Dorothy Koomson

Born to Ghanaian parents in London in 1971, best-selling novelist Dorothy Koomson wrote her first (unpublished) work of fiction entitled There Is a Thin Line Between Love and Hate at the age of thirteen. After her studies in Psychology at Leeds University, she returned to London for her MA in Journalism at Goldsmiths, University of London. While she worked as an editor for women’s magazines and national newspapers, she kept writing novels in her spare time. Today, she is best known for her groundbreaking crime novels, which she refers to as 'emotional thrillers' (Koomson at 'Birmingham Literary Festival'). She is also often cited for her outspokenness on the British publishing industry, which she experienced as a "hostile environment for Black authors" (Koomson qtd. in Flood 2020).

In 2003 her debut romance novel The Cupid Effect (2003) was published, which was followed by a second novel entitled The Chocolate Run in 2004. Her 2006 novel My Bestfriend’s Girl was ragingly popular, with more than 500,000 copies sold, and was selected for the Summer Reads shortlist of the Channel 4 talk show Richard and Judy. Since then, she has published a steady stream of romance and crime novels, including Marshmallows for Breakfast (2007), Goodnight, Beautiful (2008), The Ice Cream Girls (2010) (which was adapted for television in 2013 and to which she wrote a sequel All My Lies Are True in 2020), The Woman He Loved Before (2011), The Rose Petal Beach (2012), The Flavours of Love (2013) (which was renamed That Day You Left) and That Girl from Nowhere (2015). The television adaptation of the Ice Cream Girls was aired on ITV in 2013. Her novel When I was Invisible (2016) is set in the 1980s and interweaves fiction with elements of dance and music. Her subsequent novel The Brighton Mermaid (2018) won 'The Precious Awards Must Read'. Her fifteenth novel Tell Me Your Secret (2019) centers on the usual role of women as survivors and victims in crime fiction and was followed by The Friend (2019). During the lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic, Koomson was inspired to write about neighbourliness and wrote the thriller I Know What You've Done (2021). She also wrote a 'Quick Read' entitled The Beach Wedding (2024). Every Smile You Fake (2024) showcases the dark side of social media-stardom. 

Aside from her crime and romance novels, she has also published short stories featuring in collections like I Am Heathcliff (ed. Kate Mosse, 2018) and Joyful, Joyful: Stories Celebrating Black Voices (ed. Dapo Adeola, 2022) and contributed to Grown: The Black Girls' Guide to Glowing Up (2021). 

Her most recent series entitled The Baking Detective Mysteries is presented as 'Dorothy Koomson writing as Cleo Forsum' and was inspired by her 2022 novel My Other Husband, which took a metafictional turn and thematized a mystery writer named Cleo Forsum being framed for murder. After readers enthousiastically encouraged Koomson to bring to life the fictional book series by the Forsum character, she self-published the first novel in the series 'Slice, Slice, Baby'  in 2024. This novel marks Koomson's 20th book publication. 

Koomson's work has been translated into 30+ languages and video trailers for her novels can be found on her website. She also produces the podcasts The Big Reveal and The Happy Author-My Podcast for Writers. She currently lives in Brighton, which is the main setting for her latest stories.

https://www.dorothykoomson.co.uk/ 

Prizes & Awards

• Dead Good Reads Awards 2022
• Image Award - Black British Business Awards 2019
• Precious Lifestyle Awards 2018
• Gold & Silver Bestseller Awards 2017
• Go On Girl! Book Club Award 2014
• GUBA Awards 2012