The official website of Crime Writer and BBC Crime Correspondent Simon Hall

Simon Hall is the BBC’s Crime Correspondent for the South West of England and the author of The TV Detective novels, in which a television reporter and a detective work together to solve a series of extraordinary crimes.

His books have been warmly praised as a fresh, distinctive and highly entertaining approach to crime writing. Simon’s most recent novel, The Balance of Guilt, is the story of a shocking terrorist attack in a sacred place, the murky world of spies and the secret service, and an intricate conspiracy. It’s the first of the novels to be based outside of Plymouth, and has been lauded by the critics.

Its forerunner, The Judgement Book, was named by Eurocrime as one of the top reads of last year. Some reviews -

On its predecessor, Evil Valley -

And on his previous novel, The Death Pictures -

There are more details of all Simon’s novels on the Books page.

His new title will be published on 1st May. To be called The Shadows of Justice, it’s a story about a murderous cycle of revenge, based around a grievous historic wrong and a contemporary court case with a unique verdict.

A prequel has been released, about how Dan, the TV reporter, and Adam, the Chief Inspector, met. The TV Detective is based on Simon’s first attempt at writing a novel, A Popular Murder, and has been rewritten and published due to public demand in finding out how the pair began working together. It’s the story of the bizarre murder of a notorious businessman and has been applauded by readers as a highly enjoyable way of filling in the gaps in the characters’ story.

“This is a terrific book. This is an exciting book. This is a witty and amusing book. This is a very very very good book.” Random Jottings

The popularity of Simon’s work is growing quickly. He’s been invited to give talks at a series of prestigious events, including the British Crime Writers’ Association Annual Conference, the Agatha Christie, Daphne du Maurier, Appledore, Poole and Reading Crime festivals. He also holds workshops on the art of novel writing, something Simon admits often teaches him more than the audience. He’s proud to have been invited to the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School as the specialist crime writing tutor, the Winchester Writers’ Festival, the Geneva Writers’ Group, and to lecture about his work on international cruise ships.

Simon’s writing combines modern, complex and cunning mysteries with a behind the scenes taste of the life of a TV News reporter. There are jealous newsroom rows and precious egos to navigate, chaotic live broadcasts to present, and angry and emotional interviewees to placate.

The books also provide a fascinating insight into how the power of television can be used to help catch criminals, something which is much more common than many people realise.

Despite being far from a child of the internet age, those who know about the brave new world have persuaded Simon to begin writing a blog, something he has now confessed to actually enjoying. The latest is featured below, with previous entries on the blog page. There, you can also sign up for a feed of the latest blog. It’ll keep you up to date with Simon’s writing, events, and occasional whimsical musings on any topic which happens to be entertaining him. He’s even begun Tweeting. You can follow him @thetvdetective.

At the request of a dramatics company, Simon has adapted a tvdetective mystery for the stage. As part of his commitment to raise money for good causes, he’s made the play available for free on the condition that any money raised goes to a local charity. If other dramatics groups are interested in putting on the play, they can get in touch with Simon via the contact page.

The TV Detective site will take you on a tour of Simon’s work, tell you about his latest events and give you an opportunity to get in touch.

Simon Hall welcomes you to his website.