Murder, mystery and dark and deadly misdeeds , many of which occur right here in the Isle of Man, feature strongly in the works of an author, who is on the island next weekend as part of the 2017 Manx Litfest.

Chris Ewan is an internationally recognised crime fiction writer, and has written 10 published novels and short stories, all of them receiving critical acclaim and selling thousands of copies in the process.

The one-time Manx resident is returning to the island as one of the key guest authors for the literary festival, which takes place between Tuesday, September 26 and Sunday October 1.

He is to talk about his literary career to date, and also about setting his stories in the Isle of Man.

Several of his stories feature the island strongly, and Chris has taken a lot of joy out of gleefully examining the dark underbelly of Manx culture to influence such books as ’Dark Tides’, a tale of the fate of six friends who have to live the consequences of a fateful Hop-Tu-Naa night, or ’Long Time Lost’, which uses the island as a hiding place for people hidden away on the witness protection scheme.

’That was partially set on the Isle of Man,’ said Chris.

’It is a story that begins in Laxey, and then travels all over the Europe. That particular book came out at the end of March last year in hardback, and has just been released now in paperback.’

He also tapped into the world of motorcycling on the island for the suspense thriller ’Safe House’, which the Daily telegraph described as a ’... clever nail-biter that reveals the Isle of Man to be a Heart of Darkness.’went on to sell more than 500,000 copies internationally and was hortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2011.

Chris believes that living on the island had a major influence on his writing, and that he saw a great deal of potential around him for the setting for further stories in the future.

’I am going to talk about what impression the island had on me and had on my writing,’ he said.

’It really allowed me to be creative, giving me that space by going for walks around the countryside and along the coast.

’Also, I’ll talk about how living on the island had a major influence on my work and what I wrote.

’Everything from the history, the culture, the landscape, even the skeet and listening to the gossip, and the rumours I picked up all went to creating many of the backgrounds to my stories.’

Despite moving off-island in 2015, Chris has retained his love and interest for the island, and is hoping to explore more of the dark and deadly aspects of the island in some of his future work.

’I have various different projects on the go at the moment, but I am planning to write more stories based in and around the island,’ he said.

’I don’t see why the island can’t be used more as a setting. I found it a constantly inspiring location for stories. Many of mine start on the island and then move elsewhere.

’Also, you only have to look at the Anne Cleese series of stories ’Shetland’, which was made into a BBC series starring Dougie Henshall.

’The island does offer a vast rich canvas to work on. I always found there was plenty of ideas around and I was always looking for more.’

The next big thing I am working on is a prequel to my ’Good thief’ series of books. This will be called the "Good Thief’s guide to Murder."

’That isn’t set in the island though. It is set in Antibes and Cannes.’

Chris’ series of crime novels, namely ’The Good Thief’s Guide’ books, set in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Las Vegas, has won him many fans internationally, and there was a hope that they may be made into a television series, when 20th Century Fox showed a great deal of interest in it.

’Unfortunately it didn’t happen,’ he said. ’ It has since been "optioned" by another US TV network, so we’ll see if that gets off the ground.’

Chris is returning to take part in this year’s Litfest after being named as the second patron of the festival, alongside the Canadian author Alan Bradley, who now lives in Peel.

’Mystery Mann: An Evening with crime author Chris Ewan’ takes place from 8pm , at Noa Bakehouse on Saturday, September 30.

Tickets cost £10, available from the Villa Marina box office, or by calling 600555.

The Manx Litfest is organised with help from Culture Vannin, the Isle of Man Arts Council, and Pokerstars.

by Mike Wade

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