Andrew Taylor (born 1951) is a British author best known for his crime novels, which include the Dougal series, the Lydmouth series, the Roth Trilogy and the historical novel The American Boy.
Andrew Taylor grew up in East Anglia. He was educated at The King's School, Ely, and Woodbridge School. He read English at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and has an MA in Library, Archive and Information Science from University College London.
His first novel, Caroline Minuscule (1982), won the John Creasey Memorial Award of the Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain. He is the only author to have won the CWA's Historical Dagger twice, with The Office of the Dead and The American Boy. He has also won the Cartier Diamond Dagger, and has been shortlisted for the Gold Dagger, the Theakston's Old Peculier, and the Edgar award. The American Boy, a gothic mystery linked to Edgar Allan Poe's boyhood years in England, was one of the ten titles featured in Channel 4's Richard and Judy Book Club 2005.
The Roth Trilogy (now also available in an omnibus edition as Requiem For An Angel) was shown on ITV in March 2007. It was a three-part drama series under the title of Fallen Angel starring Charles Dance and Emilia Fox. The series was broadcast on three consecutive nights, beginning 11 March 2007.
Andrew Taylor also reviews in several publications, in particular the Spectator and the The Independent. He has written short stories and articles on crime fiction. He is a member of the Unusual Suspects, a group of crime novelists that travel internationally to promote their work.
His most recent novels are the standalone psychological thriller, A Stain On The Silence (Michael Joseph), and Naked To The Hangman, the eighth in the Lydmouth Series (Hodder and Stoughton). His latest novel is Bleeding Heart Square, set in the 1930s mainly in London (Michael Joseph, May 2008). Hyperion, the US publisher, have scheduled the novel for early 2009.
Andrew Taylor is married, with two children. He and his family have lived for many years in Coleford in the Forest of Dean on the borders of England and Wales.
