Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
‘Noir’ tends to evoke the imagery of sleazy, dim alleyways and striking characters with moral indifference. At this session that spotlights crime novels and psychological thrillers, we dive into the minds of those who craft noir. Vaseem Khan is the current Chair of the UK Crime Writers Association and author of two award winning crime series. His upcoming psychological thriller, The Girl in Cell A, is set in a small-town America, where a woman wrongly convicted of murder fights to uncover the truth behind her past. The multifaceted writer Ram Murali practises law and works with film and television development, production, and distribution. His debut novel, Death in the Air, offers a mesmeric mix of mystery, suspense, and social commentary through Ro Krishna, an American of Indian descent. Bee Rowlatt’s works span award-winning travelogues, bestselling books, and West End theatre. She crafts narratives that blend wit with social commentary, as seen in her sharp debut novel, One Woman Crime Wave, about a babysitter who unravels the carefully constructed world of middle-class privilege. In conversation with Yasser Usman, they discuss their distinct individual takes on noir and the art of crafting suspense.
Vaseem Khan is the author of the upcoming Quantum of Menace, featuring Q from the James Bond franchise. In 2021, her Midnight at Malabar House, set in 1950s India, won the Crime Writers Association Historical Dagger. His current book is The Girl in Cell A, a psychological thriller set in small town America.
Ram Murali began his career as a lawyer in London and Paris before transitioning to film and television development, production, and distribution. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Columbia Law School, the Sorbonne, and the University of Cambridge, he published Death in the Air, his debut novel, in 2024.
Bee Rowlatt is a writer and cultural programmer. One Woman Crime Wave is her first foray into fiction, following her award-winning travelogue In Search of Mary. She co-authored the bestseller, Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad, and contributed to Virago’s Fifty Shades of Feminism. She has just been awarded an MBE for services to women's rights.
Yasser Usman is an award-winning TV journalist and bestselling author of four Bollywood biographies, including acclaimed works on Guru Dutt and Rekha. As a film historian, he writes and hosts series on Indian cinema for BBC and NDTV. He recently made his fiction debut with As Dark As Blood, a noir crime novel published by Simon & Schuster.
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#crimefiction #thriller #fiction #jlflondon
‘Noir’ tends to evoke the imagery of sleazy, dim alleyways and striking characters with moral indifference. At this session that spotlights crime novels and psychological thrillers, we dive into the minds of those who craft noir. Vaseem Khan is the current Chair of the UK Crime Writers Association and author of two award winning crime series. His upcoming psychological thriller, The Girl in Cell A, is set in a small-town America, where a woman wrongly convicted of murder fights to uncover the truth behind her past. The multifaceted writer Ram Murali practises law and works with film and television development, production, and distribution. His debut novel, Death in the Air, offers a mesmeric mix of mystery, suspense, and social commentary through Ro Krishna, an American of Indian descent. Bee Rowlatt’s works span award-winning travelogues, bestselling books, and West End theatre. She crafts narratives that blend wit with social commentary, as seen in her sharp debut novel, One Woman Crime Wave, about a babysitter who unravels the carefully constructed world of middle-class privilege. In conversation with Yasser Usman, they discuss their distinct individual takes on noir and the art of crafting suspense.
Vaseem Khan is the author of the upcoming Quantum of Menace, featuring Q from the James Bond franchise. In 2021, her Midnight at Malabar House, set in 1950s India, won the Crime Writers Association Historical Dagger. His current book is The Girl in Cell A, a psychological thriller set in small town America.
Ram Murali began his career as a lawyer in London and Paris before transitioning to film and television development, production, and distribution. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Columbia Law School, the Sorbonne, and the University of Cambridge, he published Death in the Air, his debut novel, in 2024.
Bee Rowlatt is a writer and cultural programmer. One Woman Crime Wave is her first foray into fiction, following her award-winning travelogue In Search of Mary. She co-authored the bestseller, Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad, and contributed to Virago’s Fifty Shades of Feminism. She has just been awarded an MBE for services to women's rights.
Yasser Usman is an award-winning TV journalist and bestselling author of four Bollywood biographies, including acclaimed works on Guru Dutt and Rekha. As a film historian, he writes and hosts series on Indian cinema for BBC and NDTV. He recently made his fiction debut with As Dark As Blood, a noir crime novel published by Simon & Schuster.
Follow us on –
Website - jlflitfest.org
Facebook - facebook.com/JLFInternational
YouTube - youtube.com/c/jlflitfest
Instagram - instagram.com/jlfinternational
Twitter - twitter.com/JLFLitfest
#crimefiction #thriller #fiction #jlflondon
