Clare Mackintosh is a British author and former police officer.
Clare Mackintosh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Bristol |
| Occupation | Author |
| Alma mater | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Notable works | I Let You Go, I See You, Let Me Lie, After the End |
| Notable awards | Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2016, Cognac Prix du Polar Best International Novel |
| Website | |
| claremackintosh | |
Early life and education
editMackintosh went to Royal Holloway University in Surrey,[1] taking a degree in French and Management, and spent a year in Paris as part of the course, working as a bilingual secretary.[citation needed]
Police career
editMackintosh joined the police force upon graduation.[2] She was posted on promotion to Chipping Norton as town sergeant before becoming Thames Valley Police's operations inspector for Oxfordshire. Mackintosh spent 12 years in the police force before leaving in 2011 to become a full-time writer.[3]
Novels
editMackintosh's debut novel I Let You Go, published in 2014, was a Richard & Judy Book Club pick.[4] It won Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award in 2016, beating J K Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith.[5] In October 2016, the French translation of I Let You Go (Te Laisser Partir) won "best international novel" at the Cognac Festival Prix du Polar awards.[6]
Her second novel, I See You, was also a Richard & Judy Book Club pick, winning the readers' vote.[7] It charted at number 1 in The Sunday Times original fiction list and was shortlisted for Crime & Thriller Book of the Year in the British Book Awards.[8]
In March 2018 Mackintosh published her third novel, Let Me Lie, which charted at number 1 in The Sunday Times original fiction list. It was also chosen as a Richard & Judy Book Club pick.[9]
As of May 2019 her novels were published in more than 40 languages and had sold more than two million copies worldwide.[10]
Mackintosh's fourth novel, After the End, was published in hardback in June 2019 and became an instant Sunday Times bestseller.[11] She then published three more Sunday Times bestsellers: Hostage,[12] The Last Party and A Game of Lies.
Other activities
editMackintosh was a judge of the First Novel category of the Costa Book Awards 2019.[citation needed]
In March 2024, Mackintosh published a memoir, I Promise it Won't Always Hurt Like This, inspired by her son's death in 2006.[13]
Personal life
editIn 2006, Mackintosh delivered twin boys prematurely. Her son Alex contracted meningitis and suffered significant brain damage, and was allowed to die naturally after spending some time in intensive care.[14] When her surviving son was 15 months old, Mackintosh gave birth to a second set of twins.[2]
As of 2022[update] Mackintosh lives in Bala, in north Wales. She credits the rural community in which she lives with the inspiration for her detective series, which features the Welsh-speaking DC Ffion Morgan.[15]
Charity work
editMackintosh is a founder and former trustee of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival. She is patron of the Silver Star Society, a charity supporting the John Radcliffe Hospital's work with families facing difficult pregnancies.[16]
In January 2019 Mackintosh donated her advance for her book A Cotswold Family Life to the Silver Star Society,[17] who used the donation to buy foetal monitoring equipment for the maternity unit.[18]
List of works
edit- I Let You Go (Sphere, 2014)
- I See You (Sphere, 2016)
- Let Me Lie (Sphere, 2018)
- A Cotswold Family Life (Sphere, 2019)
- After the End (Sphere, 2019)
- The Understudy (Hodder, 2019) (with Holly Brown, Sophie Hannah and B.A. Paris)
- The Donor (Sphere, 2020)
- Hostage (Sphere, 2021)
- The Last Party (Sphere, 2022)
- A Game of Lies (Sphere, 2023)
References
edit- ^ "Celebrating our inspirational female authors - Higher Online". Archived from the original on 4 January 2017.
- ^ a b "Clare Mackintosh on turning tragedy into inspiration". Archived from the original on 22 August 2016.
- ^ "Clare Mackintosh wins Crime Novel of the Year award". BBC News. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
- ^ "You are being redirected..." blog.whsmith.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 January 2017.
- ^ Sian Cain (21 July 2016). "Clare Mackintosh takes crime novel of the year award". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 July 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
- ^ "The Novel and Award Winning Comic 21st Polar". Sud-Ouest. 14 October 2016. Archived from the original on 10 November 2016.
- ^ "Richard and Judy introduce I See You by Clare Mackintosh=".
- ^ "British Book Awards: Books of the Year shortlists announced=".
- ^ "Richard and Judy book club: Let Me Lie". December 2018.
- ^ Membery, York (5 May 2019). "Fame and Fortune: I quit the police and found that crime pays". The Times.
- ^ "The Sunday Times Bestsellers". 21 July 2019.
- ^ "Sphere to publish Mackintosh's 'best novel yet' | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ "Clare Mackintosh writes book about grief after losing her son | Bucks Free Press". www.bucksfreepress.co.uk.
- ^ Mackintosh, Clare (20 July 2019). "My new novel allowed me to grieve years after losing my baby boy". The Guardian.
- ^ Mackintosh, Clare (23 September 2022). "Clare Mackintosh Finds the Life of the Party". Publishers Weekly.
- ^ "Oxford Times". Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "Silver Star support".
- ^ "Oxford Mail".