Margaret Murphy
Margaret Murphy is the author of ten internationally acclaimed psychological thrillers, published in the UK, USA, and in translation across Europe. After a string of stand-alone novels, Margaret recently began her first series with The Dispossessed and Now You See Me. Her work has been shortlisted for the First Blood Award and for the Crime Writers’ Association Dagger in the Library.
Margaret has been a countryside ranger, science teacher and dyslexia specialist. She is founder of Murder Squad, a committee member of the Crime Writers’ Association. Margaret has just completed a stint as Crime Writers Association Dagger Liaison Officer, and is now Vice Chair of the association. She is currently Visiting Professor at Liverpool John Moores University, teaching on the MA in Writing, and presents a Writing Masterclass on Radio Merseyside Drive Time.
Margaret adds:
My author copies of the Czech translation of DARKNESS FALLS arrived recently – apparently in Czechoslovakian, my name is Murphyová.
Website: www.margaretmurphy.co.uk
When Megan Ward goes missing, suspicion falls on the stalker seen outside her house The police would love it to be so simple, but the closer they look, the more mysterious Megan herself becomes. They find no photos, no passport, no family or friends. Only the corrupted computer files in Megan’s strangely impersonal room.
Meanwhile, Patrick Doran, owner of Safe Hands Security living his own nightmare. A hacker has breached his computer network, where he thought he had safely buried his past.
Then her landlady is murdered, and the shadowy Megan re-merges. The woman who doesn’t exist becomes very real, very elusive and very dangerous.
Now You See Me (Hodder & Stoughton, first published: November 2005) ISBN 978-0-340-83420-6
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Margaret read from Now You See Me and was interviewed on Legal tv by Raychel Harvey-Jones. That interview has now been uploaded to YouTube, but you don't have to go to that site to see it; here it is:
Bled to death and left in a rubbish bin, the teenaged prostitute is just the first victim.
DI Jeff Rickman’s investigation into the Afghan refugee’s sordid death leads first to the heart of a community who can’t - or won’t - talk to him. Then the investigation comes home to Rickman’s own private life. As the body count starts rising he is framed for a crime he didn’t commit. A murderer is trying to make things personal. Very personal. Is he on the trail of a serial killer? Or something even more sinister?
The Dispossessed (New English Library, first published: November 2004) ISBN 978-0-340-83418-8
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A searing story of Murder, mistrust and revenge for fans of Nicci French and Ruth Rendell.
Three crimes. Two deaths. One chance.
A woman beaten to death while her young child sleeps upstairs. A man shot in cold blood. A crooked cop taking backhanders.
Barrister Clara Pascal thought she was taking on a simple child custody case...
Still traumatised by her own recent experiences as a kidnap victim, Clara works hard to keep the shadows of the past from affecting her friends, family and work. But the dreams don't get any easier and the past won't go away. When a local woman is brutally murdered Clara finds herself thrown back into a crime investigation she wants nothing to do with.
Her client is a convicted killer, one who stalks and photographs young women - so why does Clara believe that he's innocent?
Risking her career, her reputation and her life Clara sets out to prove that the past has no hold on the future while a killer comes ever closer to making her the next victim...
Weaving Shadows (Leisure Books, first published: April 2003) ISBN 978-0-8439-5668-9
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Clara Pascal had everything; a high-flying barrister and devoted mother, she was envied and admired by her peers. Now, robbed of everything that gives her life meaning, she lies chained to the stone wall of a dark cellar - without food, without warmth, without sleep, without even the most basic communication - for her kidnapper will not tell her what he wants from her. As the police team frantically knocks on doors, following up wisps of leads, bullying, cajoling, begging witnesses for help, it seems that Clara Pascal has disappeared without trace.
Meanwhile, in her dark prison, Clara begins to suspect why her killer has kept her alive so far.
Darkness Falls (Leisure Books, first published: April 2002) ISBN 978-0-8439-5649-8
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