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Many legal systems have allowed the accused the defence of a \u201ccrime of passion\u201d: attributing their act to a sudden explosion of feeling, rather than pre-meditated violence. Prosecutors, though, have argued that \u201cpassion\u201d is simply another word for \u201cinsanity\u201d or \u201cmalice\u201d.

David Wilson was the youngest prison governor in England aged 29. He is Emeritus Professor of Criminology and founding Director of the Centre for Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University. He presented the CBS series Voice of a Serial Killer and, for BBC Radio 4, In The Criminologist\u2019s Chair. His latest book is My Life with Murderers: Behind Bars with the World\u2019s Most Violent Men.

Sophie Hannah is a poet and crime novelist who, with the blessing of the Christie estate, has written three new Poirot novels The Monogram Murders, Closed Casket and The Mystery of Three Quarters. Her latest publication is a self-help book entitled How to Hold a Grudge.

Michael Hughes\u2019 most recent novel Country maps Homer\u2019s Iliad onto 1990s Northern Ireland to describe both the black comedy and the brutality of The Troubles. His previous novel is The Countenance Divine. He teaches creative writing and also works as a professional actor.