Rebecca Mary Smith

Rebecca Smith is the author of six novels, two works of non-fiction and the text of a picture-book. Conversations With An Octopus (Legend Press, 2024) is Rebecca Smith’s most recent book and her first crime novel. Jonathan Whitelaw called Conversations With An Octopus ‘utterly addictive from the first page’. 

Conversations With An Octopus takes inspirations from Jane Austen’s unfinished seaside novel, Sanditon. Diana Parks is a beautician with a temper, and she’s not the only member of Ottersea WI who’s had enough of bullies and slimeballs. When the body of lecherous landlord, Raj Sumal, washes up on the beach, it’s up to Detectives Jim Paddon and Grace Brown to solve the mystery. They start to suspect Raj’s wife, Sukhi, who likes walking on the cliffs. Meanwhile, at Ottersea Oceanworld, Jane the Octopus hears people’s secrets and understands everything during a sweltering summer of strange deaths, new friendships, and a whole lot of ice cream.

Rebecca Smith’s work has been published around the world. She was born in London and grew up in Brockham and then Reigate in Surrey before studying History at the University of Southampton where she is now a principal teaching fellow in English and Creative Writing.

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