Malcolm Pryce (born 1960) is a British author, mostly known for his ''noir'' detective novels.

Biography

Born in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

, England, Pryce moved at the age of nine to

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

, where he later attended Penglais Comprehensive School before leaving to do some travelling. After working in a variety of jobs, including BMW assembly-line worker in Germany, hotel washer-up, "the world's worst aluminium salesman" and deckhand on a yacht in

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

, Pryce became an advertising copywriter in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. He is currently resident in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Writing career

Pryce writes in the style of

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

and has been labelled "the king of Welsh noir". His ''Aberystwyth Noir'' novels are incongruously set on the rainswept streets of an alternate universe version of the Welsh seaside resort and university town of

. The hero of these novels is

Louie Knight Louie Knight is the hero in the ''Aberystwyth Noir'' novels, a series of cult detective novels written by Malcolm Pryce set in an Parallel universe (fiction), alternative universe of the Welsh town of Aberystwyth, and centring on Aberystwyth's o ...

, the best private detective in Aberystwyth (also the only private detective in Aberystwyth), who battles crime organised by the local

Druids A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...

, investigates the strange case of the town's disappearing youths, and gets involved in its burgeoning film industry, which produces '' What The Butler Saw'' movies. Pryce has also written ''The Case of the 'Hail Mary' Celeste'' and ''Aberystwyth Noir - It Ain't Over till the Bearded Lady Sings'', a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

Afternoon Drama, first broadcast on 15 May 2013, featuring Louie Knight and produced and directed by

Kate McAll Kate McAll is Executive Producer, Radio Drama at BBC Wales. There she is a radio director and producer for BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4. Her credits include '' How I Live Now'' (Radio 3) and ''The Worst Journey in the World ''The Worst Journey ...

Bibliography

Aberystwyth noir

*''Aberystwyth Mon Amour'', 2001,

Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a U ...

, *''Last Tango in Aberystwyth'', 2003, Bloomsbury Publishing, *''The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Aberystwyth'', 2005, Bloomsbury Publishing, *''Don't Cry for Me Aberystwyth'', 2007, Bloomsbury Publishing, *''From Aberystwyth with Love'', 2009, Bloomsbury Publishing, *''The Day Aberystwyth Stood Still'', 2011, Bloomsbury Publishing,

The Case Files of Jack Wenlock, Railway Detective

*''The Case of the 'Hail Mary' Celeste'', 2015, Bloomsbury Publishing, *''The Corpse in the Garden of Perfect Brightness'', 2020, Bloomsbury Publishing, This author should not be confused with a different author of the same name,Author's website about alternative author
/ref> who has written the following books: *''A Dragon to Agincourt'', 2003,

Y Lolfa Y Lolfa (Welsh for ''The Lounge'', ) is a Welsh printing and publishing company based in Tal-y-bont, Ceredigion, in Mid-Wales. It publishes a wide variety of books in Welsh and English. It also provides a commercial print service. Y Lolfa was est ...

, *''With Madog to the New World'', 2005, Y Lolfa,

References

External links

Author website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pryce, Malcolm 1960 births Living people English humorists 21st-century English novelists Writers from Shrewsbury People from Aberystwyth People educated at Ysgol Penglais School English male novelists 21st-century English male writers