Karen Campbell (born 1967, Paisley, Scotland) is a Scottish writer of contemporary fiction. Her first four novels, while billed as police procedurals, form a quartet set in Glasgow which goes behind the uniform, to examine the lives of people who just happen to be police officers, and feature Sgt. Anna Cameron and Cath and Jamie Worth. Her fifth novel, published in 2013, breaks away from the world of the police. It tells the story of Abdi, a Somali asylum-seeker newly arrived in Glasgow with his young daughter, and of recently widowed Deborah, who has been assigned as mentor to help them settle in. The novel was selected as the BBC Radio Four Book at Bedtime in April 2013. Now published by Canongate, Campbell has written eight novels, the most recent being Paper Cup, which follows the journey of homeless woman Kelly.

Background

Karen Campbell was born in Paisley and brought up in

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 ...

. Both her mother and father worked in City of Glasgow Police, and following a degree at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, she also joined the police, where she met her husband. Karen studied for the Creative Writing master's degree at Glasgow University. She is a vegetarian and lives in

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or i ...

with her husband and two daughters.

Bibliography

* ''The Twilight Time'' (2008) * ''After The Fire'' (2009) * ''Shadowplay'' (2010) * ''Proof of Life'' (2011) * ''This is Where I Am'' (2013) * ''Rise'' (2015) * ''The Sound of the Hours'' (2019) * ''Paper Cup'' (2022)

External links

Karen Campbell's homepage

Radio interview, 2009

The Creative Writing programme at the University of Glasgow

Sunday Mail article about Karen's time in the police

Review of Proof of Life

References

1967 births Living people Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish crime fiction writers Writers from Glasgow Scottish women novelists 21st-century Scottish women writers Women mystery writers {{Scotland-writer-stub