Ruth Ware, the New York Times-bestselling author of Zero Days, has been announced as Festival Programming Chair for the 2024 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

In an announcement on the Harrogate International Festivals website, which you can read in full here, Simon Theakston, of T&R Theakston Ltd, said: “It has been a privilege to support the world’s best crime writing festival over the last 21 years, and I’m delighted that such a talented writer as Ruth Ware is taking on the role of Festival Programming Chair.”

Ruth, whose psychological thriller The It Girl was shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2023, said:

“When I first began writing, one of my most cherished dreams was a panel at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. To be invited to chair the festival is truly an honour I could never have imagined – and it’s been my privilege and delight to work alongside the phenomenal programming committee to create a programme that showcases the strength, diversity and sheer literary inventiveness of our brilliant and bloody craft.”

Ruth’s latest adrenaline-fuelled thriller, Zero Days, is out now. Grab your US copy here, and your UK copy here, or via your local bookshop or Bookshop.org.

Follow Ruth on Instagram @ruthwarewriter and Twitter @RuthWareWriter.