Debbie Young (born 1960) is a British writer of 16

cozy mystery Cozy mysteries (also referred to as cozies) are a sub-genre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur offstage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small socially-intimate community. Cozies thus s ...

novels, former advice blog editor for

Alliance of Independent Authors The Alliance of Independent Authors (often abbreviated to ALLi, pronounced "ally") is a non-profit organisation of independent (or self-published) authors. The organisation was founded at the London Book Fair in 2012, by Orna Ross and Philip Ly ...

, course tutor for Jericho Writers' Simply Self Publish course, and founder in 2015 of the now annual Hawkesbury Upton Literary Festival. Her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, ''Best Murder in Show'', a cosy mystery set in the Cotswolds, was published in 2017. She also writes short stories and non-fiction.

Published Books

Young's first nine novels were self-published under her own imprint, Hawkesbury Press. She has since licensed these novels and been contracted to write 10 more by Boldwood Books. The lists below show her original publication dates and titles, with a note of revised titles applied to the Boldwood Books editions.

Sophie Sayers Cosy Mystery Novels, set in the Cotswold village of Wendlebury Barrow

# ''Best Murder in Show'' # ''Murder at the Vicarage'' (first published as ''Trick or Murder?'') # ''Murder in the Manger'' # ''Murder at the Well (''first published as ''Murder by the Book)'' # ''Springtime for Murder'' # ''Murder at the Mill'' (first published as ''Murder Your Darlings'') # ''Murder Lost and Found'' # ''Murder in the Highlands'' # ''Driven to Murder''

Gemma Lamb Cosy Mysteries, set at St Bride's School

# ''Dastardly Deeds at St Bride's'' (first published as ''Secrets at St Bride's)'' # ''Sinister Stranger at St Bride's'' (first published as ''Secrets at St Bride's)'' # ''Wicked Whispers at St Bride's'' # ''Artful Antics at St Bride's''

Cotswold Curiosity Shop Cosy Mysteries, set in the Cotswold village of Little Pride

# ''Death at the Old Curiosity Shop'' # ''Death at the Village Chess Club'' # ''Death at the Village Christmas Fair''

Novellas & Novelettes

# ''Mrs Norris Changes Lanes'' # ''The Clutch of Eggs'' # ''The Natter of Knitters''

Short Story Collections

# ''Quick Change'' # ''Marry in Haste'' # ''Stocking Fillers'' # ''Christmas with Sophie Sayers''

Books for Authors

* ''How To Get Your Self-Published Book into Bookstores'': Volume 4 (with

Orna Ross Orna Ross is the pen name of Aine McCarthy, born 1960. She is an Irish author, former literary agent, blogger and an advocate for creativism. She is the founder of the Alliance for Independent Authors, a professional association for authors who ...

), Font Publications, 2017 * ''How to Work More Effectively with the Book Trade'' with Dan Holloway, Font Publications

Books about Type 1 Diabetes

* ''Coming to Terms with Type 1 Diabetes: One Family's Story of Life After Diagnosis'' (Foreword by

Justin Webb Justin Oliver Webb (born Justin Oliver Prouse; born 3 January 1961) is a British journalist who has worked for the BBC since 1984. He is a former BBC North America Editor and the main co-presenter of BBC One's '' Breakfast News'' programme. Sin ...

), Hawkesbury Press, 2014

Collected Columns and Essays

Since 2010 Young has written monthly columns for two local magazines, the ''Tetbury Advertiser'' and the ''Hawkesbury Parish News''. These articles and columns have since been republished in four books. * ''All Part of the Charm: A Modern Memoir of English Village Life: Volume 1 (Collected Essays)'', Hawkesbury Press, 2016 * ''Still Charmed: A Modern Memoir of English Village Life: Volume 1 (Collected Essays),'' Hawkesbury Press 2021 * ''Young By Name: Whimsical Columns from the Tetbury Advertiser Volume 1 (Collected Essays),'' Hawkesbury Press, 2016 * ''Still Young By Name: Whimsical Columns from the Tetbury Advertiser Volume 2 (Collected Essays)'' Hawkesbury Press, 2021

Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival

Young was for many years involved in the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

-led World Book Night as one of thousands of volunteer "book givers". In 2015, she set up a local event on the evening of 23 April (World Book Night) in The Fox Inn in

Hawkesbury Upton Hawkesbury Upton is a village in South Gloucestershire, England, east of the much smaller Hawkesbury. It lies north of Horton, east of Dunkirk and south of Alderley and Hillesley. Hawkesbury Upton is close to the A46 road. The village lies ...

. This grew into an evening event with authors, poets and illustrators, celebrating reading with panel discussions and public readings. In 2016, the festival returned, this time for a full day's programme in multiple venues. The festival will have its tenth anniversary on Saturday 27th September 2025.

References

External links

Official Web Page of Debbie Young

Profile on Hawkesbury Press website

Cozy Mystery Writer Debbie Young Gives Back to the Indie Community, Inspirational Indie Authors podcast with Howard Lovy, 8 September 2019

Getting Your Self-Published Book Into Bookstores And Libraries With Debbie Young
interview with Joanna Penn
Are You A Plotter vs Pantser?
podcast
Interview on Stratford Words with Nick le Mesurier
2018 {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Debbie 1961 births People from Sidcup Living people 20th-century British women writers 21st-century English novelists 21st-century British women writers Alumni of the University of York