ROZ WATKINS
Author of 'The Red House' and the
DI Meg Dalton crime series
BOOKS
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REVIEWS
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THE DEVIL'S DICE
'The Devil’s Dice is a terrific debut by Roz Watkins; it teems with shivery atmosphere and introduces a cop quietly different from most of the women detectives in British crime fiction today.' - The Times Crime Book of the Month.
'A fascinating debut... Watkins brilliantly balances superstition and scepticism in this clever first novel.' - The Sunday Times
The setting is dramatic, the characters are convincing and the motive for murder, when eventually uncovered, is interesting... A smart, enjoyable debut.' - The Literary Review.
‘Gripping… This week’s hot read’ - Woman Magazine
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THE DEVIL'S DICE
'This is an impressive debut from a Cambridge engineering graduate who became a lawyer before writing crime novels.
A touch of Agatha Christie, a dash of Ann Cleeves’s Vera and a suitably moody setting in the Peaks, where it always seems to be raining, bring a formidable newcomer to British crime writing' - The Daily Mail
DEAD MAN'S DAUGHTER
'Last year, Roz Watkins’s much-praised debut, The Devil’s Dice, set in the Peak District, introduced DI Meg Dalton. She’s spirited and sensitive, with a sad past, and her second appearance in Dead Man’s Daughter is as absorbingly impressive.' - The Times
‘Clever and compelling…fans of Broadchurch and Happy Valley will enjoy this gripping thriller’ - Candis Magazine
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CUT TO THE BONE
'TWO years ago, I warmly welcomed DI Meg Dalton in Watkins’ debut. Now in her third outing, she has developed into a memorable detective with attitude, pounding Derbyshire’s Peak District with commendable fortitude...
Subtly plotted, and with a delicate sense of place, it confirms Watkins in the front rank of British crime writers.' - Geoffrey Wansell, The Daily Mail
'This is an author unafraid to peer into dark corners when it comes to contentious social and domestic topics, and this creepy, twisting, turning mystery is guaranteed to grip right through to its shocking denouement.' - Lancashire Evening Post
'... the tone is warm and engaging, the police officers are good characters and Meg’s devotion to her work and (most of) her colleagues makes her an attractive companion.'- The Literary Review
ABOUT ROZ
Roz is the author of the DI Meg Dalton crime series and the standalone thriller 'The Red House'.
Roz is also the Royal Literary Fund Fellow for Exeter and Falmouth Universities, based on the Penryn campus. She gives one-to-one sessions, helping students with their writing.
She now lives in lovely Falmouth, a short walk from the sea, but used to live on the edge of the Peak District, where her first four books are set. (Eve in 'The Red House' lives in Ashbourne, and DI Meg Dalton lives in Belper. The fictional town Eldercliffe was inspired by nearby Wirksworth.)
Roz has a Post Graduate Certificate in Business and Personal Coaching from the University of Derby and is an experienced course leader.
Before she started writing, Roz worked as a partner in a firm of patent attorneys in Derby, but of course this has nothing to do with there being a dead one in her first novel! She has also worked as a business coach and an animal trainer.
All Roz's animals are a great help with the writing process.
CONTACT
You can contact Roz using the contact form opposite or you can get in touch via her agent:
Marjacq Scripts
R24 Offices, 103 Kingsway,
London WC2 6QX
+44 (0) 20 7935 9499
ABOUT DI MEG DALTON
Meg lives in the lovely Derbyshire town of Belper, in a made-up street rather like Long Row. She absolutely adores her cat, Hamlet. Meg is a scientist by training and naturally skeptical, but the power of the dark Derbyshire myths and legends often forces her to question her beliefs as she works (obsessively) to solve crimes in the area. Meg isn't very glamorous, and usually has cat hair on her clothes. She struggles with her weight and has a limp so, although she doesn't back away from confrontation, she has to use her brains more than her brawn!
LOCATIONS
'The Devil's Dice' and 'Dead Man's Daughter' are set mainly in a fictional town of Eldercliffe, which is inspired by Wirksworth, with some bits of Shining Cliff woods added.
In 'The Devil's Dice', Meg also ventures to the Nine Ladies stone circle, and takes a day trip to Cambridge.
In 'Dead Man's Daughter', she visits Bonsall and Flash, the highest village in Britain (in a snow storm!)
'Cut to the Bone' is based mainly in the fictional town of Gritton, which was built to accommodate residents of the villages of Derwent and Ashopton, which were drowned on the creation of Ladybower Reservoir.
'The Red House' (a standalone book) is set in a made-up location based on Leash Fen in north east Derbyshire.
ELDERCLIFFE
The village of Eldercliffe, where the murders in the first two books take place and where Meg's mother lives, is based on lovely Wirksworth.
Wirksworth was originally a lead mining town and is stuffed full of fabulous quirky cottages, caves and secret passgeways.
The tiny alleyways that Meg mentions are similar to the Puzzle Gardens.
The quarries are also real, although the woods on the edge of Eldercliffe are based on Shining Cliff woods, which are near Ambergate.
NEWS + GIVEAWAYS
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Subscribe and get this Quick-Read short story. It's the first one I wrote (well, since school anyway!)
It's mainly from the point of view of a child, although I've edited it slightly to add a little bit of DI Meg Dalton.
You'll have to read it to find out more...