Sarah Ward’s Launch Party for In Bitter Chill

Last night I was lucky enough to attend the launch party for Sarah Ward’s new crime novel, In Bitter Chill. The event was held at the offices of publishers Faber & Faber in Bloomsbury in London – it was a pleasure to visit such a historic spot, I kept expecting TS Eliot to appear round the corner. In the photos you can just see corners of the beautiful room where the party took place – not a corporate uniform office, but a lovely panelled room with pillars and cornicing.

Sarah was one of the first friends I made online via this blog – she was one of the group of crime bloggers (including Maxine and Margot) who were so welcoming and generous to me when I first started – so it was a delight to finally meet her after several years of online contact.

And then also at the party were Rich Westwood of Past Offences – another person who helped to welcome me into the community – crime fiction experts Karen Meek and Mike Linane, and writer Anya Lipska. 

It was a great evening – we were all so proud of Sarah, and so pleased for her at the start of what we can be sure will be a long writing career. It was one of the hottest days ever in London, giving her current title a certain dramatic irony.

There was a quite splendid and very delicious chocolate cake:







-- and we just all had a great time. It was really good fun to put faces to some of the names I’ve been reading, following and talking to over several years.

I’m very much looking forward to reading Sarah’s book – watch out for a future blogpost on it. You can find out more about In Bitter Chill and Sarah on her excellent blog, Crimepieces, which also features her regular reviews of other peoples’ crime fiction.

Thanks and congratulations to Sarah….