Frances Fyfield (born 18 November 1948) is the pseudonym of Frances Hegarty, an English lawyer and crime-writer.

Biography

Born and brought up in Derbyshire, Hegarty was mostly educated in

convent school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

s before reading English at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

. After graduating, she took a course in

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

. She worked initially for the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

and later the Crown Prosecution Service. She claims "After a long diet of criminal law, including dangerous dogs, rape, mayhem and much, much murder, the indigestion of pity and fury provoked me to write. I wanted to write romance, but the domestically macabre always got in the way."SkyARTS website
retrieved 5 May 2009 She has won several awards, including the

Crime Writers' Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors’ organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its Dagger awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. T ...

Duncan Lawrie Dagger The Gold Dagger is an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association of the United Kingdom since 1960 for the best crime novel of the year. From 1955 to 1959, the organization named their top honor as the Crossed Red Herring Award. Fro ...

for ''Blood From Stone'' in 2008 and the Silver Dagger for ''Deep Sleep''. In addition, her novel, ''Safer than Houses'' was nominated for the Duncan Lawrie Dagger in 2006. She also writes psychological thrillers under the name of Frances Hegarty, among them, ''The Playroom'', ''Half Light'' and ''Let's Dance'', which was published in 1995. Her novels have been translated into 14 languages. Several have been adapted for television. Fyfield's Helen West series has twice been adapted for television. Juliet Stevenson played Helen West in ''Trial by Fire'' (1999) and Amanda Burton later took on the role in a successful British television series in 2002. Fyfield hosted the BBC Radio 4 programme Tales from the Stave until 2018. The programme looked at important music works using original scores and libretto.

Bibliography

Helen West novels * ''A Question of Guilt'' (1988) – nominated for an Edgar Award * ''Trial by Fire'' (1990) S Title: ''Not That Kind of Place''– Rumpole Award * ''Deep Sleep'' (1991) – Silver Dagger Award * ''Shadow Play'' (1993) - Grand Prix de Littérature Policière * ''A Clear Conscience'' (1994) * ''Without Consent'' (1996) Sarah Fortune novels * ''Shadows on the Mirror'' (1989) * ''Perfectly Pure and Good'' (1994) * ''Staring at the Light'' (1999) * ''Looking Down'' (2004) * ''Safer Than Houses'' (2005) * ''Cold to the Touch'' (2009, Sphere) Diana Porteous novels * ''Gold Digger (2012)'' * ''Casting the First Stone (2013)'' * ''Painted Smile (2015)'' * ''Welcome The Stranger'' (2017) Other novels * ''Blind Date'' (1998) * ''Undercurrents'' (2000) * ''The Nature of the Beast'' (2001) * ''Seeking Sanctuary'' (2003) * ''The Art of Drowning'' (2006) * ''Blood From Stone'' (2008, Sphere) – Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award Novels as Frances Hegarty * ''The Playroom'' (1991) * ''Half Light'' (1992) * ''Let's Dance'' (1995)

Filmography

*''

Helen West Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...

'' (2002; television series) *''The Blind Date'' (2000) *''Trial by Fire'' (1999; TV)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fyfield, Frances 1948 births Living people English people of Irish descent English crime fiction writers English thriller writers People from Derbyshire Alumni of Newcastle University 20th-century English novelists 21st-century British novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English women writers English women novelists Women mystery writers Women thriller writers