I divide my year between writing and promoting my work at home and abroad, and when I’m not travelling, I divide my time between Fife and Edinburgh where I live with my partner. Most days, I feel like one of the very lucky ones.Cumbrian born, Jane Gresham is a Wordsworth scholar who has long believed in the local story that Fletcher Christian, the man who led the mutiny on the Bounty and school friend of Wordsworth, had returned to his home county of Cumbria.

All those novels, radio plays, short stories, non-fiction and even a children’s book make a significant pile that I have every intention of adding to. Val says: “I never imagined when I started on this journey that I would have the success that has come my way. She is a regular broadcaster for BBC radio and lives in Edinburgh. She has published 36 novels, short stories, non-fiction and a prize-winning children’s book. Her first success as a novelist came with Report for Murder The first Lindsay Gordon Mystery, first published in 1987.Īmong her many awards are the Portico Prize for Fiction, the LA Times Book Prize, the Lambda Literary Pioneer Award and the Cartier Diamond Dagger. Following graduation she became a journalist, and worked briefly as a dramatist. She was the first ever student from a state school in Scotland. Val comes from Kirkcaldy, Fife, and read English at St Hilda’s College, Oxford (where she is now an Honorary Fellow). Val is also lead vocalist with The Fun Lovin' Crime Writers, possibly the only band made up of crime writers ever to play at Glastonbury! She is an experienced broadcaster and much sought-after columnist and commentator across print media.

She is Visiting Professor in the Centre of Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Otago in New Zealand.

She is the recipient of six honorary doctorates and is an Honorary Fellow of St Hilda’s College, Oxford. Val was chair of the Wellcome Book Prize in 2017 and has served as a judge for both the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the 2018 Man Booker Prize. She has also published Resistance, a graphic novelisation of her critically acclaimed radio drama, illustrated by Kathryn Briggs, this May. Her most recent TV series Traces aired in a BBC1 primetime slot in January of this year (2021), and a second series is currently in production, as is ITV’s adaptation of Karen Pirie, based on Val’s cold case detective of the same name.ġ979, the beginning of a new series for Val, featuring journalist Allie Burns, is published on 19th August 2021. She is perhaps best known for her Wire in the Blood series, featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan, which was adapted for television starring Robson Green and Hermione Norris. Val McDermid has sold over 19 million books to date across the globe and has been translated into more than 40 languages.

The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid