Charlotte Philby – författare

A MISSING TEENAGER. A CITY FULL OF SECRETS...When the daughter of the Swedish Ambassador disappears from her prestigious London school in broad daylight, the authorities are on high alert. There are no witnesses and no ransom demand: thirteen-year-old Freya Sjöberg has vanished into thin air.With the Metropolitan Police out of their depth, specialist agent DS Madeleine Farrow is called in to handle the case. As a former pupil at Wimpole Girls, she knows the school's affluent corridors only too well. But even she can't anticipate the dark secrets held within its walls.With the clock ticking since Freya's disappearance, Madeleine must return to a place that holds painful memories to find a girl who has left no trace. For help, she calls on dogged - and occasionally maverick - young private investigator Ramona Chang. Together the unlikely pair find themselves plunged into a world of extreme wealth and dangerous secrets.The deeper they dig, the more they uncover - exposing a tangled web of conspiracy and lies that could change everything they thought they knew about the case, and each other.PRAISE FOR THE FARROW & CHANG SERIES:'Deftly riffing on actual news events, Lost Girls is another assured outing for Charlotte Philby's female odd couple ... [with] its depiction of a London ever more divided between haves and have-nots' Sunday Times'Brilliant! Effortlessly cool and clever. Cracking plot too' Jane Casey, author of The Killing Kind'A dazzling crime story' Woman's Own'Slick, stylish, glimmering with menace and introducing two unforgettable new leads' Lucy Foley, author of The Guest List

Amazon reviewers can't get enough: 'I LOVED THIS BOOK' ***** 'Gloriously gripping' ***** 'Magnificent' ***** 'Heart-stopping, racy and sophisticated' ***** 'Compulsive and clever' ***** On the surface, Anna Witherall has the perfect life. Married to her university boyfriend David, she has an enviable job, beautiful home, and gorgeous three-year-old twin daughters, Stella and Rose. Their competent and capable nanny, Maria, is practically part of the family.But beneath the veneer of success and happiness, Anna is hiding a dark secret, one that threatens to unravel everything she has worked so hard to create. Only one thing is certain: to protect her children, she must betray them.‘Compelling and complex – a compulsive read’ Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange‘Everyone has an agenda in this intriguing exploration of deceit and duplicity, as Philby ratchets up the paranoia to Highsmithian levels’ Guardian

The Times Thrillers of the Year 2020 ’Superbly crafted with heart-stopping twists and chills galore. A new star has arrived in the thriller firmament’ The Times, Book of the Month Gabriela is a senior negotiator in the Foreign Office. When she returns to her young family after a seven-month stint in Moscow, something doesn’t seem right.Isobel is a journalist on the local paper in Camden. After witnessing a violent attack, she starts to investigate. But someone saw her watching, and is making themselves known in increasingly frightening ways.As Gabriela’s life begins to unravel, Isobel gets closer to the truth, and the two women’s lives converge in this deeply chilling examination of deceit.Reader reviews for A Double Life‘A sensational story packed full of twists. What an unbelievable book, I'm absolutely flabbergasted by the ending… it's a cliffhanger, so I hope Philby is already working on a sequel because I NEED to know what happens next’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘A riveting and tense thriller exploring the actions of two women whose lives are about to collide’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Can’t wait for book 3!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Great read’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Amazingly brilliant’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Loved loved LOVED! I was hooked after the very first chapter. Engrossed in the story all the way through. The end hit me like a tonne of bricks!!! CANNOT WAIT for the 3rd book!!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Complex, chilling, fascinating. LOVED it’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Addictive’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Chilling’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Gripping’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Praise for A Double Life‘I was utterly gripped’ LUCY FOLEY‘I fell into the vivid, frightening world Charlotte Philby creates so skilfully and didn't resurface until long after I'd turned the last page’ JANE CASEY‘A Double Life confirms Charlotte Philby as the master of a sub-genre she basically invented’ ERIN KELLY‘Brilliantly executed and tense’ SUNDAY TIMES‘Terribly compelling… persuasive and absorbing’ OBSERVER‘A pacy, gripping read that kept us on the edge of our seats’ INDEPENDENT

One of ‘the heirs to John le Carré’ The Times ‘A tremendous achievement’ WILLIAM BOYD ‘Behold the new Golden Age of Spy Kings’ Sunday Times To betray, you must first belong… In June 1934, Kim Philby met his Soviet handler, the spy Arnold Deutsch. The woman who introduced them was called Edith Tudor-Hart. She changed the course of 20th century history.Then she was written out of it.Drawing on the Secret Intelligence Files on Edith Tudor-Hart, along with the private archive letters of Kim Philby, this finely worked, evocative and beautifully tense novel – by the granddaughter of Kim Philby – tells the story of the woman behind the Third Man. A future classic: ‘A fine achievement’ THE TIMES‘Completely fascinating. A sophisticated and brilliantly constructed fictional retelling of a crucial relationship in 20th century espionage history. A tremendous achievement’ WILLIAM BOYD‘Atmospheric and rigorously researched’ Sunday Times‘Persuasive… involving… impressive’ LITERARY REVIEW‘A fascinating contribution to the literature of the Cambridge spies by a clever, nimble writer with some genuine skin in the game’ CHARLES CUMMING‘Complex and powerfully written… a persuasive repurposing of the lives of real-life figures’ i NEWSPAPER‘A dextrous writer who gives her tale a quickening, thrillerish propulsion’ NEW STATESMAN‘Mother, lover, revolutionary, spy… Philby’s stunning fourth novel thrusts this former bit-player in the Cambridge Spy scandal to the centre stage where she belongs… Her best book yet’ ERIN KELLY‘Blending SIS files and imagined letters from her grandfather, Philby shines a spotlight on Edith Tudor-Hart as activist, spy and often desperate single, working mother’ SARAH VAUGHAN‘Completely absorbing’ MICK HERRON‘A tense and brilliantly structured story of power and intrigue’ JANE SHEMILT‘Unforgettable… a fascinating exploration of a key moment in history and a stunning piece of fiction’ HOLLY WATT

'An enthralling, layered triumph' SUNDAY TIMES, Thriller of the Month'A richly enjoyable thriller' THE TIMES, Thriller of the Year'An elegant, provocative, twisting thriller… hugely entertaining and beautifully written' CHRIS WHITAKER'So brilliant I stayed up into the early hours to finish it' PRIMA, Book of the Month Your mother is not who you think she is… When the phone rings in Judy McVee’s Languedoc farmhouse, she knows her past has finally caught up with her. It’s her daughter, frantically asking why there are journalists on her London doorstep making terrible accusations.Decades earlier, Judy was a girl with big plans – to ensnare a rich husband, to make something of herself, to rise above her upbringing and leave behind past tragedies. Wealthy young widower Rory Harrington seemed the perfect target – but Judy hadn’t reckoned on actually falling in love with him.Now her daughter Francesca, who has secrets of her own, must come to terms with the realisation that the mother she thought she knew wasn’t real. Where has Judy gone – and was anything she told her family true?Moving from Cape Cod to London, New York to the South of France, THE END OF SUMMER is a gripping, nuanced literary thriller from a writer at the top of her game.

'An enthralling, layered triumph' SUNDAY TIMES, Thriller of the Month'A richly enjoyable thriller' THE TIMES, Thriller of the Year'An elegant, provocative, twisting thriller… hugely entertaining and beautifully written' CHRIS WHITAKER'So brilliant I stayed up into the early hours to finish it' PRIMA, Book of the Month Your mother is not who you think she is… When the phone rings in Judy McVee’s Languedoc farmhouse, she knows her past has finally caught up with her. It’s her daughter, frantically asking why there are journalists on her London doorstep making terrible accusations.Decades earlier, Judy was a girl with big plans – to ensnare a rich husband, to make something of herself, to rise above her upbringing and leave behind past tragedies. Wealthy young widower Rory Harrington seemed the perfect target – but Judy hadn’t reckoned on actually falling in love with him.Now her daughter Francesca, who has secrets of her own, must come to terms with the realisation that the mother she thought she knew wasn’t real. Where has Judy gone – and was anything she told her family true?Moving from Cape Cod to London, New York to the South of France, THE END OF SUMMER is a gripping, nuanced literary thriller from a writer at the top of her game.

'An enthralling, layered triumph' SUNDAY TIMES, Thriller of the Month'A richly enjoyable thriller' THE TIMES, Thriller of the Year'An elegant, provocative, twisting thriller… hugely entertaining and beautifully written' CHRIS WHITAKER'So brilliant I stayed up into the early hours to finish it' PRIMA, Book of the Month Your mother is not who you think she is… When the phone rings in Judy McVee’s Languedoc farmhouse, she knows her past has finally caught up with her. It’s her daughter, frantically asking why there are journalists on her London doorstep making terrible accusations.Decades earlier, Judy was a girl with big plans – to ensnare a rich husband, to make something of herself, to rise above her upbringing and leave behind past tragedies. Wealthy young widower Rory Harrington seemed the perfect target – but Judy hadn’t reckoned on actually falling in love with him.Now her daughter Francesca, who has secrets of her own, must come to terms with the realisation that the mother she thought she knew wasn’t real. Where has Judy gone – and was anything she told her family true?Moving from Cape Cod to London, New York to the South of France, THE END OF SUMMER is a gripping, nuanced literary thriller from a writer at the top of her game.

‘A timely, gripping and morally complex thriller’ MAIL ON SUNDAY Two women are found dead. Both had a secret. Both had a choice. Artemis leaves her home in Greece to start a shiny new life with her wealthy husband, Clive Witherall, in 1990s London. Finally she has escaped the ghosts of her past. Until she is discovered hanging from the stairs of their beautiful family home.Two decades later, the apparent suicide of heiress Anna Witherall uncannily mirrors Artemis’ mysterious death.What is the web of deceit that binds these two women? And what deadly secrets were they hiding? ‘Philby is a skilled and evocative writer’ FINANCIAL TIMES ‘Seriously stylish’ LUCY FOLEY –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––‘I’m addicted to the deadly glamour of Charlotte Philby’s novels’ ERIN KELLY‘Gripping’ CRIME MONTHLY‘A page-turning thriller … Philby has created a new sort of spy novel – approaching this world of skulduggery and intrigue from an entirely unique perspective. This is a clever, gripping, unsettling and thoroughly entertaining read’ HOLLY WATT‘Her thrillers have been a game-changer for the spy novel’ DAILY EXPRESS‘A gripping novel that spans decades and continents’ DAILY MIRROR‘A stylish, heart-racing thriller’ YOU MAGAZINE, MAIL ON SUNDAY‘Brilliant’ BELLA MAGAZINEFollowing on from Part of the Family and A Double Life, this finely worked novel concludes Charlotte Philby’s triptych about the choices women might make when under pressure’ THE TIMES

**** FIVE STARS 'Fascinating . . . Few fictional adventures can outdo those recounted here' The Telegraph Step into the Secret World.Charlotte Philby’s grandfather was the most infamous double agent in history.Inspired to find out about his world, Charlotte discovered that there were plenty of untold stories of courage and secrets and daring . . .And so many were about women.There are a host of extraordinary tales involving female spies: from dare-devil skiers delivering top-secret information, to clever codebreakers taking down the world’s biggest criminals, to brave undercover agents fighting alongside the French Resistance.Starring Edith Cavell, Elizebeth Friedman, Noor Inayat Khan and many more, the stories in this book explore the hope, courage, fear, loves and lives of these remarkable women.Featuring top-secret spying info and imagined newspaper articles covering incredible spy stories, this is your chance to find out about the women who hid in the shadows, but deserve to be in the spotlight.

'Instantly gripping. Smart, timely and great fun from beginning to end' Bella Mackie, author of How to Kill Your Family'Oozes with style, pace, and a cunningly imagined plot' Lucy Clarke, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Hike'Razor-sharp writing, great characters and a brilliantly topical story' T.M. Logan, author of The Dream HomeRAMONA CHANGAn investigative journalist turned private detective, Ramona's final scoop left her with a target on her back. Now in hiding, she is living in a run-down flat in east London. But when her latest case looking into an upmarket escort agency takes a dark turn, she needs information only accessible to those in power . . .DETECTIVE SERGEANT MADELEINE FARROWA high-flying operative at a government agency, it's the day of her fiftieth birthday when Madeleine finds out that she has been given the lead on an investigation into corruption on a global scale. But when she finds her case mysteriously blocked from the inside, she needs someone on the outside, capable of moving undetected . . .As Ramona's and Madeleine's cases collide, can the unlikely allies find justice for multiple victims within the capital's hotbed of lies and deception?A gripping thrill-ride set against the gloss and grit of contemporary London, DIRTY MONEY introduces an unforgettable new detective duo created by critically acclaimed writer Charlotte Philby.'Brilliant! Effortlessly cool and clever. Cracking plot too' Jane Casey, author of The Killing Kind'Slick, stylish, glimmering with menace and introducing two unforgettable new leads' Lucy Foley, author of The Guest List

'Instantly gripping. Smart, timely and great fun from beginning to end' Bella Mackie, author of How to Kill Your Family'Oozes with style, pace, and a cunningly imagined plot' Lucy Clarke, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Hike'Razor-sharp writing, great characters and a brilliantly topical story' T.M. Logan, author of The Dream HomeRAMONA CHANGAn investigative journalist turned private detective, Ramona's final scoop left her with a target on her back. Now in hiding, she is living in a run-down flat in east London. But when her latest case looking into an upmarket escort agency takes a dark turn, she needs information only accessible to those in power . . .DETECTIVE SERGEANT MADELEINE FARROWA high-flying operative at a government agency, it's the day of her fiftieth birthday when Madeleine finds out that she has been given the lead on an investigation into corruption on a global scale. But when she finds her case mysteriously blocked from the inside, she needs someone on the outside, capable of moving undetected . . .As Ramona's and Madeleine's cases collide, can the unlikely allies find justice for multiple victims within the capital's hotbed of lies and deception?A gripping thrill-ride set against the gloss and grit of contemporary London, DIRTY MONEY introduces an unforgettable new detective duo created by critically acclaimed writer Charlotte Philby.'Brilliant! Effortlessly cool and clever. Cracking plot too' Jane Casey, author of The Killing Kind'Slick, stylish, glimmering with menace and introducing two unforgettable new leads' Lucy Foley, author of The Guest List

'Instantly gripping. Smart, timely and great fun from beginning to end' Bella Mackie, author of How to Kill Your Family'Oozes with style, pace, and a cunningly imagined plot' Lucy Clarke, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Hike'Razor-sharp writing, great characters and a brilliantly topical story' T.M. Logan, author of The Dream HomeRAMONA CHANGAn investigative journalist turned private detective, Ramona's final scoop left her with a target on her back. Now in hiding, she is living in a run-down flat in east London. But when her latest case looking into an upmarket escort agency takes a dark turn, she needs information only accessible to those in power . . .DETECTIVE SERGEANT MADELEINE FARROWA high-flying operative at a government agency, it's the day of her fiftieth birthday when Madeleine finds out that she has been given the lead on an investigation into corruption on a global scale. But when she finds her case mysteriously blocked from the inside, she needs someone on the outside, capable of moving undetected . . .As Ramona's and Madeleine's cases collide, can the unlikely allies find justice for multiple victims within the capital's hotbed of lies and deception?A gripping thrill-ride set against the gloss and grit of contemporary London, DIRTY MONEY introduces an unforgettable new detective duo created by critically acclaimed writer Charlotte Philby.'Brilliant! Effortlessly cool and clever. Cracking plot too' Jane Casey, author of The Killing Kind'Slick, stylish, glimmering with menace and introducing two unforgettable new leads' Lucy Foley, author of The Guest List