About Sarah

Sarah Ward Finals 05 2021-3

Sarah Ward is a critically acclaimed Welsh crime and thriller writer.

Her third book in her Derbyshire quartet, A Patient Fury (Faber, 2018), was an Observer thriller of the month and her fourth novel, The Shrouded Path (Faber, 2019), an Amazon top ten bestseller. Her gothic thriller The Quickening (Trapeze, 2020) was her first completely historical work which looked at the influence of spiritualism during the years following the First World War. It was a Radio Times book of the year and its successor, The Shadowing, a Daily Express book of the year. She is currently writing two series, one based in West Wales where she lives and the other a dark academia focused New England series inspired by real-life archaeologist Professor Sarah Tarlow.

Sarah has also published short stories, written features for various print publications and has scripted two Doctor Who audio dramas for Big Finish.

Articles, reviews and short stories have appeared in the The Guardian, Sunday Express magazine, Metro, Red Online, Big Issue, Traveller, Who Do You Think You are magazine, and other print and online publications. She’s appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Today, PM and Saturday Live programmes talking about her books. She was one of the in inaugural judges for The Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel and is now a judge on the Crime Writers Association ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger.

Before her writing career, Sarah worked in a variety of public sector policy roles and taught TEFL in Athens, Greece. She continues to teach Creative Writing in a variety of settings, including in schools and prisons, and is an interviewer at festivals and in bookshops. Sarah is a Trustee of Gŵyl Crime Cymru, the Welsh crime writing festival and former Vice-Chair of the Crime Writers Association.

Sarah was a Royal Literary fund Fellow at Sheffield University and now works as a Fellow in its Bridge programme.

In her spare time, she is a keen genealogist, having appeared on Icelandic TV in this role.

Sarah is represented by Kirsty McLachlan at Morgan Green Creatives. She can be contacted on kirsty@morgangreencreatives.com