Appropriately the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing event is again being held in Harrogate.

It was in the spa town that Christie turned up following a nationwide search to find her. Her disappearance and re-appearance sparked a film some of which was shot in Harrogate when York railway station famously posed as Harrogate.

The Cosy Crime Fiction, which will discuss the Christie issue is being held on Sunday July 20 at the Crown Hotel where all events during the festival - July 17-20 - are being held.

The writers' panel will discuss why, in these changing times, and more than 80 years after Christie's first novel does the traditional cosy mystery remain so popular?

MC Beaton, Colin Cotteril, Cariona McPherson and Jill Paton Walsh will discuss whether Christie really was the best crime writer who ever lived.

"Is her work, and the work of her successors, timeless in an ever-changing world?" is a poser for the panel.

The session will last for an hour between 10-11am.

This is the sixth Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. It starts with a party giving people a chance to meet short-listed authors for the Crime Novel of the Year Award.

The event will be hosted by Natasha Cooper when the 2008 winner is announced.

Harrogate has a bumper crop of crime writers. They include debutants at the evening including Andy McNab, Robert Crais and Tess Gerritson, as well as Peter Robinson who appeared at the first event.

Tickets are available from the Festival Box Office on 0845 130 8840.