Visit Scotland | Alba
Article published 05/12/2024

Aberdeen Performing Arts invites everyone to the North East with events across the city and online, as Granite Noir announces the programme for its ninth edition set to take place from Thursday 20 to Sunday 23 February 2025.

Global number-one bestselling author Paula Hawkins will discuss her powerful new thriller, The Blue Hour. Bestselling partners in crime, Nicci French, are among the authors due to make headline appearances, along with:

  • New York Times best sellers Lucy Foley and Chris Whitaker
  • podcasters Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling
  • award-winning comedian and Gentleman Thief Alasdair Beckett King
  • singer-songwriter and author James Yorkston

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling BBC_SoundsMurder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling. Credit: BBC Sounds

Hailed as one of Scotland’s leading literary festivals, Granite Noir takes its name from its home city of Aberdeen; inspired by its atmospheric and historic backdrop.

The festival is a love letter to crime fiction in all its forms, including Nordic Noir and the contribution of Scottish writers to the genre. This year’s festival covers all aspects of crime writing, from espionage and policing to the whimsical and supernatural.

Granite Noir will take place in Aberdeen Performing Arts venues, His Majesty’s Theatre, Music Hall, and the Lemon Tree, as well as other venues across the city.

It is produced and curated by Aberdeen Performing Arts. It is funded by Aberdeen City Council, Creative Scotland, and EventScotland.

Granite Noir is presented with our partners Aberdeen City Libraries, Aberdeen Archives Galleries and Museums, Aberdeen Arts Centre, Citymoves Dance Agency, Police Scotland, and Robert Gordon University.

Criminal duos in attendance

Criminal duos are in focus as Granite Noir welcomes three husband-and-wife teams to the festival.

Nicci French, the pseudonym for writing partnership and journalists Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. Their books have sold more than 15 million copies worldwide.

Ambrose Parry (Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman) as they meet in conversation and discuss their latest novels in Partners in Crime.

Broadcaster Laura Whitmore and comedian and podcaster Iain Stirling have a live version of their Murder They Wrote podcast.

A glance at some other events

Following on from the in-demand success of Scared to Death at Granite Noir 2024, Ten Feet Tall Theatre presents Aberdonian playwright Rona Munro’s darkly funny Guilty in the run up to this year’s festival.

The criminal justice system and policing is examined further with the festival’s exhibition, Cold Blooded Killers: True Crime Cases from the North East, 1864 - 1963.

Police procedures go under the microscope with an unparalleled insight into the inner workings of our criminal justice system In Tales from the Beat, from Professor Nick Fyfe, Robert Gordon University’s Vice Principal.

You can discover what happens on the other side of a police cordon with an interactive forensic science experience, Behind the Crime Scene Tape, with Lecturer in Forensic Biology, Wendy Deegan and students from Robert Gordon University.

You can also delve into the darkest depths of the human mind with "The Criminal Mind" with Dr Duncan Harding.

 

Paula Hawkins. Credit: Kate NeilPaula Hawkins. Credit: Kate Neil

Historical fiction writers Oskar Jensen, SJ Parris, and Lucy Ribchester uncover long-forgotten truths with "Secrets from the Past".

Carole Hailey, Joseph Knox, and Kim Sherwood explore the world of secrets, spies, and dark truths at "Hidden in Plain Sight".

Sam Blake, Tony Kent, and James Oswald discuss their suspenseful page-turners in a conversation on "Gripping Thrillers".

Casting its eyes across the North Sea and beyond, Granite Noir invites three international authors to discuss what’s lost and found when working with different languages.

Leading Icelandic translator and novelist Quentin Bates, award-winning author Teresa Solana, and Norwegian Arctic Mysteries author Ørjan Karlsson bring their global perspectives to "Lost in Translation?", chaired by Jacky Collins.

Granite Noir 2025 comes to a close on Sunday 23 February with a performance from everyone’s favourite band of crime writing rockstars, the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers (Mark Billingham, Chris Brookmyre, Doug Johnstone, Stuart Neville, and Luca Veste).

Find the festival’s full programme at aberdeenperformingarts.com

Granite Noir sets out each year to celebrate the best in crime writing encompassing all that the genre inspires and is inspired by.

This includes conversations with incredible authors, plays, immersive experiences, and music, as well as exhibitions, workshops, podcasts, film screenings, and, of course, cocktails!

This year, we are putting the festival on a truly global stage, with many events being livestreamed.

So, no matter where you are in the world, you can be part of a wonderful weekend of gory, gritty, and glorious fun.

Sharon Burgess, Chief Executive, Aberdeen Performing Arts

Literature festivals play an important role in Scotland’s events portfolio not least by providing a platform which brings diverse voices and communities together, while also fostering learning, imagination, and creative engagement.

Rebecca Edser, Head of EventScotland

Alongside celebrating Scotland’s strength and reputation in these areas of writing, the festival also brings world renowned authors such as Paula Hawkins to a Scottish audience.

This is the perfect opportunity to connect readers to their favourite writers and introduce new names in crime writing to add to their reading lists.

Alan Bett, Head of Literature and Publishing, Creative Scotland

People are fascinated by crime and wrongdoing, so it is not surprising that crime fiction is such an exceedingly popular area of entertainment.

It's great that we are able to offer once again a local festival that focuses on this intriguing, dark subject.

Martin Greig, Councillor, Aberdeen City Council

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