THE writer of the Killing Eve novels, which have been made into a hit TV series, will appear at new crime writing festival in Dorset.

Luke Jennings is booked for Lyme Crime, a brand-new festival which will launch at the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, on the weekend of June 26 to 28 June.

The festival will bring the very best talents in crime and thriller fiction to the town for a relaxed weekend of talks, conversation, readings and book signings. Headlining the first event are bestselling authors Alex Marwood, Erin Kelly, CL Taylor, Mick Herron and Luke Jennings, author of the Killing Eve novels.

The festival will also be hosting Noir at the Bar at a local pub, offering aspiring crime writers the opportunity to read an extract of an unpublished work alongside established authors.

Festival director Paddy Magrane believes crime is experiencing a golden age.

He said: "Crime is now officially the UK’s favourite fiction genre. People love reading it and, judging by the success of shows like Killing Eve, Broadchurch, Line of Duty and Breaking Bad, watching it too. Lyme Crime offers fans a chance to hear their favourite authors talk about the process of bringing their work to life – the inspiration, plotting, characterisation and writing process. The festival will embrace crime broadly, featuring authors writing every shade of crime – psychological, procedural, historic, Gothic, spy, cosy and more. It will also bring leading figures from the police and forensic professions to shed light on other aspects of this fascinating subject."

For full programme details, visit lymecrime.co.uk.