GLADSTONE'S Library in Hawarden is hosting a special crime writing event this summer.

Back by popular demand, Alibis in the Archive (in association with the Crime Writers’ Association and The Detection Club) returns for a third year to bring some of the UK’s best-loved crime writers to Flintshire.

Over a weekend of talk sessions and panels, the event centres around The Crime Writers’ Association Archive which incorporates the archives and documentation of The Detection Club, the oldest and most august society of crime writers in the world, and for which Gladstone’s Library is the proud home.

The Crime Writers’ Association was founded by John Creasey in 1953 to promote and support the crime writing genre as well as running the prestigious Dagger Awards.

The Detection Club was founded in 1930 by a group of leading detective novelists including Anthony Berkeley, Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie and Freeman Wills Crofts. It is the oldest society of crime writers in the world and as a social and dining organisation, it currently holds three meetings each year where members are elected by secret ballot and there is an ‘initiation ceremony’.

This year’s programme features sessions from Martin Edwards ('Julian Symonds and Michael Gilbert: A Personal Perspective'), David Whittle ('Music and Mystery: Edmund Crispin and others'), Alison Joesph ('Agatha Christie vs Mary Westmacott'), Aline Templeton ('The DNA of Tartan Noir'), Janet Lawrence ('How the Female of the Species Developed the Crime Novel') and more.

To view the full programme of events which take place June 21-23 go to www.gladstoneslibrary.org

Non-residential tickets are priced at £125 for the weekend. Book online, call reception on 01244 532350 or email enquiries@gladlib.org. Residential places are now fully booked. Please call Reception on 01244 532350 or email enquiries@gladlib.org to add your name to the waiting list.