Sarah Ward

Sarah Ward is a crime novelist who also writes gothic thrillers under the pen name Rhiannon Ward. Her first book, In Bitter Chill (Faber, 2015) was a police procedural based in the Derbyshire Peak District where she lives. It was followed by A Deadly Thaw (Faber, 2016). All Sarah’s novels to date have dual timelines which reflect her fascination with historical crimes and unsolved murders. Her third book in the quartet, A Patient Fury (Faber, 2018), was an Observer thriller of the month and her fourth novel, The Shrouded Path (Faber, 2019), an Amazon top ten bestseller. Her gothic thriller The Quickening (Trapeze, 2020) was her first completely historical work which looked at the influence of spiritualism during the years following the First World War. It was a Radio Times book of the year. Sarah has also published short stories, written features for various print publications and has scripted two Doctor Who audio dramas. She is currently working on another Rhiannon Ward gothic thriller set in the 1830s. Before her writing career, Sarah worked in a variety of public sector policy roles and taught TEFL in Athens, Greece. She continues to teach Creative Writing in a variety of settings, including in schools and prisons, and is an interviewer at festivals and in bookshops. Sarah is an associate board member of Derby Book Festival and is the membership secretary of the Crime Writers’ Association. In her spare time, she is a keen genealogist, having appeared on Icelandic TV in this role.