Memories of VENICE NOIR 2025

17th November 2025

The Ateneo Veneto

Memories of Venice Noir 2025. TripFiction was delighted to be invited to attend the inaugural Venice Noir book festival a couple of weeks ago. The event took place in the amazingly beautiful mediaeval setting of the Ateneo Veneto – a splendid building full of history which it is normally impossible to enter as a casual visitor to Venice. There were in fact two parallel events, one for English speakers and one for Italian speakers. The English speaking event was organised by three authors who set much of their work in Venice – David Hewson, Philip Gwynne Jones and Gregory Dowling and featured guest ‘superstar’ writer Ian Rankin (one of the most down to earth and genuine people we have ever met) plus a range of top authors including (in alphabetical order) Anna Mazzola, Barbara Nadel, D V Bishop, Erin Kelly, Essie Fox, Lisa Hilton, John Bleasdale, Tom Benjamin, not to mention top pathologist Suzy Lishman (you’ll see why later…) and Venice expert Alberto Toso Fei.

The ‘Don’t Look Now’ panel

We attended six very varied panel discussions, normally with three or four of the authors plus a moderator. The quality of discussion was extremely good and the sessions were presented in a deft and, where appropriate, humorous fashion. First up was a critical look at Don’t Look Now – the short story by Daphne du Maurier and the classic 1974 ‘horror’ film starring Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland. The panel discussed the differences between the two and how Venice was portrayed in each. The moderator, John Bleasdale, and three of the panel (Ian Rankin, Lisa Hilton, and Philip Gwynne Jones) thought the film worked extremely well but Gregory Dowling clearly dissented – it made for an interesting discussion.

David Hewson

Next was ‘The Trial Of Giacomo Casanova. Was Casanova a child molester who ought to be punished or was he merely following the morality and customs of his time (the 18th century). David Hewson led for the prosecution and Lisa Hilton for the defence. Anna Mazzola (a human rights lawyer in her day job) analysed the evidence and Gregory Dowling summed up and acted as judge. The audience were the jury and, by a  considerable majority, found Casanova guilty. A very good way to explore how the man has been presented in literature.

The third panel was Write About What You Know with Anna Mazzola, Erin Kelly, Barbara Nadel and Essie Fox talking about how they set about researching and portraying a location for their writing. Three of the four (not Barbara) had written books set in Venice and their approaches all differed. It was generally agreed that there is not a single preferred way to establish location – it all depends on the individual author.

Tom Benjamin and D V Bishop

Then Dining Out On Crime. Food forms an important element of many a crime novel. The authors – Philip Gwynne Jones, Tom Benjamin, D V Bishop, and Barbara Nadel (in a session moderated by Ian Rankin) – looked at the importance of food in what they wrote. Some detectives hardly seemed to eat at all while for others a good meal was essential to their day. Tom Benjamin writes about Bologna, the capital of truffles, and the delicacy features prominently in his books. For Barbara Nadel local food is an essential part of her scene setting for both her Istanbul and East End of London series. D V Bishop writes historical thrillers set in Florence and works very hard to make the dishes people eat reflect the availability of food at the time (having once got it horribly wrong writing about a tomato stew before tomatoes were available in Europe!).

Suzy Lishman

On to the fascinating Case of Old Hamlet’s Ear. The panel of authors Ian Rankin, Tom Benjamin and Anna Mazzola were joined by eminent pathologist Suzy Lishman to discuss, in essence, how to get away with using poison to murder someone. The answer seemed to be that it was actually quite easy… and some of the audience questions on precise techniques were really a little worrying! So much so that David Hewson had to intervene and remind people that the session was not instructive but merely advisory…

Finally Whose Venice Is It Anyway. Three authors, David Hewson, D V Bishop, and Philip Gwynne Jones, all of whom had written books set in the city discussed with Venice expert Alberto Toso Fei the different ways in which they portrayed the city. Alberto then gave a fascinating slide presentation of how Venice is presented – largely in advertising – around the world. Most revealing.

Ian Rankin

As well as the panels there were also special events. The two that we went to were cocktails with Ian Rankin in the Ca’ Pisani Hotel – where Ian was very gently interviewed by David Hewson and we got some excellent insights into the man himself and the Rebus series. The second was an evening at Il Palazzo Experimental Hotel in which Philip Gwynne Jones and Gregory Dowling revealed the special cocktail for Venice Noir that had been created by the head barman. It contained Whisky, Cherry/Almond Liquour, Red Beet, Orange, Absinth, and Spicy Bitters – and was, actually, quite delicious.

The ‘Venice Noir’ cocktail

To close the three days there was a ceremony in the Casanova Casino of the Hotel Monaco in which the prestigious Venice Noir Barovier & Toso Arte Glass Dagger Award was presented to Ian Rankin. This was followed by an ‘after show’ party at which Select Spritz (the better Venice equivalent of Aperol Spritz) flowed generously.

All in all a very enjoyable, informative, and inspiring three days. A big thank you to David Hewson, Philip Gwynne Jones, and Gregory Dowling. Plus the authors they had assembled, plus principal Venice Noir Sponsors, The Merchant of Venice and Select Aperitivo. 

Tony for the TripFiction team

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