Zoë Sharp decided to write a crime novel after being on the receiving end of death-threat letters through her work as a magazine columnist.

The result, published in 2001, was ‘Killer Instinct’, the first of a series featuring her no-nonsense ex-army heroine, Charlie Fox. She is currently working on the fourth Charlie Fox book, and has plans for over forty crime thrillers. “I’m going to have to start writing faster!”

Zoë spent most of her childhood living aboard a catamaran on the northwest coast of England. She opted out of mainstream education at the age of twelve and wrote her first novel when she was fifteen. She became a freelance photo-journalist in 1988. Zoë lives in Cumbria, and is married, but would rather have a motorbike than children.

Zoë Sharp’s novels are fast paced and action packed; easy to get into but harder to put down.

For more information got to: www.zoesharp.com

Publications

Road Kill - Published By Piatkus Books 2005 'If you stay involved with Sean Meyer you will end up killing again,' my father said. 'And next time, Charlotte, you might not get away with it.' Still bearing the emotional scars from her traumatic first bodyguarding job in the States, Charlie Fox returns to her former home to try and work out both her personal and professional future. Instead of the peace for which she's been hoping, Charlie is immediately caught up in the aftermath of a fatal bike crash involving one of her closest friends. The more she probes, the more she suspects that the accident was far from accidental - and the more she finds herself relying on the support of her troubled boss, Sean Meyer, despite her misgivings over the wisdom of resuming their relationship. And Charlie's got enough on her plate trying to work out who suddenly wants her dead. The only way to find out is to infiltrate a group of illegal road racers who appear hell-bent on living fast and dying young. Taking risks is something that ex-Special Forces soldier Charlie knows all about, but doing it just for kicks seems like asking for trouble. By the time she finds out what's really at stake, she might be too late to stop them all becoming road kill . . .

First Drop - Published by Piatkus Books 2005 'As hair-raising as a rollercoaster ride, First Drop skyrockets Zoë Sharp to the top of that exclusive list of suspense writers who are going places fast.' 'The guy in the passenger seat was closest. He got out first, so I shot him first. Two rounds high in the chest.' It should have been an easy introduction to Charlie Fox's new career as a bodyguard, working for the close protection agency run by her ex-lover, Sean Meyer. Their trip to Florida together should almost have been a working holiday. All Charlie has to do is baby-sit Trey Peltzner, the gawky fifteen-year-old son of a rich computer programmer in Fort Lauderdale. The last thing anyone expected was a determined attempt to snatch the boy, or that Trey's father and their entire close protection team - including Sean - would disappear off the face of the earth at the same time. Now somebody out there wants the boy badly and they're prepared to eliminate anyone who gets in their way. But they haven't bargained on Charlie, an ex-Special Forces soldier with a survival instinct that's a real killer. . . First Drop was nominated for the Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel 2004. This prestigious award 'for excellence in crime fiction' is presented annually by the American Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine. First Drop was also one of seven books nominated by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine as the Top UK Crime Novel of 2004, along with Robert Barnard, Peter May and Minette Walters. It made the Recommended Reading List 2004 for Mystery Women, compiled from the Top Ten Favourite Books of the Last Twelve Months in the Amateur Detective category.

Hard Knocks - Published By Piatkus Books 2003 'If the army had known what was inside me, what I would eventually turn into, they might not have been so keen to let me go.’ Charlie Fox really didn’t care who shot dead her ex-army comrade, Kirk Salter, during a bodyguard training course in Germany. But when old flame Sean Meyer asks her to go undercover and find out what happened she just can’t bring herself to refuse him. Keeping her nerve isn’t easy when events bring back fears and memories she’s worked so hard to forget. It’s clear there are secrets at Einsbaden Manor that people are willing to kill to conceal. To find out what’s going on Charlie must face up to her past and move quickly, before she becomes the next casualty. She expected training to be tough, but can she graduate from this school of hard knocks alive?

Riot Act - Published By Piatkus Books 2002 ‘I am a violent man, Miss Fox,’ Garton-Jones said, without bravado or inflection. ‘I can - and will - do whatever is necessary to control this estate. Remember that.’ A self-defence expert with a motorbike and an attitude, Charlie Fox doesn’t need to go looking for trouble. It generally finds her. Teenage gangs are running riot on an estate where Charlie is house-sitting for a friend. Her desperate neighbours have been forced to employ an expensive - and ruthless - private security firm to apply rough justice where the legal kind has failed. The situation gets even uglier when a young Asian boy is fatally wounded in what appears to be a racially motivated shooting. Caught in the middle of an urban battlefield, Charlie’s more than able to take care of herself but then she comes face to face with a spectre from her army past. As the tensions rise, lives will depend on Charlie working out who she can really trust...

Killer Instinct - Published By Piatkus Books 2001 ‘Susie Hollins may have been no great shakes as a karaoke singer, but I didn’t think that was enough reason for anyone to want to kill her.’ Charlie Fox teaches self-defence, having been kicked out of the army for reasons she prefers not to go into. When Susie Hollins is found dead only hours after tussling with Charlie at the New Adelphi Club, Charlie knows the police will come calling. What they don’t tell her is that Hollins is in fact the latest victim of a homicidal rapist. Charlie finds herself drawn into the investigation when the New Adelphi’s enigmatic owner, Marc Quinn offers her a job. Viewed as an outsider by the existing all-male security team, her suspicions of a link between club and killer don’t exactly endear her to anyone. Charlie has always taught her students that it’s better to run than to fight. But, when the killer starts taking a very personal interest it becomes clear that she isn’t going to be given that option...