Coastal Crime and Southampton Central Library present a new series of live crime-writing events.
Join us at Southampton Central Library for an hour of conversation with some of today’s most exciting crime writers, hosted by crime author MA Hunter.
Gaslighting and Mind Games
Crafting Psychological Cat-and-Mouse Conflicts
What happens when the greatest threat isn’t what you can see, but what you’ve been persuaded to believe?
Join LV Matthews and Sam Holland for a fascinating conversation about the darker side of psychological crime fiction, from manipulation, deception and gaslighting to the shifting power dynamics that keep readers questioning who they can trust.
How do writers get inside the minds of characters who manipulate and deceive? What makes a psychological battle between two characters genuinely unsettling? And how do you keep readers guessing when the truth itself is constantly being called into question?
There’ll also be an opportunity to put your own questions to the authors.
Part of Coastal Crime Presents, our year-round programme of author conversations and crime fiction events in partnership with Southampton Central Library.
Saturday 16 January 2027
11am–12pm
Southampton Central Library
Tickets: £4
Whether you love twisty psychological thrillers, write them yourself, or simply enjoy exploring the darker side of human behaviour, come along and join the conversation.
More from Coastal Crime
Explore all upcoming Coastal Crime Presents events and discover our full-day Coastal Crime Fiction Festival, bringing together bestselling, established and emerging crime writers in Southampton on 6 March 2027.
