CSI events in UK proving to be a big hit with crime fiction and CSI fans

[Pauline Rowson]

CSI Basingstoke, where crime fiction met crime fact, held on Saturday 6 July at the Basingstoke Discovery Centre in Hampshire, England, was a big hit with the audience. The sell out event was attended by a capacity audience of fifty crime fiction and CSI fans.

The event was modelled on the highly successful CSI Portsmouth, which I first organised in 2010. This year will be the fourth year of CSI Portsmouth, a one day event bringing crime authors and experts together for lively panel discussions on Saturday 2 November at the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. I have also been involved in organising CSI Gateshead which took place in April and which  attracted a capacity audience of 120 and have been asked to assist with further CSI events for 2014.

CSI Basingstoke followed the same format as that of CSI Portsmouth except that it was smaller capacity audience and the Basingstoke event was a morning only panel. On the panel on the crime fiction side along with myself was Peter Lovesey who has won many major awards for his crime novels. His latest in the Detective Peter Diamond series is 'The Tooth Tattoo'.

We were joined on the expert side by Carolyn Lovell, Senior Manager, Hampshire Police Crime Scene Investigations and Jane Aston, Fingerprint Supervisor/Acting Bureau Trainer at Hampshire Police who both gave the audience a fascinating insight into their work. The panel was expertly chaired by Angela Hicken of Hampshire Library Service and the event was hosted by Basingstoke Discovery Centre.

The Hayling Island Bookshop provided a mobile book shop. Jane Aston was joined by her colleague, Heather Foster, and offered to take the delegates fingerprint and to press it into a keep sake key ring to take away - a very popular attraction.

My thanks to everyone for making the event so successful and enjoyable and to the audience for joining us.

The crime authors and experts for CSI Portsmouth 2013 which attracts over 140 people are to be announced shortly and the event takes place this year on Saturday 2 November at the The Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard.