Starting tomorrow and running into Saturday (13 and 14 March), Waterstones and HarperCollins are partnering for the Killer Crime Festival, billed as the first virtual crime festival, taking place both online and irl, i.e. in Waterstones branches across the county. The festival sees authors, scriptwriters, criminal psychologists, ex-cops and ex-prisoners in conversation in sessions on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and, in a startling innovation that’ll surely amount to nothing, face to face with their audiences.

Those living in Edinburgh, central London, Brighton, Guildford, Plymouth, Romford, or Inverness, well, aren’t you the lucky ones, but in addition to the usual envy-making factors yours are the Waterstones getting some actual, honest-to-God real people festival events over the weekend, with branches in those locales receiving, respectively, Val McDermid, Charles Cumming and Alan Judd, Simon Toyne, S.J. Parris, Mark Sennen, Kimberley Chambers, and Lin Anderson and Helen Forbes. Additionally, Glasgow will see Chambers and Anna Smith in conversation next Wednesday, 18 March, after the official end of the festival but still under its umbrella.

Anyone living without easy access to those locations, however, can still participate via the aforementioned social media platforms under the hashtag #killerfest15. Virtual events include Q&A sessions with Ian Rankin, Ann Cleeves, Simon Toyne, David Hewson, Stuart MacBride and Luke Delaney, a conversation with two former convicts about prison reform, a chance to meet Jackie Malton – the Met DCI who inspired DCI Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect – and sessions on tartan noir, psychological thrillers, police psychology, crime fact versus crime fiction, how aspiring crime writers can get published, the intersection of crime and music, the intersection of mental health and crime, historical crime, the penal system, and many more throughout the weekend.

A full timetable of events is available by registering for the festival for free through its Eventbrite page.