| When | Friday 19th June 2026 at 19:00 |
| Where | The Exchange, Sturminster Newton 1 Old Market Hill Sturminster Newton Dorset DT10 1QU |
| Event Type | Talks |
| Price | £10 |
| Booking | Preferred |
| Tickets | |
| Also available at 1855, Market Cross, Sturminster Newton |
Best-selling true crime author Mark Bridgeman will be returning to the festival this year with another infamous real-life Dorset murder trial – in which YOU the audience will become the jury.
Listen to the evidence from the prosecution and defence before deciding on your verdict. Guilty or innocent? But be careful, there’s a lot at stake! You decide…
Featuring exclusively revealed new evidence, a prize for the winner, and a Q&A with the author, this promises to be an event to remember. Silence in Court!
You can buy a day ticket for all three events on Friday 19 June (Tula with Mark Bridgeman, Cosy Crime with Faith Eckersall, and this Silence in Court event) for £20.
Wiltshire born writer Mark followed in his father’s footsteps and became a published author in 2019, with 16 bestselling titles now under his belt. Mark has appeared on ITV, Channel 5, Discovery+, the History Channel, and BBC TV & Radio. His stories have been dramatised on Canadian radio; and featured in newspaper serial form. Mark’s collection of Yorkshire mysteries, The Dark Side of the Dales, recently featured on Channel 5’s documentary series Manhunt. In 2023 Mark’s title Erased became the first hybrid paperback with the trademark ‘eback’ logo.
He has written peer reviewed articles for the Daily Telegraph, the Thomas Hardy Society Journal, and the West Highland Museum. A member of the Society of Authors, the Federation of Scottish Writers, and the ALCS, Mark also maintains a strong social media presence.
Nominated for the John Bryne Award and the James Tait Black Award in 2022, for his adventure biography The Nearly Man, the book is currently in development in the US for TV/Film, in collaboration with leading Hollywood scriptwriter and producer Alan Roth.
Mark’s titles Perthshire’s Pound of Flesh and Blood Across The Water have been among Waterstones Scotland’s non-fiction best sellers of 2022 and 2023. Perthshire’s Pound of Flesh was also Perth Waterstones bestselling title of 2022, selling more than twice as many copies as any other book. The Scottish Murder Book was released in October 2024 and Nothing For Something: The Violet Charlesworth Story in April 2025 (as featured on the BBC) was shortlisted for The Guardian’s Top 20 non-fiction books of 2025.