An Evening with Mark Dawson at St Laurence Church, Downton

An Evening with Mark Dawson is a cosy get-together at St Laurence Church in Downton, kicking off on Friday 10 October 2025. Doors open at half past six, with things starting properly at seven.

Mark, the local bestselling crime writer from Salisbury, will chat about his work in an interview, then open up for questions from the crowd. It ties in nicely with the launch of his fifth book in the Atticus Priest series, and you can pick up copies there if you fancy one.

Tickets are on sale at the Borough Cafe or just turn up on the night, and they will have refreshments going too.

Mark Dawson grew up in Lowestoft on the Suffolk coast, where he picked up odd jobs like DJing and selling ice cream door to door before heading to Manchester University for a law degree. After qualifying as a solicitor, he shifted into the London film world, handling script development and production.

These days, he bases himself in Wiltshire, close enough to Salisbury to make Downton feel like an extension of his patch.

What started as a side hustle turned into a full-time gig when he self-published his first thriller in 2013. Now, with over six million books sold worldwide, he tops charts with gritty tales of flawed anti-heroes.

His breakout John Milton series follows a retired government assassin trying to atone for past sins, racking up spin-offs like Beatrix Rose, a lethal operative on the run. Then came the Soho Noir books, plunging into London’s criminal underbelly with sharp dialogue and moral grey areas.

Lately, Dawson has hooked readers with Atticus Priest, an ex-Met detective turned private eye, cracking cases in the sleepy New Forest while wrestling his own demons. The fifth instalment, The Inheritance, blends inheritance disputes with buried secrets that echo the area’s rural unease.