Giles Blunt

About this episode

Giles Blunt discusses his transition from crime writing to historical fiction and his latest novel, Bad Juilet.

My guest on this episode is Giles Blunt. Giles is the author of a dozen books, including the six novels in the Cardinal series, which were made into a long-running TV series. He has won the British Crime Writers Silver Dagger award, the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis award for best novel, and has been twice longlisted for the Dublin IMPAC award. His most recent book is the novel Bad Juilet , published by Dundurn Press in 2025. The Toronto Star called it “captivating and beautifully written,” and “an intriguing tale with the taut pace of a thriller.” Giles and I talk about the shift from crime writing to historical fiction that Bad Juilet represents, about the notes to himself he will sometimes insert into his manuscripts, indicating his intention to quit writing them, and about why his most recent book has been harder to let go of than anything else he has written. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by  Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Nathan Whitlock

Guest: Giles Blunt

Topics covered

• crime writing
• historical fiction
• book publishing
• author interviews
• literary awards

Keywords

• Giles Blunt
• Bad Juilet
• crime writing
• historical fiction
• literary awards
• Toronto Star
• Dundurn Press

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Dundurn Press, The Walrus, Toronto Star

Books & works: Bad Juilet

More episodes of What Happened Next: a podcast about newish books

• Dennis Bock · June 8, 2026 · 28 min
• Kate Cayley · June 1, 2026 · 29 min
• Adriana Barton · May 25, 2026 · 32 min
• Gabrielle Drolet · May 18, 2026 · 30 min
• Jacquelyn Zong-Li Ross · May 11, 2026 · 33 min
• Miriam Toews · May 4, 2026 · 31 min