Nicci French

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Books

Associate: Eli Keren

Film, TV & Theatre

Agent: St John Donald
Assistant: Anthony Joblin

Books

Nicci French is the husband and wife team of journalist Nicci Gerrard and writer Sean French. They write seamless novels while pursuing their own writing careers, and raising a family of four young children in Suffolk. Their novels include The Memory Game, The Safe House, Killing Me Softly, Beneath the Skin and The Red Room.

"Nicci French's sophisticated, compassionate and gripping crime novels stand head and shoulders above the competition.  No one understands human psychological frailty better. No one writes better about grief, love, fear or emotional damage. Not many books are as insightful as they are addictive; Nicci French's are." (Sophie Hannah) 

 

Current publication

THE UNHEARD – Simon & Schuster – September 2021

Tess’s number one priority has always been her three-year-old daughter Poppy. But splitting up with Poppy’s father Jason means that she cannot always be there to keep her daughter safe.
 
When she finds a disturbing drawing, dark and menacing, among her daughter’s brightly coloured paintings, Tess is convinced that Poppy has witnessed something terrible. Something that her young mind is struggling to put into words.
 
But no one will listen. It’s only a child’s drawing, isn’t it?
 
Tess will protect Poppy, whatever the price. But when she doesn’t know what, or who, she is protecting her from, how can she possibly know who to trust . . . ?  

 

Praise for THE UNHEARD – Simon & Schuster – September 2021

"I love Nicci French’s books, and with The Unheard they are right at the top of their game. Few crime writers can match their psychological acuity, of their ability to lead a reader through dizzying plot twists without ever losing pace. It’s an absolute masterclass of crime writing."  (Kate Rhodes, author of the Locked-Island Mystery series)

"A haunting investigation of our darkest fears." (Mail on Sunday)

"An intense, brilliantly crafted thriller that hums with menace from start to finish." (TM Logan)

"The Unheard is the sort of book that makes you miss your bus stop." (The Times)

"Husband-and-wife team of Nicci Gerrard and Sean French tackle the subject of how difficult is it for people with a background of mental illness to be taken seriously… Tess is an excellent mother and an appealing character, as is Poppy. If some of Tess’s activities are morally dubious, at least they are impelled by something other than the selfish desire for gratification pursued by more than one of the suspects in this fast-moving domestic thriller." (Literary Review)

"Confirms Nicci French as the giant of the genre." (Erin Kelly)

"Utterly absorbing, brilliantly plotted, twisty and original." (Rachel Abbott, author of the DCI Tom Douglas thrillers)

 

Previous publication

HOUSE OF CORRECTION - Simon & Schuster - September 2020

‘So,’ said Mora Piozzi, her lawyer, looking down at her laptop. ‘In brief: you are charged with the murder of Stuart Robert Rees, on December 21st, between the hours of ten-forty in the morning and half-past three o’clock in the afternoon.’
 
Tabitha is accused of murder. She is in prison awaiting trial.
There is a strong case against her, and she can’t remember what happened on December 21st.
She is alone, frightened and confused.
But somehow, from the confines of her cell, she needs to prove everyone wrong.
 
House of Correction is beautifully written, clever, shocking, twisty, so believable and utterly compelling. 

 

Praise for HOUSE OF CORRECTION - Simon & Schuster - September 2020

"The husband-and-wife team of Nicci Gerrard and Sean French… have taken the ingredients of the classic village mystery and transformed them into something up to date and gripping… Now that the criminal justice system is shamefully underfunded, this is a timely as well as an entertaining novel." (Literary Review)

"A novel that blissfully plays with two genres: on the one hand an against-the-odds legal thriller à la John Grisham where the defence lawyer is even more disadvantaged than usual; and on the other a Miss Marple whodunnit set in a Devon village, where the amateur sleuth is herself the prime suspect and has to conduct her investigation from jail. Enthrallingly, the reader knows where the plot is heading, but has no idea how the great escape can be pulled off." (Sunday Times)

"I wanted everything to stop so I could read this book, there was something that grabbed me from the opening… This is a clever, well-crafted novel with twists and turns right until the end… The courtroom scenes are especially good and strike that balance between honour and order as well as farcical at times. Definitely a favourite read of mine for 2020." (Woman’s Way (Ireland))

"Describing it as a suspenseful prison thriller, or riveting courtroom drama doesn’t do this meticulously written detective novel justice. There is detail to sift through, CCTV footage to analyse, behaviour of the villagers to decipher. We become Tabitha’s shadow as the events surrounding that fateful day become clearer and more revealing. As well as its finely drawn characters and clever storyline, this is a novel that provokes you into pondering the workings of the wider justice system, police methods and prison life." (Bookanista) 

 

Praise for the Frieda Klein series:

“Brilliantly crafted new crime series.” (Mirror)

"Frieda has all the hallmarks of a classic Nicci French character, but when one of her patients reveals fantasies that tie in with a child abduction case that is dominating the headlines, she ends up coming to the police's aid rather than vice versa. The plot is drum-tight, the premise is chilling and the twist is infuriatingly good. Its only flaw is the wait for the follow up. " (The Independent Summer Holiday Pick)

“Tale full of dark psychology and tension…there’s no denying how commanding this first entry is.” (Barry Forshaw, Express)

"[Nicci and Sean French] are old hands at creating troubled, vivid, complex female leads, and Klein is no exception...Nicci French is undeniably at the top of British psychological suspense writing, expert in the unguessable twist, supremely skilled at ratcheting up the tension." (The Observer)

"With it's brooding atmosphere, sustained suspense, last-minute plot twist, and memorable cast of characters, this series debut will leave readers eager to discover what colour Tuesday will be." (Publisher's Weekly)

“Chilling…a novel that will have you on the edge of your seat.” (Woman and Home)

“This book is extraordinary - it has the best cliff-hanger ending ever ever ever.” (Alex Heminsley, 6music)

“This is a tense thriller with a troubled female psychotherapist at the helm...both a frightening and gripping read.” (Easy Living)

“Gripping thriller – this heart-stoppingly good tale sets the bar high for the next seven books – we can’t wait to read them!” (Good Housekeeping)

"Their portrayal of the city, in all its glorious greyness, is magnificent." (Evening Standard)

"The splendid Frieda Klein…the suspects and low-life characters are all beautifully done, and there’s a strong supporting cast…I was an avid reader of the Nicci French thrillers and this new venture has me hooked already.” (Readers Digest)

“Launches ambitious new thriller series with this terrific novel…the writing is pacy, the jaw-dropping twists are plentiful and London’s grimy underbelly is examined with dextrous skill. Definitely worth investigating.” (Shortlist)

“A brilliantly enigmatic heroine…this is one of French’s hardest to put down novels with a plot that flouts genre convention  to explore a compelling psychological phenomenon…this sophisticated thriller proves that series or stand alone, French leads the field.” (Sunday Express)

Fiction

Publication DetailsNotes
2020

Simon & Schuster

Tabitha is accused of murder. She is in prison awaiting trial.
There is a strong case against her, and she can’t remember what happened on December 21st.
She is alone, frightened and confused.
But somehow, from the confines of her cell, she needs to prove everyone wrong.

House of Correction is beautifully written, clever, shocking, twisty, so believable and utterly compelling. This is another stunningly brilliant novel to relish from Nicci French.

2019

Simon & Schuster

Neve Connolly looks down at a murdered man. She doesn't call the police.
A trusted colleague and friend. A mother. A wife. Neve Connolly is all these things.
She has also made mistakes; some small, some unconsciously done, some large, some deliberate. She is only human, after all.
But now one mistake is spiralling out of control and Neve is bringing those around her into immense danger.
She can’t tell the truth. So how far is she prepared to go to protect those she loves?
And who does she really know? And who can she trust?
A liar. A cheat. A threat. Neve Connolly is all these things.
Could she be a murderer?

2018

Michael Joseph

At long last, a final reckoning is coming for Frieda Klein... On a north London high street, a runaway vehicle crashes to a halt. The man in the driving seat was murdered a week earlier. On Hampstead Heath, a bonfire blazes: in the flames lies the next victim. As autumn leaves fall, a serial killer runs amok in the capital, playing games with the police. The death toll is rising fast, and the investigation is floundering. But this is no ordinary killer, and every new victim is intended as a message to just one woman. Because psychologist Frieda Klein is in hiding. And someone is coming to find her... After seven stunning novels, Frieda Klein's duel with her dark nemesis finally comes to a climax - and only one can make it out alive.

2017

Michael Joseph

THE GRIPPING, PENULTIMATE Frieda Klein novel. SOMEONE IS COMING FOR FRIEDA, SOMEONE DEADLY.
'She finds a body under a floor in her home.
It's murder. But it's also a message...'
For years psychotherapist Frieda Klein has believed serial killer Dean Reeve escaped justice. That, despite what the police say, he's still alive. And finally she has the evidence. Under her floor is the rotting corpse of an ex-policeman who she'd hired to hunt for Reeve. Now the police have to take her seriously. Because it is clear that whoever did this is very dangerous and must be found. It's also clear that they're not finished with Frieda - or those she loves most. But as Frieda is about to learn - it's always darkest just before the dawn...

2016

Michael Joseph

Frieda Klein reluctantly faces a case that penetrates to her very core. Saturday Requiem is classic Nicci French - a dark, gripping and sophisticated masterclass in psychological suspense in which nothing is quite what it seems... Thirteen years ago eighteen year old Hannah Docherty was arrested for the brutal murder of her family. It was an open and shut case and Hannah's been incarcerated in a secure hospital ever since. When psychotherapist Frieda Klein is asked to meet Hannah and give her assessment of her she reluctantly agrees. What she finds horrifies her. Hannah has become a tragic figure, old before her time. And Frieda is haunted by the thought that Hannah might be as much of a victim as her family; that something wasn't right all those years ago. And as Hannah's case takes hold of her, Frieda soon begins to realise that she's up against someone who'll go to any lengths to protect themselves... Saturday Requiem is the sixth addictive and intriguing novel in the Frieda Klein series by the bestselling author Nicci French.

2015

Michael Joseph

Rich in intrigue, intensity and atmosphere, Friday on my Mind is classic Nicci French - a dark, gripping and sophisticated masterclass in psychological suspense in which nothing is quite what it seems . . .

When a bloated corpse is found floating in the River Thames the police can at least sure that identifying the victim will be straightforward. Around the dead man's wrist is a hospital band. On it are the words Dr F. Klein . . .

But psychotherapist Frieda Klein is very much alive. And, after evidence linking her to the murder is discovered, she becomes the prime suspect.

Unable to convince the police of her innocence, Frieda is forced to make a bold decision in order to piece together the terrible truth before it's too late either for her or for those she loves.

Friday on my Mind is the fifth addictive and intriguing novel in the Frieda Klein series by the bestselling author Nicci French.

2014

Michael Joseph

Two crimes, generations apart . . .
Twenty years ago teenager Frieda Klein was brutally attacked in her own home. No one believed her - not the police, not her mother, not her friends. She left town, trained as a psychologist and never went back.
Now an old classmate has shown up. She wants help with her daughter, who claims to have been attacked at home. An attack eerily similar to the one on Frieda. No one else believes the girl's story.
Now - with a school reunion in the offing - Frieda returns to the darkness she fled. To the small town which refused to help her and which hides a terrible secret. Because someone at the reunion knows what happened.
And they'll stop at nothing to prevent Frieda discovering the truth . . .

2013

Michael Joseph

Ruth Lennox, beloved mother of three, is found by her daughter in a pool of her own blood. Who would want to murder an ordinary housewife? And why? Psychotherapist Frieda Klein finds she has an unusually personal connection with DCI Karlsson's latest case. She is no longer working with him in an official capacity, but when her niece befriends Ruth Lennox's son, Ted, she finds herself in the awkward position of confidante to both Karlsson and Ted. When it emerges that Ruth was leading a secret life, her family closes ranks and Karlsson finds he needs Frieda's help more than ever before. But Frieda is distracted. Having survived an attack on her life, she is struggling to stay in control and when a patient's chance remark rings an alarm bell, she finds herself chasing down a path that seems to lead to a serial killer who has long escaped detection. Or is it merely a symptom of her own increasingly fragile mind? Because, as Frieda knows, every step closer to a killer is one more step into a darkness from which there may be no return . . .

2012

Michael Joseph

For Frieda Klein the days get longer, the cases darker . . .
Psychotherapist Frieda Klein thought she was done with the police. But once more DCI Karlsson is knocking at her door.
A man's decomposed body has been found in the flat of Michelle Doyce, a woman trapped in a world of strange mental disorder. The police don't know who it is, how he got there or what happened - and Michelle can't tell them. But Karlsson hopes Frieda can get access to the truths buried beneath her confusion.
Painstakingly, Frieda uncovers a possible identity for the corpse: Robert Poole, a jack of all trades and master conman. But the deeper Frieda and Karlsson dig into Poole's past, the more of his victims they encounter - and the more motives they find for murder. Meanwhile, violent ghosts from Frieda's own past are returning to threaten her.
Unable to discover quite who is telling the truth and who is lying, they know they are getting closer to a killer. But whoever murdered Poole is determined to stay free - and anyone that gets too close will meet the same fate.

2011

Michael Joseph

Monday, the lowest point of the week. A day of dark impulses. A day to snatch a child from the streets …

The abduction of five-year-old Matthew Farraday provokes national outcry and a desperate police hunt. And when his face is splashed over the newspapers, psychotherapist Frieda Klein is left troubled: one of her patients has been relating dreams in which he has a hunger for a child. A child he can describe in perfect detail, a child the spitting image of Matthew.

Detective Chief Inspector Karlsson doesn’t take Frieda’s concerns seriously until a link emerges with an unsolved abduction twenty years ago and he summons Frieda to interview the victim’s sister, hoping she can stir hidden memories. Before long, Frieda is at the centre of the race to track the kidnapper. But her race isn’t physical. She must chase down the darkest paths of a psychopath’s mind to find the answers to Matthew Farraday’s whereabouts. And sometimes the mind is the deadliest place to lose yourself.

2010

Penguin

Who is more dangerous? An enemy? A friend? Or a lover? Bonnie Graham is standing in her friend’s flat. She is alone, except for the dead body lying in a pool of blood on the floor. What happened? What will she do? And what role has she played in the murderous events? Bonnie is a music teacher who has spent a long, hot summer in London rehearsing with a band to play at a wedding. It was supposed to be fun, but the band members find the complicated knots of their friendships unravelling as the days themselves unwind. What was meant to be a summer of happiness, love and music turns deadly as lovers betray one another, passions turn murderous and friendship itself becomes a crime. Everyone tells lies. But is anyone prepared to tell the truth to uncover a murderer?

2009

Penguin

It's devastating to hear that your husband has died in a horrific car accident. But to learn that he died with a mystery woman as his passenger is torment.
Was Greg having an affair? Drowning in grief, Ellie clings to Greg's innocence, and her determination to prove it to the world at large means she must find out who Milena Livingstone was and what she was doing in Greg's car. But in the process those around her begin to question her sanity ... and her motive. And the louder she shouts that Greg might have been murdered, the more suspicion falls on Ellie herself.

2008

Penguin

Young and athletic, London cycle courier Astrid Bell is bad luck -- for other people. First Astrid’s neighbour Peggy Farrell accidentally knocks her off her bike and not long after is found bludgeoned to death. Then a few days later, Astrid is asked to pick up a package from a wealthy woman called Ingrid de Soto, only to find the client murdered in the hall of her luxurious home. For the police it’s more than coincidence. For Astrid and her six housemates it’s the beginning of a nightmare: suspicious glances, bitter accusations, fallings out and a growing fear that the worst is yet to come... Because if it’s true that bad luck comes in threes -- who will be the next to die?

2008

Penguin

Nina Landry is supposed to be taking her two children on a Christmas holiday today. But the road away from Sandling Island seems littered with obstacles. Most pressing of all, her fifteen-year-old daughter, Charlie, has yet to return from a night out...Minute by minute, Nina's unease builds to worry and then panic. Has Charlie run away? Or has something more sinister happened to her? And why will nobody take her disappearance seriously? As a series of half-buried secrets leads Nina from sickening suspicion to deadly certainty, the question becomes less whether she and her daughter will leave the island for Christmas - and more whether they'll ever leave it again.

2005

Penguin

Holly Krauss lives life in the fast lane. A successful young businesswoman with a stable home life, she is loved and admired by all who meet her. But that's only one side of Holly. The other sees her take regular walks on the wild side - where she makes evermore reckless mistakes. And when those mistakes start mounting up, the two sides of Holly blur together and her life quickly spirals out of control. She thinks she's being stalked, someone is demanding money from her - threats lurk around every corner and those closest to Holly are running out of patience. But is she alone responsible for what`s happening? Are her fears just the paranoia of an illness - or intimations of very real danger? And if she can no longer rely on her own judgement, who can she trust to catch her when she falls?

2004

Penguin

When Miranda Cotton returns from work to find her new boyfriend, Brendan, reading her diary, she ends the relationship and throws him out of her flat. Getting Brendan out of her life, however, is not so easy. Two weeks later her sister, Kerry, phones her in ecstasy. She's in love. She has a new boyfriend. He`s called Brendan... So Brendan is back in Miranda's life - with a vengeance. But why has he done this? And what does he want from her? Soon what began as an embarrassment turns into an infestation - and then becomes more terrifying than her worst nightmares....

2001

Penguin

Kit Quinn is a young woman who inhabits dangerous worlds: crime scenes, interrogation scenes, hospitals for the criminally insane. Horribly wounded in an attack by a suspect, she must return to the site of her worst fears. She is asked by the policeto advise them on a simple murder inquiry. A young runaway has been found killed by a canal and the chief suspect is the man who wounded Kit. But Kit refuses to accept appearances and her obsessive search for the truth draws her into an underworld of the missing and the unloved which puts her at terrible risk.

2000

Penguin

One day you receive an anonymous note informing you that you're going to be killed. It might be a cruel joke or a hoax. But it isn't. What do you do? Three women - Zoe, Jenny and Nadia - of different ages, from different walks of life, rich, poor, married, single, happy, sad, face the same terrible threat. Three lives are turned upside down, secrets are exposed, relationships strained and shattered. And amid all the fear and threats, victims find themselves becoming the accused as the policesearch for what they have done, where they have been, to attract the unrelenting attention of someone who wants to kill them. And finally each of them must face one cruel question: which is stronger, the desire to live or the desire to kill?

2000

Penguin

You have everything. But you give it up for an affair. You're in passionate love. And grave danger... Alice Loudon couldn't resist abandoning her old, safe life for a wild affair. And in Adam Tallis, a rugged mountaineer with a murky past, she finds a man who can teach her things about herself that she never even suspected. But sexual obsession has its dark side, and so does Adam. Soon both are threatening all that Alice has left. First her sanity. Then her life.

1998

Penguin

You open your home and your heart to a victim. But your house is anything but safe... Samantha Laschen is a doctor specialising in post-traumatic stress disorder. She's moved to the coast to escape her problems and to be alone with her young daughter. But now the police want her to take in Fiona Mackenzie, a girl whose parents have been savagely murdered. Yet by allowing Fiona in, Sam is exposing herself - and her daughter - to risks she couldn't possibly have imagined...

1998

Penguin

You remember an idyllic childhood. But your memory is deceitful. And possibly deadly... When a skeleton is unearthed in the Martellos' garden, Jane Martello is shocked to learn it's that of her childhood friend, Natalie, who went missing twenty-five years ago. Encouraged by a therapist to recover lost memories, Jane hopes to find out what really took place when she was a child - and what happened to Natalie. But in learning the truth about hers and Natalie's past, is Jane putting her own future at terrible risk?

2003

Penguin

Abbie Devereaux wakes in the dark. She is hooded and bound, with no idea where she is or how she got there. A man she never sees keeps her alive, and his only promise is that he will eventually kill her.

Film, TV & Theatre

St John represents Nicci French for their Dramatic Rights.