Mike Craven

Sub-genre: Crime Thriller, Police procedural

M. W. Craven was born in Carlisle but grew up in Newcastle, running away to join the army at the tender age of sixteen. He spent the next ten years travelling the world having fun, leaving in 1995 to complete a degree in social work with specialisms in criminology and substance misuse. Thirty-one years after leaving Cumbria, he returned to take up a probation officer position in Whitehaven, eventually working his way up to chief officer grade. Sixteen years later he took the plunge, accepted redundancy and became a full-time author. He now has entirely different motivations for trying to get inside the minds of criminals . . .

The Puppet Show, the first in a two-book deal he signed with the Little, Brown imprint, Constable in 2017, was released to critical acclaim in hardback in 2018. It has been sold in numerous foreign territories and the production company Studio Lambert, creators of the award-winning Three Girls, have optioned it for TV. It has been shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger, the Amazon Publishers Readers Awards and the Glass Bell Award for Contemporary Fiction. The sequel, Black Summer, followed in June 2019.

M. W. Craven is married and lives in Carlisle with his wife, Joanne. When he isn’t out with his springer spaniel, or talking nonsense in the pub, he can be found at punk gigs and writing festivals up and down the country.

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Other Awards

Shortlisted for CWA 2013 Debut Dagger

Shortlisted for CWA 2019 Gold Dagger

Shortlisted for Dead Good Reader Award

Shortlisted for Amazon Publishing Readers Award

Shortlisted for Glass Bell Award for Contemporary Fiction

Books by Mike Craven

• Born in a Burial Gown

  

• Body Breaker

  

• Black Summer

  

• The Puppet Show

  

• The Curator