy, feature Giordano Bruno, philosopher and spy for Elizabeth I minister Sir Francis Walsingham.

Charles Cumming is the master of the modern spy thriller, writing sophisticated, complex novels that have the unmistakable stamp of authenticity. He attracts ecstatic reviews across the press, where he has been named by Robert Harris as the heir-apparent to le Carré’s throne. Approached by MI6 as a University graduate, Cumming vividly showcases in his novels his meticulous research and unique insight into the undercover life of spies.

Francesca Kay has been hailed by AN Wilson as the ‘new star on the literary scene’. Her first novel, ‘An Equal Stillness’, won the Orange Award for New Writers and was read on Radio 4’s Book at Bedtime. Her new novel ‘The Long Room’ is set in 1981 at the height of the cold war and follows a loner operative following a potential traitor within the organisation.