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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 TV 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. Some reviews of Simon's most recent novel, The Judgement Book -

Books Monthly - "Suicides and blackmail, races against time to solve the clues make this the best yet by Simon, and kept me guessing right to the end. I didn't identify the blackmailer, which I think is something of a triumph for the author. Absolutely riveting, a great read."
Random Jottings - "A brilliant crime/detection novel. The whole thing crackles with tension and pace and I thought it was excellent."
Eurocrime - "A really enjoyable read... taught, well plotted and creates such a pace it became a personal race against time to finish it in one sitting."

On its forerunner, Evil Valley -

New Books magazine - "A compelling thriller... very difficult to put down."
Monsters and Critics - "Keeps you on the edge of your seat demanding to know what happens next. Extremely atmospheric, it is a fantastic read."
Books Monthly - "One to savour... absolutely first class"

And on his previous novel, The Death Pictures -

The Scotsman - "Fiendishly clever".
Eurocrime - "A compelling thriller, the momentum of which grows on you as you read it."
Books Monthly - "A fabulous plot and some terrific characters. Hugely enjoyable read, you'll love it!"

A prequel has just been released, about how Dan, the TV reporter, and Adam, the detective, met. Called The TV Detective, it's based on Simon's first attempt at writing a novel, A Popular Murder, and has been rewritten and newly 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 welcomed by the critics as a highly entertaining 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)

Simon is currently working on another new book in the tvdetective series for this year. Scheduled for publication in September, it's to be called The Balance of Guilt and will be the story of a shocking terrorist attack in a sacred place. It'll be the first of the novels to be based outside of Plymouth.

Simon is also currently narrating audio versions of The Death Pictures, Evil Valley, The Judgement Book and The TV Detective. Ebooks of the series are also being produced. They're due for release soon.

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 and Reading Crime festivals. His books have also featured prominently in the media.

Simon's work 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 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. It'll keep you up to date with Simon's writing and events.

The TV Detective site will take you on a tour of Simon's work, tell you about his latest events, give you an opportunity to get in touch, sign up for regular updates from his publishers, and even post your photos from his events, along with suggestions for people, places and plots for forthcoming books, via the yourtvdetective page.

Simon Hall welcomes you to his website.

Travelling abroad...

Well, only in the most modest of ways, admittedly - I'm off to Wales.

I'm giving a talk at the Writers' Holiday, a fine programme of events designed to help people who want to become authors.  It's at Caerleon near Cardiff, and if you're interested, there are more details on the News and Events page - www.thetvdetective.com/news.html

The event has a great reputation as hugely helpful for aspiring writers, and as a good fun time too, so I'm looking forward to my visit. 

There'll also be a little mistiness of nostalgia, I suspect.  I took my journalism diploma in Cardiff, which was my route into the media, and much of the reason the tvdetective books came about.  It's a great city, very vibrant, so I shall look forward to revisiting some old haunts. 

You know what it's like, when the ghosts of days gone by come back to stay.  I'm expecting a poignant time. 

To the more practically minded, I'm also taking my laptop so I can continue the work on the new book, The Balance of Guilt.  The editing is still going smoothly, with all remaining on course for publication in September.  Long may it continue!

Exeter Book Fair on 01 August 2010 at 10:30 AM to 4:00 PM
The Exeter Book Fair, at Matthews Hall in Topsham, just outside Exeter. A very fine range of second hand and antiquarian books for your perusal! I've been kindly invited to op...Read more
3 July 2010 - Writers' holiday

At the end of July, there's a great event going on in Newport, Wales, called the Writers' Holiday.

It's for aspiring writers, and those already published, to get to...Read more

19 March 2010 - Signing

I'll be at the Waterstone's in Newton Abbot, on Saturday, 27th March, at 12.30pm, signing copies of the tvdetective series.

14 March 2010 - Hospiscare

An article about opening the new Hospiscare shop on Tues (16th March) at 10am, in South St., Exeter.  Read more

11 March 2010 - The TV Detective

Read Random Jottings review of The TV Detective - randomjotti...Read more

21 December 2009 - Review

Reviewing the Evidence's thoughts about The Judgement Book - www.reviewingtheevidence.com/review.html<...Read more

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