BFL41 - Chris Brookmyre And Liz Nugent

Join two titans of the crime fiction genre - Liz Nugent and Chris Brookmyre - for a discussion about their new novels and inspirations.  The Truth About Ruby Cooper is Liz Nugent’s sardonic, unsettling and tragic new novel.  Quite Ugly One Evening sees the return of Chris Brookmyre’s iconic character - Jack Parlabane - 30 years after his first appearance.

Expect  intrigue, skulduggery and a good ole laugh, as these two writers discuss one of the most popular reading genres in the world - and dig into why we all love it so much.  

In conversation with Joe Haddow.

Before becoming a full-time writer, Liz Nugent worked in film, theatre and television. Her five novels - Unravelling Oliver, Lying in Wait, Skin Deep, Our Little Cruelties and Strange Sally Diamond - have each been Number One bestsellers and she has won five Irish Book Awards.  

Chris Brookmyre was a journalist before becoming a full-time novelist with the publication of his award-winning debut Quite Ugly One Morning, in 1996 which established him as one of Britain's leading crime writers. It was later adapted for TV and broadcast in 2004. His 2016 novel Black Widow won both the McIlvanney Prize and the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year award and his most recent novel, The Cracked Mirror, won The McIlvanney Prize in 2024. In addition to writing his own novels Chris now writes historical fiction with Marisa under the pseudonym Ambrose Parry and is a member of super group, The Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, with whom he has played Glastonbury twice. 

Liz Nugent