PODCAST · arts
In Suspense
by Lesley Kara and Nikki Smith
Hello and welcome to ‘In Suspense’, a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction, hosted by Lesley Kara and Nikki Smith. In each series we’ll be interviewing a wide range of authors, both established and debut, and focussing on a particular topic/theme. If there are any topics you'd like us to talk about, do get in touch on any of our social media platforms. Full length episodes are released every three weeks with occasional series of minisodes in between, where we hear from the experts on all manner of writing and publishing.
Episodes
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Sarah Vaughan on writing a seventy-year-old protagonist...
Welcome to series 14, episode 1 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we’re chatting to the brilliant Sarah Vaughan about her new novel - Based On A True Story, and discussing, amongst other topics, why she chose a 70 year-old protagonist, and how older women are...
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In Suspense with Jeremy Vine
Welcome to series 13, episode 7 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today is our final episode of this series and we’re chatting to Jeremy Vine about his debut crime thriller, MURDER ON LINE ONE, which is out today! We'd like to pass on our best wishes to Robert...
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Writing books set in the USA with Anna Bailey
Welcome to series 13, episode 6 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we are chatting to the fabulous Anna Bailey about her new novel OUR LAST WILD DAYS and writing books set in the USA. We have book recommendations for: A Beautiful Way to Die - Eleni Kyriacou…
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Our Listeners Q&A's answered!
Welcome to series 13, episode 5 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we are answering some very interesting questions from our listeners - so tune in to find out whether authors regard each other as competition, how we feel about reviews, does AI pose a threat…
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Making a career out of crime with Mari Hannah
Welcome to series 13, episode 4 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we are talking to Mari Hannah about her latest novel, Her Sister's Killer (out on 6 March), and our topic for today is making a career out of crime. Book recommendations are for: All The…
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The Art Of The Psychological Thriller - with Claire Douglas
Welcome to series 13, episode 3 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we are talking to the incredible Claire Douglas about her latest novel, The New Neighbours, and our topic for today is The Art of the Psychological Thriller. Book recommendations are for: It...
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Juggling Multiple Roles - with Rob Parker
Welcome to series 13, episode 2 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we’re chatting to the fabulous Rob Parker about his latest book; The Troubled Deep and our topic today which is Juggling Multiple Roles as an author. We have book recommendations for:- Son by...
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Why WhoDunnits never go out of fashion!
Welcome to series 13, episode 1 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we are chatting to the fabulous Tom Hindle about his new book DEATH IN THE ARCTIC and why whodunnits never go out of fashion. We have book recommendations for:- All The Colours of The Dark by...
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The Road to Disney+ : When your book becomes a screenplay with Alex Dahl
Welcome to series 12, episode 8 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today is our Christmas special and we’re chatting to Alex Dahl about her latest book Girlfriends and also her earlier novel, Playdate that has been adapted for the screen by Disney+.
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Finding the recipe for writing success with Orlando Murrin
Welcome to series 12, episode 7 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we are chatting to Orlando Murrin - acclaimed food writer and now crime writer, whose book Knife Skills for Beginners was published in February 2024, and whose new book, Murder Below Deck will...
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Mining trauma for fiction with Jo Jakeman
Welcome to Series 12, Episode 6 of In Suspense, a podcast for fans and writers of crime and thriller fiction. Today we are interviewing Jo Jakeman on the topic of mining trauma for fiction, and discussing her brilliant new novel, One Bad Apple.
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How to write uniquely original novels with Will Carver and Dom Nolan
Welcome to series 12, episode 5 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we are talking to Will Carver and Dom Nolan about how to write uniquely original novels.
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Does it help to have been a police officer when writing Crime....?
Welcome to series 12, episode 4 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we are chatting to Neil Lancaster about whether it helps to have been a police officer when writing crime. Neil's latest book, The Devil You Know is out now in hardback, and out in paperback on...
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Switching Genre - How easy is it to do and should you consider it to get another book deal?
Welcome to series 12, episode 3 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we are joined by Anna Mazzola and Barbara Copperthwaite to talk about whether switching genres is a good idea. Book recommendations that we mention in this episode are: Estella's Revenge -...
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How to get a book deal
Welcome to series 12, episode 2 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we are chatting to Roxie Key, the debut author of The Deadly Spark about how to get a book deal. We also have some book recommendations:- One Perfect Couple - Ruth Ware The Ice House - Ruth…
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From Self Starter to Big Five author with Mark Edwards
Welcome to Series 12, episode 1 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we are chatting to the brilliant Mark Edwards about his newest book, The Darkest Water and about his long career starting as a self-published author and ending up with a Big Five deal. Some…
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Behind the Scenes with Stu Cummins and Charlotte Wilson
Welcome to Series 11, Episode 6 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today, on our final episode of this season, we are going behind the scenes with book bloggers, Stu Cummins and Charlotte Wilson, to chat about what's involved in being online book reviewers....
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Behind The Scenes with Rebecca Thorne
Welcome to series 11, episode 5 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we are going Behind The Scenes with Rebecca Thorne to chat about her book The Grief House, and we also have book recommendations for The Other Tenant by Lesley Kara, A Good Place to Hide A Body...
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Behind the Scenes with Alan Johnson
Welcome to Series 11, episode 4 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we are going Behind the Scenes with Alan Johnson, whose new book Death on the Thames is out now! We also have some fabulous book recommendations for you: In Search of Lost Time, by Marcel…
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Behind The Scenes with Ashley Elston
Welcome to series 11, episode 3 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we are going Behind The Scenes with Ashley Elston whose new book First Lie Wins is out now! We also have some fabulous book recommendations for you - Lost to Dune Road by Kara Thomas, Daughter…
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Behind The Scenes with Tracy Sierra
Welcome to series 11, episode 2 of In Suspense, a podcast for fans and writers of crime and thrillers. Today we are going Behind The Scenes with Tracy Sierra and chatting about her amazing book NIghtwatching which is out now & getting rave reviews! We also have some other book recommendations…
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Behind The Scenes with Robert Goddard
Welcome to series 11, Episode 1 of In Suspense - a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today, Lesley and Nikki are chatting to Robert Goddard about the latest in his Umiko Wada series, The Fine Art of Uncanny Prediction. Book recommendations in this episode were: VANITY FAIR by William...
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Modernising the crime writing Community
Welcome to series 10, episode 9 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today is our Christmas special and we’re chatting to Vaseem Khan about The Death of a Lesser God and our topic today which is Modernising the crime writing community
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Agent Minisode 7: Moving on from your agent
Welcome to In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. This is our final minisodes on agents, and we’re asking Agent Assistant, Alice Hoskyns from C&W, all of your questions from submitting to agents to that author-agent relationship. Today’s episode is on moving on...
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True crime fiction – should you make the murderer likeable?
Welcome to series 10, episode 8 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we’re chatting to Eleni Kyriacou & Emma Flint on the topic of true crime fiction – should you make the murderer likeable? Here are the books we recommend on today’s show: Eleni’s...
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Agent Minisode 6: When a manuscript doesn't sell
Welcome to In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. This is our sixth of seven minisodes on agents, and we’re asking Agent Assistant, Alice Hoskyns from C&W, all of your questions from submitting to agents to that author-agent relationship. Today’s episode is on...
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Writing in Two Genres
Welcome to series 10, episode 7 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we’re chatting about writing in two genres with Julie Mae Cohen. Here is the link for a 20% discount for Julie’s Novel Gazing post-it or any course on Novel gazing by using the…
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Agent Minisode 5: Agent Misconceptions
Welcome to In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. This is our fifth of seven minisodes on agents, and we’re asking Agent Assistant, Alice Hoskyns from C&W, all of your questions from submitting to agents to that author-agent relationship. Today’s episode is on...
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Putting Gothic in Thrillers
Welcome to series 10, episode 6 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. We’re chatting to C.J. Cooke about her latest novel, A Haunting in the Arctic, and our topic today is “Putting Gothic in Thrillers.” Here are the books we recommend on today’s show:...
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Agent Minisode 4: Author and agent relationship - Boundaries
Welcome to In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. This is our fourth of seven minisodes on agents, and we’re asking Agent Assistant, Alice Hoskyns from C&W, all of your questions from submitting to agents to that author-agent relationship. Today’s episode is on...
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The Importance of Festivals
Welcome to series 10, episode 5 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we’re talking about The Importance of Festivals with thriller author Alex North. Here are the books we recommend on today’s show: Alex’s recommendations: The Grief House by Rebecca...
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In Suspense Special with Trevor Wood
Welcome to In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we have an In Suspense Special with Trevor Wood. Trevor is our first returning guest and he’s joining us again to share what he’s learnt about the publishing journey in the last three years as well as...
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Agent Minisode 3: Author and Agent relationships
Welcome to In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. This is our third of seven minisodes on agents, and we’re asking Agent Assistant, Alice Hoskyns from C&W, all of your questions from submitting to agents to that author-agent relationship. Today’s episode is on...
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Why heists never go out of fashion
Welcome to series 10, episode 3 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we’re chatting about why heists never go out of fashion with debut author of The Housekeepers Here are the books we recommend on today’s show: Alex’s recommendations: The Square of...
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Agent Minisode 2: Submitting to agents
Welcome to In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. This is our second of seven minisodes on agents, and we’re asking Agent Assistant, Alice Hoskyns from C&W, all of your questions from submitting to agents to that author-agent relationship. Today’s episode is on...
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Mixing it up: how to successfully blend genres
Welcome to series 10, episode 2 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. We’re chatting Lisa Hall about her latest novel, The Mysterious Double Death of Honey Black, and the topic today is “Mixing it up: how to successfully blend genres.” Here are the books we...
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Agent Minisode 1: The role of the agent
Welcome to In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. This is our first of seven minisodes on agents, and we’re asking Agent Assistant, Alice Hoskyns from C&W, all of your questions from submitting to agents to that author-agent relationship. Today’s episode is on...
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Thrillers - How dark is too dark?
Welcome to series 10, episode 1 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. We’re chatting B.P. Water about his latest novel, Notes on a Murder, and our topic today is “Thrillers – How dark is too dark?” Here are the books we recommend on today’s show: Barnaby:...
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What makes successful commercial fiction?
Welcome to series 9, episode 8 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. We’re chatting Holly Seddon about her latest novel, The Short Straw, and our topic today is “What makes successful commercial fiction?” Here are the books we recommend on today’s show:...
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It's All Smoke & Mirrors
Welcome to series 9, episode 7 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. We’re chatting to Imran Mahmood about his latest novel, All I Said Was True, and our topic today is “It’s All Smoke and Mirrors,” which is about how far we can get away with our characters...
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The Rise of the Feminist Thriller
Welcome to series 9, episode 6 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. Today we’re chatting the rise of the feminist thriller with the amazing Natali Simmonds. Here are the books we recommend on today’s show: Natali’s recommendations: The Short Straw by Holly...
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Thrillers with a difference & quirky protagonists
Welcome to series 9, episode 5 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. We’ve got an In Suspense special today with the fabulous Sam Lloyd, author of The Memory Wood, The Rising Tide and out this week, The People Watcher. Our topic today is thrillers with a...
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Writing On Trend
Welcome to series 9, episode 4 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. We’re chatting to Ruth Kelly about her latest book, The Villa, and our topic today is Writing On Trend. Here are the books we recommend on today’s show: Ruth's recommendations: The Hike by...
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Serial Killer dos and don'ts
Welcome to series 9, episode 3 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. We’re chatting to two amazing authors -Sam Holland and Alice Hunter about ‘Serial Killer dos and don’ts. Here are the books we recommend on today’s show: Sam Holland: Romantic Comedy by...
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Writing for the Modern Reader
Welcome to series 9, episode 2 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. We’re chatting to bestselling author, Amanda Reynolds, about her novel The Assistant, and our topic for today is ‘Writing for the Modern Reader’ Here are the books we recommend on today’s...
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Delivering A High Concept Novel
Welcome to series 9, episode 1 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. We’re chatting to the amazing Will Dean about his novel The Last Passenger, and our topic for today is ‘Delivering the high concept novel.’ Here are the books we recommend on today’s show:...
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How publishers sell books to retailers
Welcome to series 8, episode 7 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. We’re chatting to bestselling crime author, Robert Gold, about his novel Eleven Liars, and our topic for today is ‘How publishers sell books to retailers.’ This is the last episode of…
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Social Media for Authors Minisode 6: What authors need to remember
Welcome to In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. This is our final minisode on Social Media for Authors with social media strategist and author, Zoe Lea. These minisodes are all about how authors can make the most out of social media, grow followers and sell...
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What Makes A Great Book for TV?
Welcome to series 8, episode 6 of In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. We’re chatting to bestselling crime author, Simon McCleave, about his novel In To Deep, and our topic for today is ‘What Makes A Great Book for TV?’ Don’t forget to check out our minisodes...
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Social Media for Authors Minisode 5: TikTok for Authors
Welcome to In Suspense - a podcast and vodcast for fans and writers of crime fiction. This is our fifth of six minisodes on Social Media for Authors with social media strategist and author, Zoe Lea. These minisodes are all about how authors can make the most out of social media, grow followers…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Hello and welcome to ‘In Suspense’, a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction, hosted by Lesley Kara and Nikki Smith. In each series we’ll be interviewing a wide range of authors, both established and debut, and focussing on a particular topic/theme. If there are any topics you'd like us to talk about, do get in touch on any of our social media platforms. Full length episodes are released every three weeks with occasional series of minisodes in between, where we hear from the experts on all manner of writing and publishing.
HOSTED BY
Lesley Kara and Nikki Smith
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does In Suspense have?
In Suspense currently has 129 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is In Suspense about?
Hello and welcome to ‘In Suspense’, a podcast for fans and writers of crime fiction, hosted by Lesley Kara and Nikki Smith. In each series we’ll be interviewing a wide range of authors, both established and debut, and focussing on a particular topic/theme. If there are any topics you'd like us to...
How often does In Suspense release new episodes?
In Suspense publishes regularly with 129 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to In Suspense?
You can listen to In Suspense on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts In Suspense?
In Suspense is created and hosted by Lesley Kara and Nikki Smith.
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