Alafair Burke

Hello there, So, it's officially got to that time of year again when we wake up for work and it's dark, and then we get home from work, and guess what...it's dark. So, as there will be many of you out there jetting off for some Autumn sun, or maybe you're going off for a nice traveling session (I've recently spoken to many a soon-to-be intrepid explorer - seems the travel bugs come around again), or even if, like me, you're going to power through the winter months with layers of clothes and mugs of hot chocolate, then fear not I've got a plan that means we can all journey round the world together. Follow this link to our world map of travel Killer Reads. Read the extracts and journey to cities you know and love,  or get lost in towns you've never even heard of. If you are off on your travels this autumn to any of these locations (or any other destinations from your favorite thrillers) then please feel free to send us images from locations mentioned in those thriller books and films to killerreads@harpercollins.co.uk or tag Killer Reads in the photo on facebook so the team can journey all over the world this Autumn as well... Read More

When we asked our beautiful New York based crime writer Alafair Burke, where she gained her passion and experience for all-things-crime we weren't expecting the incredible behind the (crime) scenes story she was about to tell. From childhood to her newest book, Never Tell, the article below uncovers why Alafair is just so good at writing crime:   Where it all began... It all began in Alafair's childhood. Her parents moved the family in the late 1970's from the chaos of a changing southern Florida to a supposedly quiet and provincial neighborhood in Wichita, Kansas. The moving boxes had just been unpacked when Wichita police announced a connection between seven unsolved murders of women and children. The man who claimed responsibility called himself BTK, a gruesome acronym, short for "Bind, Torture, Kill." The Burke's new home fell squarely within the serial killer's stalking territory. Like other children in Wichita in that era, Alafair learned to check the phone lines to make sure they weren't cut, to keep the basement door locked at all times, and to barricade herself in the bathroom with the phone if she had to call 911. Read More

To whet your appetite HC editors Rachel Rayner and Sammia Rafique have put together a list of top titles you can expect from HarperCollins in 2010 whilst Mike Gerrard has put together a round-up of everything else you can expect and this will be going live in the new year... January Snow Hill by Mark Sanderson (HarperCollins) Mark Sanderson does for the 30s what Jake Arnott did for 60s London - vividly revealing its hidden underworld in an unforgettably gripping crime novel. Inspired by a true scandal that centred around Snow Hill police station in 1936. Read an extract here February Pretty Little Things by Jilliane Hoffman (HarperCollins) We've been excited about the latest offering from Jilliane Hoffman for a while now and there isn't long until publication. For an exclusive extract click here. City of Lies by Alafair Burke (Avon) The new fast-paced thriller from rising star Alafair Burke, where no-one in Manhattan is safe. And no-one is innocent. When New York University student Megan Gunther is murdered in a vicious attack after receiving threats posted on a campus website, NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher is convinced there is a link. March Heresy by SJ Parris (HarperCollins) Introducing the monk Giodarno Bruno, magician, scientist, and heretic in a new series of historical thrillers for fans of C.J.Sansom and 'The Name of the Rose' For more information take a look at the book page. Read More

Alafair Burke is the author of what the Sun-Sentinal has hailed as “two power house series” featuring NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher and Portland Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid. Alafair’s novelsgrow out of her love for writing, her experience as a prosecutor in… Read More