LJ Ross
BornLouise Ross
Northumberland, England, United Kingdom
Pen nameLJ Ross
OccupationWriter
NationalityBritish
Period2015–present
GenreFiction, crime, thriller
Notable worksDCI Ryan Mystery Series (listed below)
Website
ljrossauthor.com

Louise Ross, known by her pen name LJ Ross, is the bestselling author of the DCI Ryan series of romantic suspense thrillers.[1] Her debut novel, Holy Island, was released in January 2015 and, by May, it had reached number one in the Amazon UK chart.[2][3] Its sequel, Sycamore Gap, released in September 2015, is also a UK bestseller.[4][5] She has released further books in the DCI Ryan series, amassing a further nine UK No. 1s,[6] and is reported to have sold more than 7,000,000 copies.[7][8][9]

Early life

Ross was born and grew up in Ponteland, Northumberland, England.[10] She completed undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in law at King's College London, where she met her husband, and continued her studies in Paris and Florence. After spending most of her twenties working in the City as a lawyer, she began to feel it was time for change.[11]

Publishing career

After the birth of her son, Ross wrote the first draft of Holy Island, having been inspired by the atmospheric beauty of Lindisfarne, an island off the northeast coast of England she knew well from childhood.[12] Following its success, she now writes full-time. The second book in her series of DCI Ryan novels, Sycamore Gap, is set in Hadrian's Wall country[13][14] and subsequent DCI Ryan novels continue the Northumbrian locations, with stories set in Northumberland, County Durham and Newcastle.

The eighteenth instalment of the DCI Ryan series, The Rock, was the UK's third best-selling ebook of 2021, behind novels by Richard Osman and Matt Haig.[15]

In 2021, Ross published The Cove, the first book in a new series, Summer Suspense Mysteries.[16]

Ross publishes all of her works independently through Dark Skies Publishing, a publishing imprint set up and managed by Ross and her husband.[7]

Personal life

As of 2018, Ross lives with her husband and two children in Northumberland.[17]

Philanthropy

In 2021, Ross set up the Northern Photography Prize for images captured in the North East of England,[18] as well as reading and writing challenges and prizes for adults and children.[19]

Novels

DCI Ryan Mysteries Series

Police procedural mystery/romantic suspense series set in Northumbria, England following Detective Chief Inspector Ryan.

Pub.
order
Series
order
Title Year ISBN Locale
1 1 Holy Island 2015 (January) 978-1514642825 Holy Island
2 2 Sycamore Gap 2015 (September) 978-1518759567 Sycamore Gap
3 3 Heavenfield 2016 (March) 978-1530652686 Heavenfield
4 4 Angel 2016 (August) 978-1519010933 Angel of the North
5 5 High Force 2017 (January) 978-1520473383 High Force
6 6 Cragside 2017 (July) 978-1521748831 Cragside
7 7 Dark Skies 2017 (December) 978-1973448075 Kielder Forest
8 8 Seven Bridges 2018 (May) 978-1982967147 Newcastle upon Tyne
9 9 The Hermitage 2018 (October) 978-1728883397 Florence; Warkworth Hermitage
10 10 Longstone 2018 (December) 978-1790983124 Farne Islands
11 Prequel The Infirmary 2019 (February) 978-1792780844 Newcastle upon Tyne
12 11 The Moor 2019 (April) 978-1095812655 Town Moor, Newcastle upon Tyne
13 12 Penshaw 2019 (July) 978-1073010417 Penshaw, City of Sunderland
14 13 Borderlands 2019 (September) 978-1696737326 Northumberland National Park
15 14 Ryan's Christmas 2019 (December) 978-1650141237 Chillingham, Northumberland; Chillingham Castle
16 15 The Shrine 2020 (April) 978-1912310166 Durham; Durham Cathedral
17 16 Cuthbert's Way 2020 (November) 978-1912310173 Durham; Durham Cathedral
18 17 The Rock 2021 (June) 978-1912310180 Northumberland; The North Sea
19 18 Bamburgh 2022 (April) 978-1912310197 Bamburgh
20 19 Lady's Well 2023 (April) 978-1912310203 Holystone

Alexander Gregory Thrillers Series

Forensic psychologist Doctor Alexander Gregory becomes involved in murder investigations.

Pub.
order
Series
order
Title Pub. date ISBN Locale
1 1 Imposter 2019 (31 October) 978-1912310517 County Mayo
2 2 Hysteria 2019 (10 December) 978-1912310524 Paris
3 3 Bedlam 2020 (4 June) 978-1912310531 Catskill Mountains
4 4 Mania 2022 (3 March) 978-1912310548 London

The Summer Suspense Mysteries Series

A suspense series set in rural Cornwall.

Pub.
order
Series
order
Title Pub. date ISBN Locale
1 1 The Cove 2021 (31 July) 978-1912310920 Cornwall
2 2 The Creek 2022 (4 August) 978-1912310913 Cornwall
3 3 The Bay 2023 (28 September) 978-1912310937 St. Ives, Cornwall

The Reivers Series

A new book series reported to be "coming soon".[20]

Other Books

Title Pub. date ISBN Synopsis
Everyday Kindness: A collection of uplifting tales to brighten your day 13/11/2021 978-1912310005 Everyday Kindness is a charity anthology of short, fictional stories of kindness, edited by LJ Ross. These uplifting tales of hope and of small, everyday kindnesses are intended to support wider, positive mental health goals and foster wellbeing through the act of reading tales of goodwill inspired by others.

All proceeds from the book are donated to Shelter, a charity that helps millions of people a year struggling with bad housing or homelessness.[21]

References

  1. Moore, Hannah. "North East author tops the bestsellers lists again - but this time for audiobooks". nechronicle. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  2. "Meet the Kindlepreneurs". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  3. Midgley, Dominic. "50 Shades of self-publishers: Fame and fortune through publishing yourself online". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  4. Marsh, Michael. "Ponteland lawyer-turned-author on swapping life in the City to pen Holy Island-inspired crime novel". nechronicle. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  5. "lovesuspense". lovesuspense. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  6. "Holy Island murder mystery wins book prize". www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  7. 1 2 "LJ Ross: The self-published crime writer making a killing". BBC News. 19 September 2021.
  8. "L J Ross Author". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  9. "Local lass LJ Ross tops the charts with thriller Cragside". www.morpethherald.co.uk. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  10. "Author notches up 100,000 book sales in just two years". Morpethherald.co.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  11. "Louise sets the scene for murder". Hexham-courant.co.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  12. "Crime novellist [sic] LJ Ross is writing her own destiny". Express North. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  13. "NorthEast Connected: LJ Ross launches Hadrian's Wall murder novel".
  14. "Crime novel launch party to be held this weekend". JesmondLocal. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  15. "Author celebrates 'UK's third best-selling e-book of 2021' victory". 13 February 2022.
  16. Ross, L. J. (2021). "The Cove: A Summer Suspense Mystery (The Summer Suspense Mysteries)". Dark Skies Publishing. ISBN 978-1912310913.
  17. "Bio". LJ Ross. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  18. "Shortlist for LJ Ross' Northern Photography Prize announced". BBC News. 16 August 2022.
  19. "Crime writer LJ Ross reveals what she's been working on in lockdown". Chronicle Live. 26 December 2020.
  20. "The Reivers Series". LJ Ross. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  21. "Everyday Kindness". LJ Ross. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.