Alex Gray (born 27 May 1950) is a Scottish crime writer. She has published 19 novels, all set around

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and featuring the character of Detective Chief Inspector Lorimer and his

psychological profiler Offender profiling, also known as criminal profiling, is an investigative strategy used by law enforcement agencies to identify likely suspects and has been used by Detective, investigators to link cases that may have been committed by the same pe ...

Solomon Brightman, the earlier novels being published by

Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. It began ...

and Allison & Busby and later books by

Little Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

. She has also published magazine articles, poetry and short stories as well as stories for BBC radio schools programmes.

Biography

Alex Gray (born Sandra Gray Lang) was brought up in the Craigbank area of Glasgow and attended

Hutchesons' Grammar School Hutchesons' Grammar School is a co-educational independent day school for pupils aged 3-18 in Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded as Hutchesons' Boys' Grammar School by George Hutcheson and Thomas Hutcheson in 1641 It is a selective school, ...

. Her father was a telecommunications engineer and her mother, originally from Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, was a telephone exchange operator. She studied English and Philosophy at

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal c ...

and was a founding member of

Battlefield Band Battlefield Band were a Scottish traditional music group. Founded in Glasgow in 1969, they have released over 30 albums and undergone many changes of lineup. As of 2010, none of the original founders remain in the band. The band is noted for t ...

. She worked for a period in the Department of Health & Social Security, before training as an English teacher. In 1976, she lived in Rhodesia for three months, during which time she married. Thereafter, she continued teaching in Scotland until the 1990s, when she began to write full-time. Gray is a member of the ''Femmes Fatales'' crime writing trio, together with

Alanna Knight Alanna Knight MBE (24 February 1923 – 2 December 2020), born Gladys Allan Cleet, was a British writer, based in Edinburgh. She wrote over sixty novels, including romances, mysteries, crime, historical, and time travel stories, as well as play ...

and

Lin Anderson Lin (Linda) Anderson (born in Greenock, Scotland) is a Tartan Noir crime novelist and screenwriter, best known as the creator of forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod. the Rhona MacLeod books are being developed for ITV. Life and career An ...

. She is the co-founder with Anderson of Bloody Scotland, Scotland's first international crime writing festival, which takes place in

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

. Gray has two children and two grandchildren; she lives with her husband in

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

. Gray has published 19 novels in the Lorimer series.

Bibliography

* ''Never Somewhere Else'' (2002) * ''A Small Weeping'' (2004) * ''Shadows of Sounds'' (2005) * ''The Riverman'' (2007) * ''Pitch Black'' (2008) * ''Glasgow Kiss'' (2009) * ''Five Ways To Kill A Man'' (2010) * ''Sleep like the Dead'' (2011) * ''A Pound of Flesh'' (2012) * ''The Swedish Girl'' (2013) * ''The Bird That Did Not Sing'' (2014) * ''Keep The Midnight Out'' (2015) * ''The Darkest Goodbye'' (2016) * ''Still Dark'' (2017) * ''Only the Dead Can Tell'' (2018) * ''The Stalker'' (2019) * ''When Shadows Fall'' (2020) * ‘’Before the Storm’’ (2021) * ‘’Echo of the Dead’’ (2022)

References

External links

Author's website in Fantastic FictionRadio interview
(2009)
Femmes Fatales website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Alex 1950 births Living people Scottish women writers Alumni of the University of Strathclyde Women mystery writers Battlefield Band members Tartan Noir writers Scottish crime fiction writers