thriller

How characters move a story along in unexpected ways

Authors sometimes talk about how characters can come alive on the pages as they write. Sometimes these people we create take on a life all of their own and it can feel as if they, and not us as writers, are the ones putting words down on a page. In… Read More

Motherhood, crime writing and hypocrisy

Most of the time, my career as a writer perfectly complements being a mother of three. I’m extremely fortunate. I take my children to school and pick them up. I never miss a parents’ evening or sports game, and I’m always around to help with homework or to run an… Read More

When I met DS Josie Masters again

Hello, old friend! It’s been a while…’ Bringing back a main character in series fiction is an odd feeling. Life as writer has moved on, but the protagonist of one’s creation has remained in a sort of limbo world, needed no more after the final page of the previous book. Read More

The Darkest Fears Are Often Rooted in Realism

The Darkest Fears Are Often Rooted in Realism   What scares you the most? As a thriller writer, it’s a question I tackle in my writing daily. My goal is to uncover the scariest, creepiest things in life and put the reader at their mercy. These fears certainly… Read More

The Story of the Pear Drum

The Story of the Pear Drum Two children, sisters – Turkey and Blue-eyes. They had wandered off one day, out of their mother’s sight, when they met a ragamuffin girl. The girl had a pear drum and she was playing it by the side of a stream. The sisters were… Read More

Our Halloween Story for Cuckoo

Yesterday we finally revealed Cuckoo by Sophie Draper, then spent the day eating Halloween treats and asking all of our colleagues to help us create a spooky story by contributing just one line. The first line was supplied by author Sophie Draper, but the story took a while to really… Read More

Our Top 10 Audiobooks for When You’re on the Run

As much as we love reading, we know there’s not always time to curl up with a book. So, we’ve put together a list of our Top 10 recommended audiobooks to keep you going whilst commuting, running or in the car! Have a little look below…   Kiss of Death… Read More

The Magic Phone Call by Joanne Sefton

As an unpublished writer, one of the things I loved to do (usually to avoid doing something productive like – you know – actually writing stuff) was read blogs and articles in which real authors told the tale of their journey to publication. Most contained encouraging messages (‘Armfuls of rejections… Read More

Anatomy of a Detective by Paul Finch

It may come as something of a surprise, but lots of police officers don’t want to be detectives any more. The popularity of the role has dwindled in recent times. In fact, so serious is the problem that many UK police forces are now mounting big promotional drives within the… Read More

Even Monsters Bleed

A few years ago, when I was doing research for The New Girl, I was lucky enough to have a friend who worked in the field of neuroscience and psychology / psychiatrics at the time. He referred me to the appropriate texts, medical journals, and of course I had to… Read More

Jacqui Rose is Back!

The Return Hello, I’m back, and I couldn’t be any happier – but what I could be is a little bit less nervous! It’s probably just under four years ago that I typed ‘The End’ on Disobey, the last book I wrote for Avon – I just don’t know where… Read More

Avon goes ‘Cuckoo’ for Sophie Draper

We’re thrilled to announce that Avon Books have signed a two-book deal with Bath Novel Award 2017 winner Sophie Draper. Rachel Faulkner-Willcocks acquired World English Language rights to Cuckoo and one further book from Laura Williams at Peter, Fraser and Dunlop Literary Agents. Sophie’s Derbyshire-set debut is a chilling exploration… Read More

Barnaby Walter joins the Avon Books family

Here at Avon Books, we’re thrilled to have signed a two-book deal with Waterstones’ social media coordinator Barnaby Walter. Phoebe Morgan acquired World English Language rights to A Version of the Truth and one other book from Joanna Swainson at Hardman & Swainson. Barnaby’s debut, about a woman who finds horrifying… Read More

Ten Points About Guilt

  A brief summary. My psychological thriller Guilt begins with a stabbing, leaving one twin sister dead, and the other accused of her murder. After the opening scene, past and present story arcs are intermingled, gradually revealing the reason for the fight and, at the crescendo of the book, the… Read More