Jack Reacher author Lee Child to headline Shetland Noir
Andrew Hirst
International best-selling author Lee Child has been announced as the first headliner for Shetland Noir – a four day celebration of all things crime-writing.
The author of the hugely successful Jack Reacher is the first of six headline names to appear at the 2026 festival.
Child is one of the world’s leading thriller writes having sold more than 100 million books and picked up various awards including Author of the Year at the 2019 British Book Awards.
He was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Shetland Noir will return to Mareel in Lerwick from 11th-14th June, 2026, bringing Shetland’s unique voice to the global stage of crime writing, with a programme packed full of author talks, workshops, panel discussions and special events.
Joining Lee Child will be five more headline authors, to be announced in the coming months, as part of a
programme curated by Shetland’s own Marsali Taylor and festival patron and award-winning crime writer, Ann Cleeves OBE.
Noir Cards went on sale on Friday offering people a 10 per cent early bird discount.
They can be bought from www.shetlandarts.org or in person at Mareel.
