Chris Simms (author)

Last updated

Chris Simms
ChrisSimms.jpg
Occupation Crime Novelist, Copywriter
NationalityBritish
GenreCrime fiction
SubjectCrime, thriller, horror
Website
chrissimms.info//

Chris Simms(born in 1969, in Horsham, West Sussex)[ citation needed ] is a British author of crime novels, he graduated from Newcastle University before travelling around the world. He then moved to Manchester in 1994 where he began writing. He is married with four children and lives in Stockport [1] and as well as being the author of a number of works he is also a freelance copywriter.

Contents

Awards and acknowledgements

Speaking in the Literary Review , Jessica Mann said Simms was one to watch after his debut novel. [2]

His second novel Pecking Order was selected as a Best British Crime Novel by Deadly Pleasures magazine.

Killing the Beasts was named Best Crime Book for 2005 by Shots magazine.

In 2007, Simms was selected as a 'Waterstone's Author for the Future'. [3]

Savage Moon was shortlisted for the 2009 Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award [4]

Manchester Confidential [5] described Simms' writing as 'thoughtful and exciting crime fiction at its best'.

He has also been described as "one of the best of the new generation" by The Guardian. [6]

Bibliography

DI Spicer series

DC Iona Khan series

DC Sean Blake series

Other

Pecking Order

Largely set on a Cheshire battery farm, Pecking Order (2004) follows the naïve but cruel Rubble who is duped into believing that he's been enrolled as an agent on a sinister government project. Partly inspired by the 1960s experiments of Stanley Milgram into man's obedience to authority, the novel also touches on such diverse issues as euthanasia and the ethics of factory farming. It does so with 'intelligence and subtlety' according to The Bookseller and was selected as a 'Best British Crime Novel' for 2004 by Deadly Pleasures magazine. Simms then moved to the Orion Publishing Group.

Killing the Beasts

Killing the Beasts (2005) commences his series of thrillers set very firmly in Manchester. Lead character is Jon Spicer, a Detective Inspector in Greater Manchester Police's Major Incident Team. Descended from the Irish immigrants who helped build the world's first industrial city, DI Spicer never shies away from Manchester's violent and lawless corners during his investigations.

Killing the Beasts is set during 2002 with the city's hosting of that year's Commonwealth Games providing a backdrop to the action. The plot revolves around a killer who sedates his victims before suffocating them by blocking their airways with a mysterious gel. The novel was chosen by Shots Magazine as a 'Best Crime Book' for 2005. Its sequel, Shifting Skin (2006), sees DI Spicer tracking 'The Butcher of Belle Vue', a murderer who uses surgical skills to remove large swathes of his victims' flesh. The investigation ultimately leads Jon into the city's shady escort scene and the unscrupulous end of the cosmetic surgery industry. Shifting Skin was nominated for the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year.

Savage Moon

Third in the series is Savage Moon (2007). Containing multiple references to the horror classic, 'An American Werewolf in London', the novel is concerned with a brutal killing that takes place on the notorious Saddleworth Moor, to the edge of the city. At first it's assumed a mysterious black cat that's been spotted prowling the wild terrain is responsible. But then more bodies start to appear, each one a little closer to the centre of the city itself. It was described by The Guardian. [7] as 'an atmospheric, psychologically astute and emotionally literate study of the nature of predator and prey' and was shortlisted for the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year. [8]

Hell's Fire

Next in the series is Hell's Fire (2008), a thriller that looks at the role of religion in modern-day society. In it, Jon is charged with unravelling who is behind a spate of arson attacks on churches around Manchester. A city landmark that plays a part in the novel is the recently renovated Gorton Monastery. "...a persuasive, original plot... Next release is The Edge (2009). According to The Bookseller it is 'reputed to be his most powerful and personal novel yet'. The story follows Jon on a lonely quest to discover who murdered his younger brother and then dumped the dismembered body on top of a hill in the nearby Peak District National Park. The latest release in the DI Spicer series is Cut Adrift(2010). The story traces Jon's marital troubles interwoven with people trafficking, murder and the threat of international terrorism.

Related Research Articles

Reginald Charles Hill FRSL was an English crime writer and the winner in 1995 of the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement. He was inducted into the prestigious Detection Club in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jo Nesbø</span> Norwegian writer and musician (born 1960)

Jon "Jo" Nesbø is a Norwegian writer, musician, and former football player and reporter. More than 3 million copies of his novels had been sold in Norway as of March 2014, and he had sold over 50 million copies worldwide by 2021, making him the most successful Norwegian author of all time. His work has been translated into more than 50 languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Child</span> British thriller writer (born 1954)

James Dover Grant, primarily known by his pen name Lee Child, is a British author who writes thriller novels, and is best known for his Jack Reacher novel series. The books follow the adventures of a former American military policeman, Jack Reacher, who wanders the United States. His first novel, Killing Floor (1997), won both the Anthony Award and the 1998 Barry Award for Best First Novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Hewson</span> British author of mystery novels

David Hewson is a contemporary British author of mystery novels. His series of mysteries, featuring police officers In Rome, led by the young detective and art lover Nic Costa, began with A Season for the Dead, has now been contracted to run to at least nine instalments by British, American, European and Asian publishers. The author's debut novel, Shanghai Thunder, was published by Robert Hale, in the United Kingdom, in 1986. Almost all copies of the book were sent to libraries, and it has been reissued.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Leather</span> British author (born 1958)

Stephen Leather is a British thriller author whose works are published by Hodder & Stoughton. He has written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock, and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. He is one of the top selling Amazon Kindle authors, the second bestselling UK author worldwide on Kindle in 2011.

John Harvey is a British author of crime fiction most famous for his series of jazz-influenced Charlie Resnick novels, based in the City of Nottingham. He is also a screenwriter and poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mo Hayder</span> British author (1962–2021)

Beatrice Clare Dunkel was a British author. Earlier in her life she worked as an actress and model under the name Candy Davis and appeared as Miss Belfridge in the BBC sitcom Are You Being Served?. She went on to write novels as Mo Hayder. She won an Edgar Award in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. J. Ellory</span> English thriller writer

Roger Jon Ellory is an English thriller writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allan Guthrie</span>

Allan Guthrie is a Scottish literary agent, author and editor of crime fiction. He was born in Orkney, but has lived in Edinburgh for most of his adult life. His first novel, Two-Way Split, was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger Award, and it won the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award in 2007. His second novel, Kiss Her Goodbye, was nominated for an Edgar Award, an Anthony Award, and a Gumshoe Award.

Gordon Burn was an English writer born in Newcastle upon Tyne and the author of four novels and several works of non-fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart MacBride</span> Scottish writer (born 1969)

Stuart MacBride is a Scottish writer, whose crime thrillers are set in the "Granite City" of Aberdeen, with Detective Sergeant Logan McRae as protagonist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter James (writer)</span> English crime fiction novelist (born 1948)

Peter J. James is a British writer of crime. He was born in Brighton, the son of Cornelia James, the former glovemaker to Queen Elizabeth II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian McKinty</span> Irish crime novelist and critic

Adrian McKinty is a Northern Irish writer of crime and mystery novels and young adult fiction, best known for his 2020 award-winning thriller, The Chain, and the Sean Duffy novels set in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. He is a winner of the Edgar Award, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, the Macavity Award, the Ned Kelly Award, the Barry Award, the Audie Award, the Anthony Award and the International Thriller Writers Award. He has been shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière.

Mary Jane Maffini is a Canadian mystery writer. She has created three mystery series and written 12 novels.

Chris Ewan is a British crime and mystery writer. He is best known for his "Good Thief" series of travelling adventures featuring Charlie Howard, a thief and author of his own crime series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mick Herron</span> British novelist

Mick Herron is a British mystery and thriller novelist. He is the author of the Slough House series, early novels of which have been adapted for the Slow Horses television series. He won the Crime Writers' Association 2013 Gold Dagger award for Dead Lions.

Stuart Turton is an English author and journalist. His first novel, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (2018) was a bestseller internationally and won a number of awards including the 2018 Costa Book Award for First Novel. His books have sold over one million copies in the US and UK.

Oyinkan Braithwaite is a Nigerian-British novelist and writer. She was born in Lagos and spent her childhood in both Nigeria and the UK.

Imran Mahmood is a British novelist and barrister. His first novel You Don't Know Me (2017), which was shortlisted for the Glass Bell Award in 2018, was dramatised by the BBC in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Whitaker (author)</span> British author

Chris Whitaker is a British author known for his books Tall Oaks, All the Wicked Girls, We Begin at the End, and The Forevers.

References

  1. ↑ "Chris High profile of Chris Simms". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  2. ↑ Jessica Mann's review of Chris Simms' debut novel
  3. ↑ Nick QuantrIll. "25 Authors of the Future". Shots Magazine.
  4. ↑ "Book Prize Information - Prizewinning Author Chris Simms". Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  5. ↑ "Philip Hamer". Manchester Confidential. Retrieved 8 December 2009.[ permanent dead link ]
  6. ↑ "Best of the New Generation". Crime Weekend.
  7. ↑ Unsworth, Cathi (27 September 2008). "The Guardian Book Review". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  8. ↑ "Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year". Theakstons. Archived from the original on 27 May 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.