Crimefest, Bath, and London: What I did, and what I'll do when I get back

I'm on my way back to America after Crimefest in Bristol, three days in and around Bath, and two days in London. Some highlights for now, with normal blogging and discussion to resume shortly.

Maj Sjöwall. All hotos by
your humble blogkeeper

I met more new authors and other book-loving folks than usual at Crimefest, had more initial face-to-face meetings than usual with longtime online friends than usual, and attended more panels than usual. The only thing usual was the superb job by the organizers: Adrian Muller, Myles Allfrey, and Donna Moore. Well done, and discussion of authors and issues to follow once I get home, get some sleep, and do some laundry.

Next up was Bath, where I resumed my acquaintance with that harmonious Georgian city and, on a day trip to the Neolithic stone circle of Avebury and the West Kennet Avenue, stepped into a muddy furrow and sank up to my knees. The solicitude of my hotel manager, who had the trousers washed, dried, folded, and back in my hands by the next day, was another highlight.  If you plan to fall in the mud at a UNESCO World Heritage site, make sure you're staying at the Kennard in Bath.

Chinatown/Soho, London

Finally, London, where Mike Stotter, Ali Karim, Ayo Onatade, and the galleries of Early Renaissance painting at the National Gallery provided much high-jinks and cultural exaltation. See you all in Raleigh, Bristol, or London.

© Peter Rozovsky 2015

Behind the scenes at the UK's highest court

(Middlesex Guildhall, London, home of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom)

Wednesday's highlight was a private tour of the United Kingdom's Supreme Court building from that jovial and energetic fixture on England's crime-fiction scene, Ayo Onatade. (She works for the court when she's not writing for Crime Spree or Shots or judging CWA Dagger competitions.)

Yes, Supreme Court, which the UK has had since October, as part of a move toward a separation of the judicial and legislative branches of government. This was quite naturally of interest to a visitor from the United States, since the separation of powers has been at the heart of American political life since the Founding Fathers borrowed the idea from a Frenchman in the eighteenth century.

The highlight of the tour? Probably seeing the chief justice of a British Commonwealth nation waiting in the lobby to be escorted into the main part of the building. (Ayo got on the phone and made sure he would be shown in promptly.)

Or maybe the gentleman who wandered into Ayo's large, airy shared office space looking like a judge, which is because he was. Yep, he was one of the Supreme Court justices.

Or maybe it was the surprisingly low prices in the quiet, clean cafeteria. The justices' own dining room is pretty nice, too, and to my learned friend who wonders where he left his wig, it's in the lawyers' room.

© Peter Rozovsky 2010