Malcolm Pryce (born 1960) is a British author, mostly known for his ''noir'' detective novels.

Biography

Born in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

, England, Pryce moved at the age of nine to

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

, where he later attended Penglais Comprehensive School before leaving to do some travelling. After working in a variety of jobs, including

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

assembly-line worker in Germany, hotel washer-up, "the world's worst aluminium salesman" and deckhand on a yacht in

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

, Pryce became an advertising copywriter 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 ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. He is currently resident in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Writing career

Pryce writes in the style of

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

and has been labelled "the king of Welsh noir". His ''Aberystwyth Noir'' novels are incongruously set on the rainswept streets of an alternate universe version of the Welsh seaside resort and university town of

. The hero of these novels is

Louie Knight ''Aberystwyth Noir'' is a series of novels by British author Malcolm Pryce. The series focuses on the character of Louie Knight and is set in an alternative universe of the Welsh town of Aberystwyth, where the main religions in this alternative W ...

, the best private detective in Aberystwyth (also the only private detective in Aberystwyth), who battles crime organised by the local

Druids A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...

, investigates the strange case of the town's disappearing youths, and gets involved in its burgeoning film industry, which produces '' What The Butler Saw'' movies. Pryce has also written ''The Case of the 'Hail Mary' Celeste'' and ''Aberystwyth Noir - It Ain't Over till the Bearded Lady Sings'', a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

Afternoon Drama, first broadcast on 15 May 2013, featuring Louie Knight and produced and directed by

Kate McAll Kate McAll is an executive producer of radio drama at BBC Wales. There she is a radio director and producer for BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4. Her credits include '' How I Live Now'' (Radio 3) and ''The Worst Journey in the World ''The Worst Jour ...

Bibliography

Aberystwyth noir

*''Aberystwyth Mon Amour'', 2001,

Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...

, *''Last Tango in Aberystwyth'', 2003, Bloomsbury Publishing, *''The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Aberystwyth'', 2005, Bloomsbury Publishing, *''Don't Cry for Me Aberystwyth'', 2007, Bloomsbury Publishing, *''From Aberystwyth with Love'', 2009, Bloomsbury Publishing, *''The Day Aberystwyth Stood Still'', 2011, Bloomsbury Publishing, *''A Streetcar Named Aberystwyth'', 2024, Zoo of Words,

The Case Files of Jack Wenlock, Railway Detective

*''The Case of the 'Hail Mary' Celeste'', 2015, Bloomsbury Publishing, *''The Corpse in the Garden of Perfect Brightness'', 2020, Bloomsbury Publishing, This author should not be confused with a different author of the same name,Author's website about alternative author
/ref> who has written the following books: *''A Dragon to Agincourt'', 2003,

Y Lolfa Y Lolfa ( Welsh for ''The Lounge'', ) is a Welsh printing and publishing company based in Tal-y-bont, Ceredigion, in Mid-Wales. It publishes a wide variety of books in Welsh and English. It also provides a commercial print service. Y Lolfa was ...

, *''With Madog to the New World'', 2005, Y Lolfa,

References

External links

Author website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pryce, Malcolm 1960 births Living people English humorists 21st-century English novelists Writers from Shrewsbury Writers from Aberystwyth People educated at Ysgol Penglais School English male novelists 21st-century English male writers