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Kate Riordan

Kate Riordan is a writer and journalist from England. Her first job was as an editorial assistant at the Guardian newspaper, followed by a stint as deputy editor for the lifestyle section of London bible, Time Out magazine. There she had assignments that saw her racing reindeers in Lapland, going undercover in Londons premier department store and gleaning writing tips (none-too subtly) during interviews with some of her favorite authors.

After becoming a freelancer, she left London behind and moved to the beautiful Cotswolds in order to write her first novel. Now at work on her second, a ghost story, she is visiting haunted pubs as part of her research.

Genres: Historical Mystery, Mystery, Historical Romance, Historical

New and upcoming books

July 2026

The Last Time I Saw Her Alive

Novels

   Birdcage Walk (2012)
   Fiercombe Manor (2015)
     aka The Girl in the Photograph
   The Shadow Hour (2016)
   The Stranger (2018)
   Sanditon (2019)
   The Heatwave (2020)
   Summer Fever (2022)
   The Last Time I Saw Her Alive (2026)

Novellas and Short Stories

The Red Letter (2016)

Kate Riordan recommends

The Hideaway (2025)
Nikki Allen
"With shades of The White Lotus, Apple Cider Vinegar and Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, this Costa Rican-set thriller is an accomplished white-knuckle ride from start to finish."

The Sunshine Man (2025)
Emma Stonex
"Full of driving tension and rising dread, The Sunshine Man is compelling, moving and totally original. I'll be thinking about it for a long time."

Pity Party (2024)
Daisy Buchanan
"Honestly, it's impossible not to fall for this book, and hard. It manages to be moving, funny and wise all at once, and Katherine is up there with the most lovable of literary heroines."

The Shell House Detectives (2023)
(Shell House Detectives Mystery, book 1)
Emylia Hall
"Gorgeous writing and a plot crammed with suspense, this is your perfect new crime series for 2023."

The Misadventures of Margaret Finch (2023)
Claire McGlasson
"Emerging from this vivid evocation of 1930s Blackpool is a story of hunger -- for love, belonging and fame at any cost -- that will resonate powerfully with the 21st century reader. I loved it."

The Assistant (2023)
Amanda Reynolds
"A cracking twist."

Stay Buried (2022)
(DI Lockyer, book 1)
Kate Webb
"There's nothing like devouring a new book and then discovering it's the first in a series, with more stories to come. I loved Kate Webb's Stay Buried, which is as astutely observed as it's elegantly written."

One of the Girls (2022)
Lucy Clarke
"Deliciously escapist and addictive, Lucy Clarke expertly juggles the secret desires and deceptions of six fascinating women. I really couldn't stop reading."

London, With Love (2022)
Sarra Manning
"Brimful of longing, tenderness and the pain of missed chances, this book could soften the stoniest heart."

Do No Harm (2022)
Jack Jordan
"With an agonising dilemma at its heart and a pace that never lets up . . . A corker of a thriller."

The Perfect Holiday (2022)
T J Emerson
"This taut, elegant thriller thrums with dark menace and dread. I couldn't look away."

Sorry Isn't Good Enough (2022)
Jane Bailey
"The heart of this emotionally-literate coming-of-age story is Stephanie who, with her eccentric take on the world, yearning for love and unexpected bursts of wit, is as believable as she is sympathetic. What seems like a gentle story on first glance soon reveals itself to be much more: full of life's sorrow, joy and misunderstanding. I always love Jane Bailey's books and this is her best yet."

The Other Girl (2020)
C D Major
"Cesca Major is so skilled at taking real historical events and weaving them into stories that are as fascinating as they are disturbing. They’ll make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up."

The Second Marriage (2020)
Gill Paul
"Addictive and so well-researched. I read it in a day."

The Sight of You (2020)
Holly Miller
"Heartbreaking and compulsive in equal measure, I read The Sight of You in a single day."

The Lost Lights of St Kilda (2020)
Elisabeth Gifford
"The wild beauty and intense isolation of the Scottish island of St Kilda is vividly realised... As gorgeously written as it's quietly devastating."

The Perfect Couple (2020)
Jackie Kabler
"There is no let-up in this twisty-turny thriller…Just when you think you've cracked its secrets, your expectations are upended again."

The Forgotten Village (2019)
Lorna Cook
"I was so absorbed that I read it in a single day."

Fatal Inheritance (2018)
Rachel Rhys
"With a dash of Agatha Christie and a nod to Zelda Fitzgerald, Rachel Rhys' historical mystery is simply gorgeous. The late 1940s Cote d'Azur setting is a character in its own right - one that will have you yearning to sip a gin fizz while watching the sun sink into the Mediterranean."

The Cursed Wife (2018)
Pamela Hartshorne
"Authentic, vivid and gripping."

The English Girl (2016)
Katherine Webb
"I've loved all Katherine Webb's books and this is a wonderful addition to my collection. After I finished, I found myself missing the searing heat and huge blue skies of the Omani desert."

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