CUMBRIA’S first ever Crime Writing Weekend opens a new chapter for the county with one of its biggest literary exports Zoe Sharp on the bill.

The three-day literary festival runs from Friday-Sunday, June 12-14, at Carlisle’s Old Fire Station, on Warwick Street, which has just undergone a £1 million redevelopment into a fabulous, vibrant space for arts and entertainment.

Zoe - creator of the best selling Charlie Fox thriller series, features on Saturday, June 12 (1pm) in Female Detectives alongside other crime novelists Cath Staincliffe, Aline Templeton and Rhian Davies.

Sunday, June 14, includes at 11am Fact versus Fiction featuring David Mark, John Dean, Matt Hilton and Mari Hannah, who lives in Northumberland with her partner, a former murder detective.

Mari became a writer after her career as a probation officer was cut short following an assault on duty. She tried different forms of writing before settling on prose and spent several years scriptwriting. In July 2010, Mari won the Northern Writers' Award. In November 2013, she won the Polari First Book Prize 2013 for her debut, The Murder Wall. The Kate Daniels series has since been optioned for TV and her body of work was shortlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library 2014.

David Mark is also among the 30-plus authors involved in the inaugural Carlisle event. He spent more than 15 years as a journalist, including seven years as a crime reporter with The Yorkshire Post - walking the Hull streets that would later become the setting for the Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy novels. Dark Winter is his first book, followed by his newly released Original Skin.

Event organiser and local crime writer, Martin Daley, said that crime fiction was the best selling style of writing today and the most borrowed from public libraries. He added: "Book lovers will experience the full range of what the genre has to offer during the Carlisle weekend, with over 30 top writers from around the country appearing. So, whether your taste is grisly, inner-city violence, action thriller, or good old fashioned cosy crime, there is bound to be something here for you over the three-day festival.”

The 13 themed events with authors are Friday, June 12: 10.30am, Cumbria: Cosy or Criminal? ;1pm, Northern Noir; 2.30pm, Historical Crime; 7pm, Murder Squad. On Saturday June 13, 11am, Get Forensics Down Here; 1pm, Female Detectives; 2.30pm, Talking Sherlock; 4pm, Dramatising Sherlock. Sunday, June 14, 11am, Fact versus Fiction; 1pm, In Conversation with Paula Daly and Rhian Davies; 2.30pm, Tartan Noir; 4pm: In Conversation featuring Stuart MacBride and Allan Guthrie.

The Crown and Mitre Hotel once played host to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes’s creator. These days it's a modern facility that includes an indoor pool and other top-class facilities.

The hotel is offering reduced rates for Crime Writing Weekend ticket holders. To make a booking, telephone 01228-525491 or visit www.crownandmitre-hotel-carlisle.com and quote ‘elementary’ to receive the discount.

Festival tickets are available from Carlisle’s Tourist Information Centre, temporarily based on Scotch Street or online by visiting crimeweekend.carlisle.city.

The Carlisle City Council event is supported by the Crime Writers’ Association and coincides with National Crime Month, held in June every year.