Kerry Wilkinson (born 4 November 1980) is a British author and sports journalist born in Bath, Somerset. In 2018, his book ''Ten Birthdays'' won the Romantic Novelists' Association award for Young Adult Novel of the Year. Along with

Marius Gabriel Marius Gabriel (born 13 November 1954 in Mafikeng, South Africa) is a historical novelist. He is the author of The Redcliffe Sisters series, The Designer, The Ocean Liner, The Parisians and a number of other bestsellers. He has homes in Cairo ...

, he was the first man to win a RoNA Award in the organisation's 58-year history. He is also an

International Thriller Writers Awards The International Thriller Writers Awards are awarded by International Thriller Writers International Thriller Writers (ITW), was founded October 9, 2004, at Bouchercon XXXV, the "World Mystery and Suspense Conference", in Toronto, Ontario, Can ...

winner, with Close To You, for best ebook original.

Work

Kerry Wilkinson is an author who has had bestselling ebooks in the UK, Canada, Australia and South Africa. In 2011, he became one of the United Kingdom's most-successful self-published authors, but has since worked with 'traditional' publishers. In the final quarter of 2011, Amazon UK announced he was their top-selling author for their Amazon Kindle chart - and that he had sold over 250,000 ebooks. His first novel, ''Locked In'', went to number one on the Amazon Kindle chart and Apple's iTunes crime books chart. At one point in November 2011, he had the top three books in the crime chart. He signed a six-book deal with

Pan Books Pan Books is a publishing imprint that first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers, owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group of Germany. Pan Books began as an independent publisher, es ...

in February 2012 to publish his Jessica Daniel series of novels. In March 2012, it was announced he was one of Amazon's top-10 bestselling UK-born authors worldwide for 2011. In August 2012, it was reported he was one of Amazon's top-10 bestselling Kindle authors in 2012. In September 2012, Pan Macmillan announced they had acquired a "fantasy trilogy for young adults", the Silver Blackthorn series. The fourth Jessica Daniel book, ''Think of the Children'', became Amazon UK's no.1 ebook pre-order, in February 2013, with the paperback peaking at number 19 on the UK chart. In August 2013, The Bookseller reported that Pan Macmillan had bought two more books from Wilkinson, including a standalone crime novel, ''Down Among The Dead Men''; and ''Something Wicked'', a spin-off from ''Playing With Fire'', book five of the Jessica Daniel series. ''Watched: When Road Rage Follows You Home'' (Dec 2013) and ''Crossing The Line'' (January 2014) became Wilkinson's seventh and eighth successive novels to appear in Amazon's top 20 crime chart. A further deal followed in 2014 for another book in the Jessica Daniel series, another Andrew Hunter book, and a standalone crime thriller entitled, ''No Place Like Home''. In 2015, the Bookseller reported his sales were "fast approaching the one million mark". With the Jessica Daniel series continuing through Pan Books in the UK, publisher Bookouture secured the rights to publish the series in the United States, as well as global rights for "two psychological thrillers". In 2017, the first of those thrillers, ''Two Sisters'', peaked at No.1 in the Canada Kindle chart and the iBooks chart. It also reached No.14 in the UK Kindle chart and No.20 in the United States. The second, ''The Girl Who Came Back'', reached No.1 in the UK Kobo chart and No.2 in the UK Kindle chart. It also became his second No.1 in Canada. In 2018, his coming-of-age novel, ''Ten Birthdays'', won Young Adult romance novel of the year at the

Romantic Novelists' Association Awards The Romantic Novel of the Year Award is an award for romance novels since 1960, presented by Romantic Novelists' Association, and since 2003, the novellas, also won the Love Story of the Year (now RoNA Rose Award). In 2018, awards were given to ...

. In 2020, his novel, ''Close To You'', won Best Ebook Original Novel at the

. In 2021, publisher Bookouture announced Wilkinson's novel, The Blame, was his "30th book with us: the most titles Bookouture has ever released from one author". It also acquired "World All Languages rights for two more addictive psychological thrillers, plus the coming-of-age novel Truly, Madly, Amy" In 2022, Bookouture said they had "signed a four-book mystery series with bestselling author Kerry Wilkinson".

Education

Kerry Wilkinson attended Oakfield Middle School and

Frome Community College Frome Community College, styled as Frome College, is a comprehensive school in Frome, Somerset, England for students aged 13 to 18. Approximately 1,200 were enrolled in December 2021, within the Three-tier education, three tier system. Students' ...

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

, Somerset. He has a degree in journalism from the University of Central Lancashire.

Bibliography

Miscellaneous *''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man'' (2005) (co-writer) Jessica Daniel crime novels *''Locked In'' (2011), ''(German version: Eingesperrt - Jessica Daniel ermittelt, Translator: Olaf Knechten, 2013)'' *''Vigilante'' (2011) *''The Woman In Black'' (2011) *''As If By Magic'' (ebook exclusive, 2012) *''Think Of The Children'' (February 2013) *''Playing With Fire'' (July 2013) *''Thicker Than Water'' (October 2013) *''Behind Closed Doors'' (January 2014) *''Crossing The Line'' (September 2014) *''Scarred For Life'' (January 2015) *''For Richer, For Poorer'' (February 2016) *''Nothing But Trouble'' (February 2017) *''Eye For An Eye'' (January 2018) *''Silent Suspect'' (January 2019) *''The Unlucky Ones'' (July 2019) *''A Cry In The Night'' (January 2020) The Jessica Daniel novels are also available as audiobooks, read by

Becky Hindley Rebecca "Becky" Hindley (born 11 August 1965) is an English television, stage and radio actress based in Lancaster, England. She is best known for her eight-month stint in ''Coronation Street'' as Charlotte Hoyle in 2010; her performance as the ...

. Andrew Hunter crime novels *''Something Wicked'' (June 2014) *''Something Hidden'' (June 2015) *''Something Buried'' (February 2019) Silver Blackthorn novels *''Reckoning'' (May 2014) (UK,

); (July 2014) (USA,

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

) *''Renegade'' (May 2015) (UK,

); (July 2015) (USA,

) *''Resurgence'' (May 2016) (UK,

); (July 2016) (USA,

) Other crime novels *''Watched: When Road Rage Follows You Home'' (2013) *''Down Among The Dead Men'' (September 2015) *''No Place Like Home'' (November 2016) *''Two Sisters'' (June 2017) *''The Girl Who Came Back'' (September 2017) *''Last Night'' (March 2018) *''The Wife's Secret'' (October 2018) *''A Face In The Crowd'' (June 2019) *''Close To You'' (October 2019) *''After The Accident'' (March 2020) *''The Child Across The Street'' (July 2020) *''What My Husband Did'' (November 2020) *''The Blame'' (February 2021) *''The Child In The Photo'' (June 2021) *''The Perfect Daughter'' (September 2021) *''The Party At Number 12'' (March 2022) *''The Boyfriend'' (June 2022) Other novels *''Ten Birthdays'' (April 2017) *''The Death And Life Of Eleanor Parker'' (July 2018) *''Truly, Madly, Amy'' (July 2022)

References

External links

KerryWilkinson.com
his personal website including his blog and bibliography. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Kerry 1980 births 21st-century English novelists English crime fiction writers English crime writers English thriller writers English mystery writers Living people People from Bath, Somerset People from Frome English male novelists 21st-century English male writers