LJ Ross

LJRoss is an international bestselling author of atmospheric crime and mystery thrillers, whose books are all inspired by and set in the North East and have sold over seven million copies worldwide. She was born and bred in the region, where she continues to live with her husband and young children. Through her own publishing imprint, Dark Skies Publishing, Louise undertakes a number of philanthropic ventures, including founding and sponsoring the Lindisfarne Prize for Crime Fiction to support new, emerging and established authors.

Robert Scragg

Robert Scragg had a random mix of jobs before taking the dive into crime writing; he’s been a bookseller, pizza deliverer, karate instructor, football coach, and HR Manager. He lives on the North East Coast with his wife, children & overly-needy dog, and is a founding member of the Northern Crime Syndicate crime-writers group.

What Falls Between The Cracks, the first in his Porter & Styles series, was a New Writing North pick as one of the 2019 Read Regional books of the year. Rob’s work has also seen him win the Lindisfarne Prize for Crime Fiction 2021, and make the shortlist for the CWA Short Story Dagger 2021.

For a full list of Rob’s books and upcoming events, visit www.robertscragg.com

Dr Jacky Collins

Dr Jacky Collins a.k.a. ‘Dr Noir’, was formerly Senior Lecturer at Northumbria University in Literature, Film & TV and Spanish Language & Culture, and is currently based at Stirling University. In 2014, Jacky established the International Crime Fiction Festival that is ‘Newcastle Noir’, supporting arts in the North East whilst connecting readers with hundreds of crime and thriller authors from around the world. More recently, she has been venturing into local radio, co-hosting a fortnightly crime fiction programme on SpiceFM, hosting on-line literary events with the Honey & Stag events team, and is part of the Corylus Books team, a new indie publisher of crime fiction in translation: from Romania, Iceland and beyond.

Nicky Black

Nicky Black has self-published two Amazon best-sellers, The Prodigal and The Rave, and is currently working on the third novel in the gritty Valley Park series. A former urban regeneration professional, she has a keen interest in the pros and cons of the gentrification of neighbourhoods and how it affects disadvantaged communities. The first two books in the Valley Park series began life as television and film scripts, written by Julie Blackie, and transformed into novels by Nicky Doherty, who will be on this year’s judging panel for the Lindisfarne Prize. She is very much looking forward to reading the submissions and wishes all entrants the very best of luck.