Karen Taylor

Since graduating with an MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) at UEA I have developed my love and command of the crime genre. My latest book -- Maelstrom of Malice -- was launched on 8 April 2025. It's a thriller based around the arts community in Penzance, Cornwall, and is the third in the DI Brandon Hammett series. The second in the series, Dark Arts, launched on 5 December 2023, and is the prequel to Fairest Creatures -- which was published on October 15, 2021 by Leamington Books. Fairest Creatures was longlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger in 2020. It has since received a Chill With a Book Premier Readers Award and Cover of the Month and received an honourable mention in the UK Crime Book Club's best reads of 2022.

Praise for Maelstrom of Malice

'Stand by to be transported to stormy Cornwall by this super-pacy yarn, complete with spooky touches and even a brush of romance. A blast of a thriller - perfect holiday reading,' Orlando Murrin author of Knife Skills for Beginners and Murder Below Deck.

Praise for Fairest Creatures

'Assured and intriguing, Fairest Creatures is a novel that will grip you from the first page and hold you to the last,’ William Ryan, author of the Captain Korolev books.

‘A dark and sinister hunt for a serial killer had me hooked from the first page,’ Dreda Say Mitchell.

‘I loved this novel with its unusual viewpoints and characters. It raced along with a great pace taking the reader with it. It was easy to invest in the main characters; they were so well-drawn and rounded. I even found myself feeling sorry for the killer!

‘A real twist is the chapters from the victim’s point of view. Locked up and tormented by kindness, she waits to see what the SBK will have in store for her, in a house stinking of formaldehyde and full of the weirdest artworks imaginable. This is a great novel from a writer I can’t wait to read again. Highly recommended,’ Judi Daykin, author of the DS Sara Hirst novels.

Praise for Dark Arts

'This origin story for DI Brandon Hammett moves at a tremendous pace along a twisting and dark path. Karen Taylor proves once again that she is a master of gothic storytelling, using Cornish traditions and history to give a unique backdrop to her police procedurals. Five stars from me,' Judi Daykin.

As a journalist I gained hands on experience of the City of London. The Trade, published by Endeavour Press in 2013, is a thriller based in the murky world of finance in the pre-digital days of the early nineties. My young adult thriller Off The Rails is also based around the City -- in the unused tunnels of the London Underground, which shelters a young homeless community, as well as in its towering glass palaces.

My Sci-Fi adventure for 8-11 year olds features London, Switzerland and the Outer Hebrides, among many other places in this galaxy and the next. I tone it down for the younger children, with The Toffee Makers series (4-8) -- but even in this magical world, there is mischief and mayhem ...