Meny
Portrait of John Verdon Photo: NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images (2015)

Sample of authors

Verdon, John

John Verdon is an American crime writer, born in Bronx, New York. He was educated at Regis High School and Fordham University in the same city, and subsequently worked in the advertising industry in Manhattan. Despite his considerable successes, he didn’t really like his job, so he retired at the age of 53. When his wife, Naomi, a teacher, retired a few years later, they moved to the countryside a...

Further reading

Literary figures

Karen Pirie

Gender: Female

She is an overweight workaholic, but also exceptionally skilful when it comes to investigating old, unsolved cases in police novels by Val McDermid. Karen Pirie is the head of the Historic Cases Unit with its head office in Fife in Scotland. Her private life is minimal – but includes a sweetheart, her colleague Phil Parhatka, and she mourns deeply when he is killed on duty. But she soon throws h...

Further reading