It’s the close of 2024 so why not do a round up of my highlights? I used to do this every year then got out of the habit, and who knows what I did or achieved in the years I’ve missed? Not me, that’s for sure!

So here’s a round up, more to aid my terrible memory in the future than anything else!

• At the beginning of March I traveled up to Skipton for my first ever painting course (landscapes in oil with the brilliant Jenny Aitken)

• Every Move You Make, my 10th standalone crime novel, about victims of stalking who fight back was published in hardback on 28th March and was a number 8 Sunday Times bestseller.

• I spoke about my own stalking experience in The Times, The Express, The Irish Examiner and on Radio 2 (talking on National radio was terrifying but I’m so glad I did it. Thank you to Jeremy Vine who invited me on).

• Every Move You Make was a:
  • No. 1 Amazon Kindle bestseller
  • No. 1 Apple books audio bestseller
  • No. 1 Apple books ebook bestseller
  • No. 1 Kobo’s Top Twenty Books of 2024
  • No. 1 Kobo’s best Crime & Thriller books of 2024

• I did seventeen events across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales including eight book shops (seven indies and one Waterstones), one library event, one charity event, six crime festivals and one teaching gig.

• I attended the glittering HarperCollins summer party in the Victoria and Albert Museum on 4th July.

• My highlight of the year was travelling to Newcastle with my parents to receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from my alma mater The University of Northumbria on 16th July.

• The paperback of Every Move You Make was published on 12th September and was a Richard and Judy pick for the autumn.

• My short story ‘How to Commit Murder in a Bookshop’ was published in the anthology Death Comes to Christmas which was published on 22nd October.

• I finished writing my eleventh crime novel and completed the structural edits, line edits and copy edits. Just need to proof read it by the 10th of January and it’s DONE. It’s called ‘It’s Always the Husband‘ and it will be published in hardback, ebook and audio on 5th June 2025. Cover to be revealed soon. Watch this space!

• I came up with an idea for my twelfth crime novel, went on a research trip to help sure up the idea, wrote a synopsis and showed to to my editor and agent who gave it enthusiastic thumbs up! I’ll continue researching and plotting it in January 2025 with the aim to start writing it in February.

• A teacher from Greenwood Academy, Irvine (Scotland) tweeted me to say that students in the English department had been writing essays on my young adult book The Island. My young adults books didn’t really make a big splash – or sell loads of copies – so finding out that The Island was being read (and hopefully enjoyed 🤞) meant so much.

• I finally completed the first part of The Conqueror Lord of the Rings challenge (running 140 miles in two years), have done 115 weeks of Peleton in a row (mostly strength and running workouts), and I did a LOT of crochet, pottery and painting.

Well done if you’ve read this far! Thank you for reading my blog posts this year, for chatting with me on social media, for buying and borrowing my books and recommending them to my friends. Here’s to 2025. I hope it’s a good one!