Mystery & Mayhem

Katherine Woodfine was born in Lancashire. She studied English at Bristol University and in 2005 she was highly commended in Vogue magazine’s annual Talent Competition for young writers. She writes an award-winning blog at followtheyellow.co.uk and her work has been published by Flax Books in the anthology Mostly Truthful.Julia Golding is a multi-award winning writer for children and young adults. She also writes under the pen names of Joss Stirling and Eve Edwards. Well over half a million of her books have been sold worldwide in more than twenty different languages.Robin Stevens is the author of the much-loved and award-winning and bestselling Murder Most Unladylike series.Frances Hardinge is the author of seven novels for children, including the 2015 Costa Book of the Year, The Lie Tree. Her debut novel, Fly by Night, won the 2006 Branford Boase Award and was shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. Frances’s contribution to Mystery & Mayhem, ‘God’s Eye’, is a wonderfully sinister Victorian thriller featuring hot air balloons and secret poisonings.Clementine Beauvais is an academic and writer of children’s books. She is currently lecturer at the University of York where she researches childhood and education. Her contribution to Mystery & Mayhem is ‘The Mystery of the Green Room’, described by Katherine Woodfine as ‘a brain-boggling Agatha-Christie style puzzle that even Miss Marple might struggle to solve’.Elen Caldecott started her literary career when she was very young, writing sequels to some of her favourite books because she couldn’t bear to say goodbye to the characters. Before becoming a published author, Elen worked as an archaeologist, a nurse, a theatre usher and a museum security guard. Her first book was How Kirsty Jenkins Stole the Elephant. Elen Caldecott’s contribution to Mystery & Mayhem, ‘Rain on My Parade’, is a deliciously complex modern day puzzler.Born in Wales, Susie Day moved to Oxford to read English Literature at Oxford University and continues to live in Oxford now she’s a children’s writer.   Her novels for children include Big Woo!, Girl Meets Cake, and The Secret of Sam and Sam. Susie’s contribution to Mystery & Mayhem, ‘Emily and the Detectives’, is about the capable Emily who outsmarts her detective dad, Mr Black, and the clueless Lord Copperbole.Caroline Lawrence was born in London but grew up in the United States before returning to the UK to study at Cambridge. Caroline is a big fan of mystery fiction, having written The Roman Mysteries, series of historical novels for children. Her contribution to Mystery & Mayhem, ‘The Mystery of Diablo Canyon Circle’, has a hint of the American Wild West.Helen Moss began writing for children in 2007. Her books include the Adventure Island and Secrets of the Tombs series. Helen was born in Worcestershire. After a degree in Psychology and Philosophy, she went on to study for a PhD in psycholinguistics at Cambridge. Her short story in Mystery & Mayhem, ‘The Mystery of the Pineapple Plot’, is an exciting Georgian country house mystery.Sally Nicholls is a highly acclaimed writer for children, best known for her sensitive portrayal of difficult subjects for a younger age group. Her debut novel, Ways to Live Forever, won the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize and was made into a film. Her books have been translated into over 20 languages and her YA novel about the suffrage movement, Things a Bright Girl Can Do was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.Kate Pankhurst has an MA in Children's Book Illustration. She has illustrated books by Ian Whybrow (author of 'The Bedtime Bear' and 'The Tickle Book') and Marjorie Newman ('Mole and the Baby Bird').Harriet Whitehorn lives in London with her husband and her three daughters. She currently works for English Heritage and is the author of the Violet and the Pearl of the Orient series. Harriet’s contribution to Mystery & Mayhem, ‘The Murder of Monsieur Pierre’, is set on the streets of 1870s Soho.