Anna Beer and Manjiri Prabhu

Crime writers Dr Anna Beer and Dr Manjiri Prabhu discuss their latest murder mysteries and their literary themes and setting among the dreaming spires of Oxford.

Beer’s Death of an Englishman is her debut crime novel. Literary detective Eve Brook is recruited to complete the latest book of Oxford don and media pundit David Morrow after he is found dead in his college rooms. The manuscript, a take-down of woke history, is nowhere to be found. Everyone Eve talks to seems to have something to hide and a reason for wanting Morrow dead. Beer is best known for her feminist non-fiction, which draws on her fascination with hidden lives.

Prabhu’s The Grand Oxford Mystery sees tourist guide Emma Carter helping an elderly stranger Claus write the first chapter of his novella. She little realises that she is aiding a master plan to disrupt a prestigious award ceremony at the Sheldonian Theatre. Claus commits suicide and she is even more disturbed when her uncle receives a cryptic message along with the chapter she typed. It sets off a deadly search by Emma and investigative journalist Re Parker for missing chapters of the book. Prabhu is an Indian mystery writer and filmmaker and founder of Pune International Literary Festival and International Festival of Spiritual India.