Andrew Taylor

Andrew Taylor is a British author of historical crime fiction whose meticulously researched, elegantly written novels have earned him critical acclaim, major awards, and a devoted readership. He is one of the most respected practitioners of historical mystery writing in the English language. Born in 1951 and raised in the Forest of Dean, Taylor studied English at King's College, Cambridge. He has worked as a librarian and a publisher's reader, and has been a full-time writer since the early 1980s. His career spans several acclaimed series and standalone novels. The Roth Trilogy — The Four Last Things, The Judgement of Strangers, and The Office of the Dead — won the Crime Writers' Association Ellis Peters Historical Dagger. The Lydmouth series is set in a fictional town on the Welsh border in the 1950s. The Blaines novels explore an English cathedral city over decades. The Ashes of London (2016) launched what became the Marwood and Lovett series, set in Restoration London during and after the Great Fire of 1666. The series follows James Marwood, a reluctant government agent, and Cat Lovett, a resourceful and independent young woman, as they navigate the dangerous political and social landscape of Charles II's England. The series has been widely praised for its vivid evocation of seventeenth-century London, its compelling characters, and its gripping plots. Taylor's standalone novels include The American Boy, a literary mystery involving Edgar Allan Poe as a schoolboy, which was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick and a major bestseller. He won the CWA Diamond Dagger in 2009 for sustained excellence in crime writing — the genre's most prestigious lifetime achievement award. The audiobook editions of Taylor's novels are superb, with narrators capturing the period detail and suspense of his writing. His books and audiobooks are essential for anyone who loves historical crime fiction written with intelligence, atmosphere, and real literary quality.