An international best-selling husband and wife duo are set to speak at west Dorset's new crime festival.

Lyme Crime, which celebrates all things crime and thriller is set to welcome ‘Nicci French,’ the pseudonym of married couple Nicci Gerrard and Sean French.

The double act will be in conversation with Sunday Times bestselling psychological thriller writer, Erin Kelly, at The Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, at 6.30pm on Friday, June 24.

Paddy Magrane, Director of Lyme Crime said: “It’s an enormous honour to welcome Nicci and Sean to our inaugural festival.

“Whenever you pick up a Nicci French title, you know you’re in safe hands, smart, unsettling, intensely readable and completely addictive, the novels delve into some of the darkest territory in the most thrilling manner.

“They are legends in the world of crime fiction and we are very privileged to have them at the festival.”

The married couple are both journalists who met when working at the New Statesman, they wrote their first novel ‘The Memory Game,’ together and have since collaborated on many standalone psychological thrillers, including ‘Killing Me Softly,’ ‘The Red Room,’ ‘Secret Smile’ and ‘Catch Me When I Fall.’

During their conversation with Erin Kelly, they will be discussing their most recent title, ‘The Unheard,’ a standalone thriller about a child’s drawing, sparking the fear that she has witnessed something terrible that her young mind is struggling to put into words.

For details of the programme and to buy tickets, visit www.lymecrime.co.uk