Colin Mardell

Colin was born in Ruislip, Middlesex, attended the London Nautical School. After a less than illustrious secondary education, he left at fifteen years old to work as a fitter for Martin Baker, the ejector seat manufacturer in Denham. At eighteen he joined the London Fire Brigade and served for thirty years, much of it in Northwest London, ending up as a Divisional Officer heading the Brigade’s Fire Investigation Teams. During that time, he met and married his wife Christine, and their two children Kirsty and Angus were born. Forced to retire through ill health at fifty, he worked for a time as an information officer at Buckinghamshire County Council Social Services Department, before moving to Lincolnshire in 2001. A desire to be closer to children and grandchildren demanded a return to Buckinghamshire in 2024.

A long serving member of Hillingdon based amateur dramatic society Argosy Players; Colin’s other leisure activity was writing fiction purely for pleasure. It wasn’t until the long periods of inactivity created by Covid allowed him to concentrate on his writing and consider publishing some of his work.

His Novel 'Wolf in the Henhouse' was winner of the 2025 Noose Award for best crime thriller.