Domenica de Rosa (born 17 August 1963, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

), known by her

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Elly Griffiths, is a British crime novelist. She has written three series as Griffiths, one featuring Ruth Galloway, one featuring Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens and Max Mephisto, and the Harbinder Kaur series.

Early life

After reading English at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, Griffiths worked in publishing for many years.

Writing career

Griffiths' first series features as a main character forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway, who lives in a remote seaside cottage near

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

and teaches at the University of North Norfolk. This character was inspired by Griffiths' husband, who gave up a city job to train as an archaeologist, and her aunt, "who lives on the Norfolk coast and filled her niece's head with the myths and legends of that area". Griffiths released the first book in this series, ''The Crossing Places'' (''Ruth Galloway'' #1), in 2009. Griffiths' second series, set in 1950s

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, focuses on the duo of Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens and magician Max Mephisto. Griffiths released the first book in this series, ''The Zig Zag Girl'', in 2014. In 2017, Griffiths was the Programming Chair for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, part of the

Harrogate International Festivals Harrogate International Festivals (HIF) is a Registered Charity, registered charity and one of the UK's longest running arts festivals, having been established in 1966. It is based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Festivals include the Harrogate Mu ...

portfolio. Griffiths won the 2020

Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel was established in 1954. Only hardcover novels written by a published American author are eligible. Paperback original novels are eligible for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original. Debut n ...

for ''The Stranger Diaries.'' In 2021, ''The Postscript Murders'' was shortlisted in the

Gold Dagger The CWA Gold Dagger is an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association of the United Kingdom since 1960 for the best crime novel of the year. From 1955 to 1959, the organization named their top honor as the Crossed Red Herring Award. ...

category at the

Crime Writers' Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors' organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its "Dagger" awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. ...

Awards.

Bibliography

As Elly Griffiths

Ruth Galloway series

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

''The Brighton Mysteries'' series

* ''The Zig Zag Girl'' (2014) * ''Smoke and Mirrors'' (2015) * ''The Blood Card'' (2016) * ''The Vanishing Box'' (2017) * ''Now You See Them'' (2019) * ''The Midnight Hour'' (2021) * ''The Great Deceiver'' (2023)

''Harbinder Kaur'' series

* '' The Stranger Diaries'' (2018) * ''The Postscript Murders'' (2020) * '' Bleeding Heart Yard'' (2022) * The Last Word (January 2024)

''A Girl Called Justice'' series

*''A Girl Called Justice'' (2019) *''The Smugglers' Secret'' (2020) *''A Ghost in the Garden'' (2021) *''The Spy at the Window'' (2022)

''Standalone''

* ''The Frozen People'' (2025)

As Domenica de Rosa

*''The Eternal City'' (2005) *''One Summer in Tuscany'' (2008) *''The Italian Quarter'' (2004) *''The Secret of Villa Serena'' (2007) *''Return to the Italian Quarter'' (2018)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Elly 1963 births Living people Alumni of King's College London 21st-century British novelists British women novelists 21st-century British women writers Women crime fiction writers Writers from London 21st-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers British crime fiction writers Edgar Award winners