Simon Beckett

Simon Beckett was born on 20 April 1960 in Sheffield, England, to a working-class background.{{cite web | url=http://www.readersdigest.co.nz/simon-beckett | title=Interview with author Simon Beckett | accessdate=17 September 2012 | publisher=Reader's Digest New Zealand | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410064319/http://www.readersdigest.co.nz/simon-beckett | archivedate=10 April 2014 | df=dmy-all }} After earning a Master of Arts degree in English, Beckett taught in Spain and played in several bands before becoming a freelance journalist.{{cite web| title=Simon Beckett Official Homepage: About the Author | accessdate=10 September 2012 | url=https://simonbeckett.com/about-simon-beckett}} He has written for The Times, The Independent on Sunday, The Daily Telegraph and The Observer, amongst others. He wrote several novels, including Fine Lines in 1994, before publishing the first novel in the David Hunter series, The Chemistry of Death, in 2006. A crime novel centred on a forensic anthropologist, Dr David Hunter, as the protagonist, The Chemistry of Death was shortlisted for the 2006 Gold Dagger award.{{cite news |title=Yorkshire crime writer on trail of top award |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=29 May 2006|id={{ProQuest|335273780}} }} Sequel novels featuring David Hunter have been released in August 2007 (Written in Bone), January 2009 (Whispers of the Dead), 2010 (The Calling of the Grave) and 2017 (The Restless Dead). The series has sold several million copies worldwide and is particularly popular in Germany and Scandinavia.{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/09/simon-beckett-bestseller-no-one-knows | title=The bestselling author no one in Britain knows | work=The Guardian | date=9 February 2012| accessdate=5 December 2012 | author=Simon Beckett}}{{cite web | url=http://www.simonbeckett.com/book | title=Simon Beckett Official Homepage: Intro | accessdate=5 December 2012 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029211905/http://www.simonbeckett.com/book | archivedate=29 October 2012 | df=dmy-all }}

The books and protagonist were inspired when Beckett visited the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility (the body farm founded by forensic anthropology pioneer Dr Bill Bass) in 2002, doing research for an article for the Daily Telegraph. Having watched—and participated in—"live" exercises involving manufactured crime scenes containing real decaying corpses, and having witnessed the sciences employed to ascertain how, when and where death occurred, Beckett was inspired to create a central character who is, in his own words, "vulnerable" and "very human", while authoritative and knowledgeable regarding forensic anthropology.

Simon Beckett is married and currently lives in Sheffield.

Beckett's novels are very popular in Europe; by 2010 he had sold over four million books outside of the United Kingdom and in the same year had outsold J K Rowling and Ian McEwan in Continental Europe.{{cite news |last1=Brooks |first1=Richard |title=Unknown UK crime writer wows Europe: Literature Simon Beckett, a Sheffield odd-job man, outsold JK Rowling on the Continent last year |work=The Sunday Times |date=7 February 2010|id={{ProQuest|316479725}} }} In February 2019, he was presented with a Ripper Award (the European Prize from Criminal Literature). He received the award jointly with novelist Arne Dahl as they both received the same amount of public vote.{{cite news |title=Simon Beckett ist Preisträger des RIPPER AWARD 2018/19 |url=https://www.rowohlt.de/news/simon-beckett-ist-preistraeger-des-ripper-award.html |accessdate=19 April 2019 |work=rowohlt |date=5 December 2018 |language=de}}

In March 2020, Trapeze Books announced that Beckett had signed a two-book deal with them to release the new Jonah Colley series which revolves around a police officer from the Metropolitan Police in London. The first book, titled The Lost, was released in July 2021.{{cite news |last1=Cowdrey |first1=Katherine |title=Simon Beckett signs with Trapeze for new crime series {{!}} The Bookseller |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/simon-beckett-signs-trapeze-new-crime-series-1196185 |accessdate=7 April 2020 |work=The Bookseller |date=18 March 2020}}

In 2023, a TV series with 6 episodes named the chemistry of death was released, starring Harry Treadaway as David Hunter, Ellen Francis, and Rosa Whimster, written by Sukey Fisher and directed by Richard Clark.

• ''The Chemistry of Death (2006)
• Written in Bone (2007)
• Whispers of the Dead (2009)
• The Calling of the Grave (2010)
• Cat and Mouse (2013) - ebook
• Snowfall and a Normal Day (2016) - ebook
• The Restless Dead (2017)
• The Scent of Death (2019){{cite web |title=Simon Beckett |url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/1039718/simon-beckett.html |website=www.penguin.co.uk |accessdate=3 November 2018}}

• The Lost (2021)

• Fine Lines (1994)
• Animals (1995)
• Where There's Smoke (1997)
• Owning Jacob (1998)
• Stone Bruises (2014)

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.simonbeckett.com/ Official website] (en)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140403224244/http://literatur-community.de/magazin/interviews/simon-beckett/ Interview with Simon Beckett]

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Category:1960 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century English novelists

Category:21st-century English novelists

Category:English male novelists

Category:English crime fiction writers

Category:English male journalists

Category:Writers from Sheffield