The Conversation with Nadine Matheson

"It's old men thinking they can dictate to everybody else about what it is to be part of something. They want to dictate who is in the tent and who's outside the tent."
Abir Mukherjee

Abir Mukherjee sits down with Nadine Matheson for a candid, frequently hilarious conversation about his journey from a 20-year career in finance to becoming one of crime fiction's most distinctive voices. He shares the extraordinary story of winning a writing competition with an unfinished novel, getting the biggest names in crime fiction to fix his book for free, and why he finds publishing more prejudiced than the City. He also introduces his new satirical thriller, The Pinnacle.

Abir Mukherjee is a British Asian crime fiction author who spent two decades in finance, working in international mergers and acquisitions, before winning the Telegraph/Penguin Random House crime writing competition in 2014. His Sam Wyndham historical crime series, set in British Raj-era India, has been published to critical acclaim. His standalone thriller Hunted won the Crime and Thriller Book of the Year at the British Book Awards 2025 and Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel of theYear Award 2025. He was published in 2016, the same year as Vaseem Khan, and together they helped prove that British Asian crime fiction could be commercially successful, opening doors for a new generation of writers. His latest novel is The Pinnacle, a satirical thriller set in a Mumbai luxury skyscraper. He lives in Surrey with his family. Find him at abirmukherjee.com and on Instagram and Facebook.

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"You need to find it in yourself if you want to keep going."
Ruth Dugdall

Former probation officer and crime author Ruth Dugdall joins Nadine Matheson to discuss her journey from working inside prisons to writing the Kate Austin crime series. Ruth shares vivid stories from her probation career, including being handcuffed by a prison officer "for a laugh", and opens up about winning a major writing award only to be told nobody wanted her book. They also explore the ethics of writing about real crimes, Ruth's fascination with the women who keep secrets, and her new novel Mother Missing.

Ruth Dugdall is a former probation officer who worked with sex offenders, stalkers, and young men who committed murder, before becoming a crime novelist. She won the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger for The Woman Before Me and recently completed a PhD by publication on her own novels, arguing that the probation perspective is uniquely absent from crime fiction. She has just signed a six-book deal with HarperCollins for the Kate Austin series. Her new novel Mother Missing is published on 26th September. Find her on Instagram @ruthdugdall.

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In this extended coffee break conversation, Nadine Matheson sits down with debut author NJ Hatton (Nick Jones) to discuss his psychological suspense thriller Truth Will Out. They explore the real-life hit-and-run that inspired the novel, the moral grey areas of fatherhood and justice, the transition from screenwriting to novels, and what's coming next, including teasers for books two and three.

NJ Hatton is the pen name of Nick Jones, a former screenwriter and kids' media producer turned psychological thriller author. His debut novel Truth Will Out is out now. Before turning to novels, he worked in television development and at Moonbug Entertainment on preschool animation. He lives in Worcestershire with his family.

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"The art isn't created on the page or on the stage. It's created in the mind of the reader or the person watching the play. What you're trying to do is give the watcher or the reader the space to use their imagination and co-create what you've done with them."
Ajay Chowdhury

Nadine Matheson welcomes bestselling author, tech entrepreneur and theatre director, Ajay Chowdhury, for a wide-ranging conversation about his multi-hyphenate creative life. They discuss how Ajay helped create Shazam, his six-year journey from competition winner to seven published books, the AI fears that drove his latest thriller Eden Falls, and the realities of the publishing industry he didn't see coming.

Ajay Chowdhury is a British crime novelist, tech entrepreneur, and theatre director. He co-created Shazam, the music recognition app that became a verb, and has published seven books in six years, including the Kamil Chowdhury detective series and the standalone thriller Eden Falls. His upcoming books include The Patriot (a heist novel about stealing the Koh-i-Noor diamond, out November 2026) and The Outsider. He is also directing the play Dog Mom at Southwark Playhouse in October/November 2025. Find him at ajaychowdhury.com.

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Welcome to Season 5 of 'The Conversation with Nadine Matheson' 🎉

"No one's asking for the work. No one was asking for Time Jump… but I still have the faith that it will pay off. And I love writing and I think it's the thing I'm best at. So to not do it is you're cheating yourself."
Adam Simcox

Author and filmmaker Adam Simcox joins Nadine to celebrate the publication of his new novel Time Jump, a time-travelling psychological thriller set between 1997 and 2026. They discuss his journey from law student to filmmaker to novelist, surviving 150+ agent rejections, dumping 70,000 words mid-draft, why AI can't replace the craft of storytelling, and the importance of backing yourself when no one's asking for the work.

Adam Simcox is a novelist, filmmaker, and photographer. He wrote and directed three feature films before transitioning to fiction. His debut film sold to Netflix before it became the Netflix juggernaut that we all know. He is the author of The Dying Squad trilogy and his latest novel, Time Jump (Renegade Books, 3 September 2026). He studied law before switching to a master's in film and documentary production at Salford University. Find him on Instagram at @simcoxadam.

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