Louise Ross, known by her pen name LJ Ross, is the author of the DCI Ryan, Summer Suspense and Doctor Gregory series of mystery thrillers.[1] Her debut novel, Holy Island, was released in January 2015 and, by May, it had reached number one in the Amazon UK chart.[2][3] Its sequel, Sycamore Gap, released in September 2015, is also a UK bestseller.[4][5] She released further books in the DCI Ryan series, amassing more than twenty UK No. 1s[6] and selling over ten million copies.[7][8][9]
Born
Louise Ross
Northumberland, England, United Kingdom
Pen name
LJ Ross
Occupation
Writer
Nationality
British
Period
2015–present
Genre
Notable works
DCI Ryan Mystery series (listed below)
Website
Ross was born and grew up in Ponteland, Northumberland, England.[10] She completed undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in law at King's College London, where she met her husband, and continued her studies in Paris and Florence. After spending most of her twenties working in the City as a lawyer, she began to feel it was time for change.[11]
Ross wrote Holy Island having been inspired by the atmospheric beauty of Lindisfarne, an island off the northeast coast of England she knew well from childhood.[12] Following its instant success, she now writes full-time. The second book in her series of DCI Ryan novels, Sycamore Gap, is set in Hadrian's Wall country[13][14] and subsequent DCI Ryan novels continue the Northumbrian locations, with stories set in Northumberland, County Durham and Newcastle.
A multi-cast audio drama version of Ross eleventh novel in the DCI Ryan Mysteries Series The Infirmary, a prequel, was performed by a number of high-profile actors including Kevin Whately, Tom Bateman, Hermione Norris, Alun Armstrong.[15] Hugh Dancy and Richard Armitage narrated the audiobook versions of the Doctor Gregory novels.[16]
The eighteenth instalment of the DCI Ryan series, The Rock, was the UK's third best-selling ebook of 2021, behind novels by Richard Osman and Matt Haig.[17]
In 2022, Amazon UK reported that the DCI Ryan Mysteries series was its secondbest-selling book series of all time.[18]
Ross has twice been shortlisted for the British Book Awards 'Crime and Thriller Book of the Year' for her books Impostor (the first book in the Doctor Gregory series) and Bamburgh (book 19 in the DCI Ryan Mysteries series).[19][20] She was also shortlisted for the prestigious Crime Writers' Association "Dagger in the Library" Award in 2021 and 2024.[21]
Ross publishes all of her works independently through Dark Skies Publishing, a publishing imprint set up and managed by Ross and her husband.[7]
Ross lives with her husband and two children in Northumberland.[22]
Ross has founded several prizes to celebrate arts in the North East of England. She set up the Northern Photography Prize for images captured in the North East of England,[23] the Lindisfarne Prize for Crime Fiction and the Northern Film Prize.[24][25][26] In 2021, LJ Ross brought together 55 fellow authors from across the spectrum of publishing to produce Everyday Kindness, a charity anthology of short stories, the proceeds of which were donated to Shelter.[27] The audiobook version of Everyday Kindness was narrated by several high-profile actors including Dame Julie Walters and Richard Armitage.[28]
Police procedural mystery/romantic suspense series set in Northumbria, England following Detective Chief Inspector Ryan.
Pub.
order
Series
order
Title
Year
ISBN
Locale
1
1
Holy Island
2015 (January)
2
2
Sycamore Gap
2015 (September)
3
3
Heavenfield
2016 (March)
4
4
Angel
2016 (August)
5
5
High Force
2017 (January)
6
6
Cragside
2017 (July)
7
7
Dark Skies
2017 (December)
8
8
Seven Bridges
2018 (May)
9
9
The Hermitage
2018 (October)
10
10
Longstone
2018 (December)
11
Prequel
The Infirmary
2019 (February)
12
11
The Moor
2019 (April)
Town Moor, Newcastle upon Tyne
13
12
Penshaw
2019 (July)
14
13
Borderlands
2019 (September)
15
14
Ryan's Christmas
2019 (December)
Chillingham, Northumberland; Chillingham Castle
16
15
The Shrine
2020 (April)
17
16
Cuthbert's Way
2020 (November)
18
17
The Rock
2021 (June)
19
18
Bamburgh
2022 (April)
20
19
Lady's Well
2023 (April)
21
20
Death Rocks
2024 (April)
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Forensic psychologist Doctor Alexander Gregory becomes involved in murder investigations.
Pub.
order
Series
order
Title
Pub. date
ISBN
Locale
1
1
Imposter
2019 (31 October)
2
2
Hysteria
2019 (10 December)
3
3
Bedlam
2020 (4 June)
4
4
Mania
2022 (3 March)
A suspense series set in rural Cornwall.
Pub.
order
Series
order
Title
Pub. date
ISBN
Locale
1
1
The Cove
2021 (31 July)
2
2
The Creek
2022 (4 August)
3
3
The Bay
2023 (28 September)
Title
Pub. date
ISBN
Synopsis
Everyday Kindness: A collection of uplifting tales to brighten your day
13/11/2021
Everyday Kindness is a charity anthology of short, fictional stories of kindness, edited by LJ Ross. These uplifting tales of hope and of small, everyday kindnesses are intended to support wider, positive mental health goals and foster wellbeing through the act of reading tales of goodwill inspired by others.
All proceeds from the book are donated to Shelter, a charity that helps millions of people a year struggling with bad housing or homelessness.[29]