Sophia Bennett (born 1966) is a British crime novelist and children's writer. She was first published at the age of 42, and her novels have been published in more than 20 languages. Writing as SJ Bennett, she published the first in a series of adult mysteries featuring Queen Elizabeth II as a secret amateur detective, assisted by a fictional assistant private secretary of Nigerian heritage, Captain Rozie Oshodi. Bennett was given a pre-emptive five-book deal by Bonnier Books UK, with further multi-book deals in the US, Italy, France and Germany, brokered by Charlie Campbell of Greyhound Literary agents. ''The Windsor Knot'' formed part of the resurgence of 'cosy crime' in 2020, referring to mystery novels without significant on-the-page sex and violence. It has sold 250,000 copies in the UK. Bennett is the author of several books for young adults. Her children's novels have also been published around the world. She is the winner of the Times/Chicken House competition in 2009 for her debut novel, ''Threads,'' and the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year 2017 for ''Love Song''. In 2019 she published ''The Bigger Picture'', an illustrated guide for teens on contemporary and historical women artists with Tate Publishing.

Biography

Bennett was born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and educated at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

. She has a PhD in Modern Italian Literature from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. She has taught creative writing as a visiting lecturer for young adults at City Lit and City University in London and is a Fellow of the

Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its lon ...

. She created a podcast for aspiring writers called Prepublished, in which she spoke to bestselling and prizewinning authors including Sophie Hannah, Jenny Colgan, Justine Picardie, Robert Muchamore,

Anthony McGowan Anthony John McGowan (born January 1965) is an English author of books for children, teenagers and adults. He is the winner of the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal for ''Lark''. In addition to his 2020 win, he has been twice longlisted (for ''The Kn ...

and Phil Earle about their journey to publication and their advice for fellow authors.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Threads'' (2009) (Winner, Times/Chicken House Prize 2009) * ''Beads'' (2010) * ''Stars'' (2011) * ''The Look'' (2012) * ''You Don't Know Me'' (2013) (Shortlisted for the Book Trust Best Book of the Year 2014) * ''The Castle'' (2014) (Shortlisted for the Oxfordshire Book Award 2015) * ''Love Song'' (2016) (Winner, RNA Goldsboro Books Romantic Novel of the Year 2017) * ''Following Ophelia'' (2017) * ''The Windsor Knot'' (2020) * ''A Three Dog Problem'' (Published in the US as ''All the Queen's Men'') (2021) * ''Murder Most Royal'' (2022) * ''A Death in Diamonds'' (2024) * ''The Queen Who Came in from the Cold'' (2025)

References

External links

Official website

Chicken House books – Sophia Bennett

Sophia Bennett Love Song Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Sophia 1966 births Academics of City, University of London Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of London British women children's writers Living people British writers of young adult literature Writers from Yorkshire