Detective work

AUTHORS and readers alike can be disappointed when a book or character of whom they're particularly fond is transferred to the big or small screen. Remember all the fuss about Tom Cruise playing Lee Child's former military cop Jack Reacher? An absurd choice, some claimed, not least because he was considerably shorter than the in-print character.

Best-selling author Ann Cleeves has no such worries about her detective DCI Vera Stanhope. In the ITV series, Oscar-nominated actress Brenda Blethyn is so good at inhabiting the role that she influences North-East based Cleeves when she's writing new Vera novels. "I can hear Brenda's voice in my head when I'm writing," says the author.

Blethyn, who movies include Mike Leigh's Secret And Lies and Little Voice, is delighted that's the case. "I’m so flattered that she hears my voice when she's writing. It's glorious, I'm full of pride'" she says. Cleeves elaborates: "I’m so lucky because Brenda's Vera is so close to my Vera. I knew she'd be good because I'd seen her in Secrets And Lies and had seen her do comedy as well. It was great to have an actor who could do both drama and comedy. And she's so good at Vera's malicious put-downs".

The pair were reunited not on the set of Vera, which is filmed in the North-East where the novels are set, but at Brown's Courtrooms in London at the launch of the Theakstons Crime Writing Festival, the annual Harrogate International Festival event now regarded as the biggest crime-writing festival in the world. Cleeves is this year's programming chair.

Blethyn points out that another - sixth - series of Vera was commissioned even before the fifth began screening on Sunday evenings. Did she anticipate a long TV life for Vera? "One always hopes it will continue, but there's the quality of the series as well as the stories and characters. The production values are very good, second to none. Everyone is really committed to keeping the standard up," says Blethyn.

She loves the character of Vera. "I really do like her. What's nice about it is she doesn't patronise her audience. Whatever intellect you are - you can be Einstein or a dunce - you can have a conversation with Vera and she's not reliant on lipstick either to get command of her team. That's great."

When the series began, there was much debate about Blethyn's Geordie accent. These days people are more likely to concentrate on Vera's bag lady appearance, which makes her look as though she's just got out of bed. "Yes, she does, but she's very hygienic. She doesn't have a mirror, she doesn't set great store by fashion. She wears good things that are durable."

Filming the TV series on location in Newcastle and Northumberland is key to its success, according to Blethyn. "It's very useful to have been there and worked in that place because you can see what it was like for Vera growing up in that remote place with just her father who depended on her but at the same time didn't give her very much credit for anything. And that's where the layering of her clothes comes from - it's practicality,"

The experience hasn’t made Blethyn want to write her own crime novel. "I wouldn't have the talent. I wrote a memoir - that's as far as I got,” she says. She has no idea how much longer Vera can continue on TV. "As long as people want her and I'm not on a Zimmer," she laughs, and Cleeves adds optimistically: "I think there's plenty of life in her yet."

Cleeves has a long association with the Crime Writing Festival and was its first writer-in-residence. As Programme Chair she says the great thing is bringing your own passions to the festival. “I was probably about eight when I borrowed a book from the library and discovered the word 'wanderlust'. I'd never moved out of the village where I lived, but I knew that's what I had - I suffered from it and wanted to travel. And I couldn't,” she recalled at the launch. "I still find it tricky now to travel because of various other commitments, but you can still do it through reading. The joy of reading about other people and other places is what makes crime fiction special. This year we hope to celebrate that ability to look at another culture's preoccupations through crime fiction. So we will take you to Sara Paretsky's Chicago, Reykjavik, Ireland, to the past and to strange places. We've got some huge stars and some new writers too.

"I'm delighted to have here at the launch Brenda Blethyn, who is my Vera. And because we're talking about place throughout the programme, I thought it would be lovely for you in London to have a sense of my place. I don’t sound like a Geordie, but I'm a Geordie by choice."

THEAKSTONS OLD PECULIER CRIME WRITING FESTIVAL

July 16-19, Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate

Thursday, July 16

3pm, Just Add Readers, 3pm. Talk books, talk crime, talk writers in a fun and friendly festival curtain-raiser.

8pm, Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and Festival opening party.

Friday, July 17

9am, Sara Paretsky, creator of female private eye V I Warshawski, in conversation with Val McDermid.

10.30am, They Do Things Differently There … Was the psychology of murder different in the past or is it only the technology of investigation and conviction that has changed?

12 noon, The best of Irish Noir.

2pm, Your Perfect Match: how do we come across that very special book that will stay with us for a lifetime?

3.30pm, The Morality of Murder with Belinda Bauer, Wiley Cash, Jonathan Freedland, Nicci French and Cath Staincliffe.

5pm, Millennium – She’s Back. Exclusive about the new story in The Girl With Dragon Tattoo series, based on Stieg Larsson’s universe and characters.

6.30pm, Yorkshire Pride. Best of local authors and those who love Yorkshire including Frances Brody, Lee Child, Steve Mosby, Peter Robinson and Nick Quantrill.

7pm, Dead Good Reader Awards – vote for your winners including best hero, best villain and best twist.

8.30pm, Mark Billingham in conversation with David Morrissey. The crime writer and the actor who played Tom Thorne on screen discuss bringing crime fiction to the screen.

10pm, The Black Art of Criticism. Should authors review the books of their friends? Including Jake Kerridge, SJ Parris, Stav Sherez, Anne Widdecombe and Daphne Wright.

Saturday, July 18

9am, This year’s programming chair Ann Cleeves, author of the Vera Stanhope novels, interviews New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner.

10.30am, MC Beaton in conversation with Fred MacAuley. The Scottish pair discuss Beaton’s extensive career.

12 noon, New Blood. Val McDermid introduces four sparkling new talents – Renee Knight, Clare Mackintosh, Ben McPherson and Lucy Ribchester.

2pm, Strange Lands. How extreme environments trigger a writer’s imagination.

3.30pm, Forensics. How real crime forensics affect the crime genre.

5pm, TV panel. Featuring Yorkshire-born Sally Wainwright, Bafta-winning TV writer and playwright who created Happy Valley and Scott & Bailey.

6.15pm, Author Dinner: Murder in the Lemon Grove.

8.30pm, Lee Child. The festival favourite discusses his new book Make Me, the twentieth instalment in the Jack Reacher series.

10pm, Late Night Quiz with quiz masters Mark Billingham and Val McDermid.

Sunday, July 19

10am, Celebrating Patricia Highsmith. 2015 marks Tom Ripley’s 60th birthday and those celebrating the author and her work include Martin Edwards, Sarah Hilary, Peter James, Peter Swanson and Andrew Taylor.

11.30am, Icelandic crime writer Arnaldur Indridason is interviewed by writer and journalist Barry Forshaw.

TO BOOK

Festival Weekend Break packages, weekend rover tickets and day rover tickets are available. T: 01423-562303; W: harrogateinternationalfestivals.com; E: crime@harrogate-festival.org.uk. the box office is at Harrogate International Festivals, 32 Cheltenham Parade, Harrogate, HG1 1DB. Open Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm.