Helen Smith's Blog
October 3, 2018
New Release: Stage Fright (Emily Castles Mysteries)
New Release: Stage Fright: A British MysteryWhen amateur sleuth Emily Castles joins a community theatre project in Edinburgh, she begins to suspect that she has been recruited by a cult. When a fellow performer goes missing, she must risk her life to investigate�
Available in print and as an ebook.
October 19, 2017
New Release: Killer Women Anthology 2
Bodies surface and disappear, seduce and corrupt in these original stories by bestselling, award-winning female crime writers from the Killer Women crime-writing collective. Keep your eyes peeled, your ears cocked and your wits about you as twenty deliciously twisted tales take you to surprising places...Twenty new stories by Rachel Abbott, SJ Bolton, Jane Casey, Julia Crouch, Tammy Cohen, Elly Griffiths, Sarah Hillary, Amanda Jennings, Alison Joseph, Emma Kavanagh, Erin Kelly, Colette McBeth, Mel McGrath, D. E. Meredith, Kate Medina, Louise Millar, Kate Rhodes, Helen Smith, Louise Voss and Laura Wilson, with a foreword by Laura Lippman.
'A killer collection of dark and devious tales' Mark Billingham
'A lot of women have terrified me over the years, but none quite like these!' Linwood Barclay
'This mix of playfully twisted, macabre tales showcases the Killer Women at the top of their game. I loved it!' SJ Watson
Killer Women: Crime Club Anthology 2
February 26, 2017
Killer Women at Mansfield Central Library
Thanks to everyone who joined Erin Kelly, Melanie McGrath and me at Mansfield Central Library on Saturday 25 February.
We had a panel discussion and Q&A, with a short interactive workshop from Mel in which audience members collaborated to create two characters who might be used in a piece of fiction.
It was a well-attended event, with an engaged, enthusiastic audience. Thanks to Marie, Michelle, Patricia, Holly and everyone at Inspire Culture and Nottinghamshire Library Service who organised and hosted the event. In the photo above, you can see the wonderful display they created to introduce us and our work to visitors to the library.
We had such a warm welcome from library staff and readers that we are already making plans to return.
More about
More about
More about Killer Women:
Helen Smith's website:
Download a of the Killer Women Crime Club anthology with your free 30-day trial from Audible.
We had a panel discussion and Q&A, with a short interactive workshop from Mel in which audience members collaborated to create two characters who might be used in a piece of fiction.
It was a well-attended event, with an engaged, enthusiastic audience. Thanks to Marie, Michelle, Patricia, Holly and everyone at Inspire Culture and Nottinghamshire Library Service who organised and hosted the event. In the photo above, you can see the wonderful display they created to introduce us and our work to visitors to the library.
We had such a warm welcome from library staff and readers that we are already making plans to return.
More about
More about
More about Killer Women:
Helen Smith's website:
Download a of the Killer Women Crime Club anthology with your free 30-day trial from Audible.
February 21, 2017
Join @KillerWomenOrg at The Word, 4-5 March 2017
Join Erin Kelly, Kate Medina, Kate Rhodes and me for a panel discussion and a murder mystery afternoon at The Word on Saturday 4th March.
On Sunday 5th March we will be running workshops at The Word from 10:00am.
ÓË� How To Write a Killer Opening with Erin Kelly
ÓË� The Secrets of Suspense with Kate Rhodes
ÓË� How to Plot Your Novel with Helen Smith
For tickets and more details, visit The Word:
More about Killer Women:
Helen Smith's website:
February 8, 2017
Killer Women Crime Anthology: Finalist #Audies2017
I'm delighted that the has just been announced by the LA Review of Books as a finalist in the Short Stories Award in the Audies - the Oscars for audiobooks.
The awards ceremony will be held in New York, 1st June.
Blade-sharp and pared to the bone, these original stories by best-selling, award-winning female crime writers will lure you to the dark side. Fifteen perfectly twisted tales with a measure of evil, a dash of horror, and a dose of humour. Expect the unexpected....
Authors: Louise Millar, Alex Marwood, Tammy Cohen, Melanie McGrath, Colette McBeth, Jane Casey, Erin Kelly, Sarah Hilary, Louise Voss, Alison Joseph, Helen Smith, Kate Medina, D. E. Meredith, Laura Wilson and Kate Rhodes.
Narrators: Clare Corbett, Adjoa Andoh, Rache Atkins and Carl Prekopp.
My story is a new called The Secret Ingredient:
When amateur sleuth Emily Castles and her friend Dr. Muriel meet Gareth Crabbe, newly-appointed poet-in-residence at Brixton’s windmill, he reveals that an intruder has been breaking in at night. While Emily and Dr. Muriel try to discover the identity of the intruder, Gareth must find the inspiration to write a poem, or funding for his residency will be withdrawn and the Gala Open Day at the windmill will be ruined.
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The awards ceremony will be held in New York, 1st June.
Blade-sharp and pared to the bone, these original stories by best-selling, award-winning female crime writers will lure you to the dark side. Fifteen perfectly twisted tales with a measure of evil, a dash of horror, and a dose of humour. Expect the unexpected....
Authors: Louise Millar, Alex Marwood, Tammy Cohen, Melanie McGrath, Colette McBeth, Jane Casey, Erin Kelly, Sarah Hilary, Louise Voss, Alison Joseph, Helen Smith, Kate Medina, D. E. Meredith, Laura Wilson and Kate Rhodes.
Narrators: Clare Corbett, Adjoa Andoh, Rache Atkins and Carl Prekopp.
My story is a new called The Secret Ingredient:
When amateur sleuth Emily Castles and her friend Dr. Muriel meet Gareth Crabbe, newly-appointed poet-in-residence at Brixton’s windmill, he reveals that an intruder has been breaking in at night. While Emily and Dr. Muriel try to discover the identity of the intruder, Gareth must find the inspiration to write a poem, or funding for his residency will be withdrawn and the Gala Open Day at the windmill will be ruined.
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February 2, 2017
Join @KillerWomenOrg at Mansfield Library, 25th February
Join Erin Kelly, Mel McGrath and me at Mansfield Central Library
2pm, Saturday 25th February
Tickets are £4. You can book online or at the library:
See you there!
2pm, Saturday 25th February
Tickets are £4. You can book online or at the library:
See you there!
January 24, 2017
Book Lovers' Supper Club Murder Mystery hosted by @KillerWomenOrg
Join in Ditchling for a Murder Mystery Tea, Saturday 11 February at 3pm.
Solve the crime, tuck into a home-made tea, then discover how to research and write a thriller with authors Mel McGrath, Helen Smith, Laura Wilson and former Chief Supt. of Sussex Graham Bartlett
There will be sandwiches, homemade cakes, savouries, coffee and tea.
Details here:
Solve the crime, tuck into a home-made tea, then discover how to research and write a thriller with authors Mel McGrath, Helen Smith, Laura Wilson and former Chief Supt. of Sussex Graham Bartlett
There will be sandwiches, homemade cakes, savouries, coffee and tea.
Details here:
January 17, 2017
Prosecco, Cake, Storytelling, Gift bags: Anti-Valentine's Night at Waterstone's
Join Killer Women and Dead Good Books for an Anti-Valentine's evening at , Tuesday 14th February 6:30 - 9:00 pm.
Writers Nuala Ellwood, Erin Kelly, Colette McBeth, Helen Smith, Mel McGrath and Kate Rhodes will be telling tales of love gone wrong, followed by a fiendish literary crime quiz.
Tickets are £10 and include PROSECCO, criminally good CUPCAKES and a covetable GOODIE BAG.
Tickets and more information .
January 9, 2017
Don't miss @VAULTFestival: Theatre, Film, Spoken Word, Dance, Circus and Comedy
If you enjoy the Edinburgh Festival, look out for , which will be held in the tunnels beneath Waterloo Station (and at Network Theatre and Morley College) for six weeks from 25th January.
The programme will include circus, theatre, film, spoken word, dance and comedy shows.
There will be themed parties every weekend, including a Valentine’s Ball, London’s favourite Mardi Gras party, Jay Gatsby’s party weekend and more.
The Great Gatsby will be performed by The Guild of Misrule in association with Immersive Ensemble across multiple spaces during the six weeks of the festival.
Ticket for all the shows are from £5:
Entry to VAULT Festival’s bar spaces is free, with two themed bars and the Balkano restaurant. Ticket for the shows here:
More from the VAULT Festival 2017 programme:
Superbolt Theatre return to VAULT with Mars Actually, which features in Proxima V, a new pulse of Space and Sci-Fi-themed events.
In collaboration with UCL Institute of Neurology, Thought To Flesh explores motor neuron disease (MND) in a spoken word, multi-media and movement interpretation. Heading up a wide circus programme, the contemporary spectacular Becoming Shades transfers from a sell-out run at Jackson's Lane.
Every week, VAULT Film Festival premiers numerous exciting shorts and features, including dark_net starring Johnny Vegas and Love Comes Later, a London premiere staring Sarita Choudhury (Homeland). Adele Is Younger Than Us gives voice to a generation of frustrated ‘not-quite-Adeles'.
The Neath � produced and curated by the team behind The Crystal Maze, a subterranean members bar for the supernatural offers up chances to interact with denizens from some of London’s finest and most daring immersive theatre companies.
On The Crest of a Wave � part of Bush Theatre’s Emerging Writer’s group, Camilla Whitehill returns to VAULT Taking inspiration from her own family history. Whitehill explores the death of her Grandmother, male and generational grief, repression and trauma in working class families.
A Hundred Different Words For Love � A story-telling show with music and linguistic philosophy from the heart-broken James Rowland. Rowland debuted his previous show Team Viking at VAULT 2016, and received five stars from The Stage when reviewed in Edinburgh.
The Long Trick � a new play about one man’s private protest against gentrification, set against the backdrop of Cornwall’s many ‘second homes�. Writer Marietta Kirkbride brings this piece to VAULT following its selection for development at Bristol Old Vic.
Carry on Jaywick � this verbatim show details a sea-side gem of the Essex coast fallen on hard times. Hope amongst the hopeless and laughter in the darkest times as four cast members tackle 30 characters via the ‘recorded delivery technique�.
Astronauts of Hartlepool � Brexit Britain, the North/South divide and immigration combine in this piece from Tim Foley. Two strangers meet on the headland and a epic battle begins. A Channel 4 Playwright-in-Residence for Pentabus Theatre Company, Foley’s debut won the 2016 Off West End Award for Most Promising Playwright.
Summer Nights in Space � a one act musical that follows an Astronaut responding to an attractive Astro-nette distress call, with a reluctant crew in tow. A heartfelt look at the meaning of modern life � in space. Producer Hannah Elsy brings this show to VAULT having previously performed the piece as a sister show to rock musical The Quentin Denitn Show.
Fran & Leni � award-winning writer Sadie Hastler has worked with comedy giants including Harry Hill, Al Murray, Jenny Éclair and more. Hot on the heels of 2016’s 40th anniversary of Punk she unveils this tale of The Rips, girls with guitars bored of playing nice.
A gRave Tale � dancers alongside a live DJ, real news and documentary footage take the audience back to 1989 and the second summer of love. A collaboration between Subtle Paws and The Cockpit in association with Hullabaloo provides a high octane look at this hedonistic modern movement.
The Texas Tax Man � Luke Courtier transports the audience to the wild west of the mid eighteenth century for a journey both dangerous and hilarious. Follow two cowboys who have forgotten to file their tax return, much to their peril.
The Swarm � one of the more creative ways to get closer to nature, join a displaced swarm of honey bees and their queen in this dynamic opera. The Swarm comes to VAULT from the pen of Heloïse Tunstall-Behrens, also known for her psychedelic rock band, Landshapes.
Frontal Lobotomy - Bold, witty, and surreal, burlesque maverick Jeu Jeu la Foille fuses original beat poetry with the tormented lullabies of Tom Waits; punctuated with scientific accounts of perhaps the biggest error of judgment in medical history � the transorbital lobotomy.
As part of VAULT Film Festival - Y Llygrgell/The Library Suicides - an offbeat thriller set in the National Library of Wales. Cast members include Catrin Stewart (Stella, Dr Who), Dyfan Dwfor (Pride, Y Gwyll/Hinterland) and Sharon Morgan (Resistance, Torchwood).
As part of VAULT Film Festival - Red - a special screening from award-winning director Branko Tomovic, a Crime/Thriller about illegal backstreet surgery.
Highlights from last year's festival here:
The programme will include circus, theatre, film, spoken word, dance and comedy shows.
There will be themed parties every weekend, including a Valentine’s Ball, London’s favourite Mardi Gras party, Jay Gatsby’s party weekend and more.
The Great Gatsby will be performed by The Guild of Misrule in association with Immersive Ensemble across multiple spaces during the six weeks of the festival.
Ticket for all the shows are from £5:
Entry to VAULT Festival’s bar spaces is free, with two themed bars and the Balkano restaurant. Ticket for the shows here:
More from the VAULT Festival 2017 programme:
Superbolt Theatre return to VAULT with Mars Actually, which features in Proxima V, a new pulse of Space and Sci-Fi-themed events.
In collaboration with UCL Institute of Neurology, Thought To Flesh explores motor neuron disease (MND) in a spoken word, multi-media and movement interpretation. Heading up a wide circus programme, the contemporary spectacular Becoming Shades transfers from a sell-out run at Jackson's Lane.
Every week, VAULT Film Festival premiers numerous exciting shorts and features, including dark_net starring Johnny Vegas and Love Comes Later, a London premiere staring Sarita Choudhury (Homeland). Adele Is Younger Than Us gives voice to a generation of frustrated ‘not-quite-Adeles'.
The Neath � produced and curated by the team behind The Crystal Maze, a subterranean members bar for the supernatural offers up chances to interact with denizens from some of London’s finest and most daring immersive theatre companies.
On The Crest of a Wave � part of Bush Theatre’s Emerging Writer’s group, Camilla Whitehill returns to VAULT Taking inspiration from her own family history. Whitehill explores the death of her Grandmother, male and generational grief, repression and trauma in working class families.
A Hundred Different Words For Love � A story-telling show with music and linguistic philosophy from the heart-broken James Rowland. Rowland debuted his previous show Team Viking at VAULT 2016, and received five stars from The Stage when reviewed in Edinburgh.
The Long Trick � a new play about one man’s private protest against gentrification, set against the backdrop of Cornwall’s many ‘second homes�. Writer Marietta Kirkbride brings this piece to VAULT following its selection for development at Bristol Old Vic.
Carry on Jaywick � this verbatim show details a sea-side gem of the Essex coast fallen on hard times. Hope amongst the hopeless and laughter in the darkest times as four cast members tackle 30 characters via the ‘recorded delivery technique�.
Astronauts of Hartlepool � Brexit Britain, the North/South divide and immigration combine in this piece from Tim Foley. Two strangers meet on the headland and a epic battle begins. A Channel 4 Playwright-in-Residence for Pentabus Theatre Company, Foley’s debut won the 2016 Off West End Award for Most Promising Playwright.
Summer Nights in Space � a one act musical that follows an Astronaut responding to an attractive Astro-nette distress call, with a reluctant crew in tow. A heartfelt look at the meaning of modern life � in space. Producer Hannah Elsy brings this show to VAULT having previously performed the piece as a sister show to rock musical The Quentin Denitn Show.
Fran & Leni � award-winning writer Sadie Hastler has worked with comedy giants including Harry Hill, Al Murray, Jenny Éclair and more. Hot on the heels of 2016’s 40th anniversary of Punk she unveils this tale of The Rips, girls with guitars bored of playing nice.
A gRave Tale � dancers alongside a live DJ, real news and documentary footage take the audience back to 1989 and the second summer of love. A collaboration between Subtle Paws and The Cockpit in association with Hullabaloo provides a high octane look at this hedonistic modern movement.
The Texas Tax Man � Luke Courtier transports the audience to the wild west of the mid eighteenth century for a journey both dangerous and hilarious. Follow two cowboys who have forgotten to file their tax return, much to their peril.
The Swarm � one of the more creative ways to get closer to nature, join a displaced swarm of honey bees and their queen in this dynamic opera. The Swarm comes to VAULT from the pen of Heloïse Tunstall-Behrens, also known for her psychedelic rock band, Landshapes.
Frontal Lobotomy - Bold, witty, and surreal, burlesque maverick Jeu Jeu la Foille fuses original beat poetry with the tormented lullabies of Tom Waits; punctuated with scientific accounts of perhaps the biggest error of judgment in medical history � the transorbital lobotomy.
As part of VAULT Film Festival - Y Llygrgell/The Library Suicides - an offbeat thriller set in the National Library of Wales. Cast members include Catrin Stewart (Stella, Dr Who), Dyfan Dwfor (Pride, Y Gwyll/Hinterland) and Sharon Morgan (Resistance, Torchwood).
As part of VAULT Film Festival - Red - a special screening from award-winning director Branko Tomovic, a Crime/Thriller about illegal backstreet surgery.
Highlights from last year's festival here:
November 16, 2016
Killer Women on Tour: Alderney
Thanks to everyone who joined us for our Killer Women panel and Murder Mystery event in Alderney last weekend, hosted by Alderney Literary Trust. We travelled there by private plane, which was exciting enough, but then at the Murder Mystery event, every single member of the audience had dressed up as their favourite sleuth - from Jessica Fletcher to the Pink Panther. It was so much fun!
For more information about Killer Women, please visit our website:
You can sign up to our newsletter for updates, recommendations and giveaways:
If you'd like a taste of our writing, you can get the new in ebook, print or audiobook format from Amazon.
Fifteen original stories "blade sharp and pared to the bone" with a foreword by Val McDermid.
For more information about Killer Women, please visit our website:
You can sign up to our newsletter for updates, recommendations and giveaways:
If you'd like a taste of our writing, you can get the new in ebook, print or audiobook format from Amazon.
Fifteen original stories "blade sharp and pared to the bone" with a foreword by Val McDermid.
