Howard Linskey

Howard Linskey (born 16 May 1967) is a British novelist and former journalist. He is best known for the David Blake crime fiction series. This series and his subsequent crime novels are set in the north east of England. Linskey is also the author of two historical thrillers set during the Second World War.

Howard Linskey
Born (1967-05-16) May 16, 1967
OccupationAuthor
LanguageEnglish
NationalityBritish
Period2011-present
GenreFiction, crime, thriller
Website
www.howardlinskey.com

Early life

Linskey grew up in Ferryhill,[1] County Durham, England where he attended Ferryhill Comprehensive School. In 1989, he graduated with a degree in history and politics from the University of Huddersfield before working as a barman, catering manager, and marketing manager for a celebrity chef, as well as a variety of sales and account management roles.[2]

In 1993, Linskey completed a postgraduate diploma in journalism after which he worked for several regional newspapers in the North West of England, including the Warrington Guardian.[3] He was also a regular contributor to Newcastle United F.C. fanzine The Mag[4] and was the English Premier League football correspondent for a Malaysian magazine.

Writing career

Linskey's debut novel, The Drop, was published by No Exit Press[5] in 2011. It is a crime thriller set in Newcastle upon Tyne, England featuring a fictional character, David Blake. The book received favourable reviews and was selected by Peter Millar, writing in the London Times, as one of his top five crime thrillers of 2011.[6] It was later optioned for television by film producer David Barron.[7] The Drop was published in Germany by Droemer Knaur in 2014 as Gangland (ISBN 978-3426513972).

Two further titles followed in what subsequently became known as the David Blake series: The Damage (2012),[8] chosen by the Times as one of its Top Summer Reads; and, The Dead (2013) the final book in the series. Both books broke into the top five Amazon Kindle chart and all three titles in the series were recorded as audio books.

Linskey then embarked on a new series of crime mystery novels, again set in the North East of England, featuring journalists Tom Carney and Helen Norton and police detective Ian Bradshaw. Published by Penguin Books,[9] the series opened with No Name Lane (2015),[10] followed by Behind Dead Eyes (2016),[11][12] The Search (2017)[13] and The Chosen Ones (2018).[14]

In addition to crime fiction, Linskey has also authored two novels set during the Second World War, Hunting the Hangman (2017), based on the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, and Ungentlemanly Warfare (2019) relating to an SOE operation in 1943.[15]

TV Series

Linskey was one of the featured authors in the 2017 CBS Reality television series ‘Written In Blood’.[16][17][18] Linskey's episode covered Moors murderer Ian Brady.

Personal life

Linskey lives in Hertfordshire with his wife Alison and daughter Erin. He is a lifelong supporter of Newcastle United F.C.[19]

Bibliography
Title Publisher Publication date ISBN
The Drop No Exit Press 21 April 2011 978-1842433942
The Damage No Exit Press 26 April 2012 978-1842435021
The Dead No Exit Press 25 April 2013 978-1842439623
No Name Lane Penguin Books 12 March 2015 978-0718180324
Behind Dead Eyes Penguin Books 19 May 2016 978-0718180348
The Search Penguin Books 4 May 2017 978-0718180362
Hunting the Hangman No Exit Press 25 May 2017 978-1843449508
The Chosen Ones Penguin Books 14 June 2018 978-1405933148
Ungentlemanly Warfare No Exit Press 6 June 2019 978-0857303202
Alice Teale Is Missing Penguin Books 23 January 2020 978-1405933322
Don't Let Him In Penguin Books 13 May 2021 978-1405945097
The Inheritance Penguin Books 29 September 2022 978-1405945110
The Bodyguard Orion 1 September 2022 978-1841885407

References
  1. Kelly, Mike. "Crime writer Howard Linskey talks about his growing success - The Journal". www.thejournal.co.uk.
  2. McVie, Fiona (1 August 2013). "Here is an interview with Howard Linskey". Authors Interviews.
  3. "Northwich author celebrates debut novel". Northwich Guardian.
  4. Whetstone, David. "Author Howard Linskey returns to the scene of his crimes - The Journal". www.thejournal.co.uk.
  5. Press, No Exit. "Howard Linskey | No Exit Press". noexit.co.uk.
  6. Millar, Peter (14 May 2011). "The Drop by Howard Linskey". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460.
  7. "Newcastle gangster novel adapted for TV". ITV News.
  8. Millar, Sam. "Taut. Tough. Terrifying: The Damage". www.nyjournalofbooks.com.
  9. "MJ buys Linskey crime series | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com.
  10. Popple, Reviewer: Jeff (22 May 2015). "Book reviews: Solitude Creek, The Killing Lessons, No Name Lane". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  11. Whetstone, David (30 May 2016). "Another Howard Linskey novel means yet another gruesome North East murder". nechronicle.
  12. "'Behind Dead Eyes', by Howard Linskey". Financial Times.
  13. "The Search - Howard Linskey Talks To Crime Time". Crime Time. 3 May 2017.
  14. "Howard Linskey". www.penguin.co.uk.
  15. "No Exit Press has acquired a new World War Two historical thriller from bestselling author, Howard Linskey". Crime Time. 8 September 2018.
  16. "In Cold Blood: the story behind the first true crime novel". Dead Good. 4 September 2017.
  17. "10 Crime Fiction Novels Inspired by Real Life Crimes". blog.whsmith.co.uk. 2 September 2017.
  18. CBS Reality, Written In Blood: Episode 10 - The Moors Murders, retrieved 6 February 2019
  19. Harrogate International Festivals. "Author's Bookshelf - Howard Linskey".
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