Our LoveReading Author / Illustrator in the Picture for September is Andrew Taylor, author of 45 books and best known for his crime novels. He has been awarded the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Diamond Dagger and is also a triple (!) winner of the CWA Historical Dagger. I adore his most recent historical series, which started with The Ashes of London, one of our books of the month in 2016. The second in the series, The Fire Court, was one of my picks of the month when it was published in paperback, and our LoveReading Reader Review Panel members loved it too. The King’s Evil is already out in hardback, and is next on my list. Andrew’s photos, particularly of the books, show his love for crime novels started early. It’s also good to see that the Golden Crowbar comes in handy as a bookstop!

Your most beloved and well-read book? 

It has to be this: the first book I read for myself. I must have re-read Noddy it hundreds of times to myself and later to my children. It's a crime novel writ small, and probably the first reason I started writing crime novels.

The book that made you first want to become an author.

My Dad took this from his shelves when I was 8 and said ‘I think you might like this now.’ He was right.

It is probably the second reason I write crime novels, often with more than a dash of history.

An object that has inspired you.

A group of objects in fact: pen and paper are essential, and always call for words to be written with their help; my grandpa's desk, impregnated with pipe tobacco, and a bit of music also helped.

Favourite reading or writing spot.

This is where the heavy lifting gets done in my study, fuelled by black coffee or (in this case) white tea.

The photo that best sums up your author journey.

These are my novels so far, propped up by Sweden's Martin Beck Award, memorably named the Golden Crowbar. The journey continues...

A booky photo that makes you really smile.

Not obviously booky but, like all authors, I live in hope of writing better and more successful books. My daughter, an artist, caught this aspiration perfectly with her pencil in about 45 seconds.

You can follow Andrew on social media: 

web: www.andrew-taylor.co.uk

Twitter: @andrewjrtaylor

Instagram:@lydmouth

If you enjoyed this why not check out our other 'Putting Authors/Illustrators in the Picture' Features?