Elly Griffiths

Domenica de Rosa (born 17 August 1963), known by her pen name Elly Griffiths, is a British crime novelist. She has written three series as Griffiths, one featuring Ruth Galloway, one featuring Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens and Max Mephisto, and the Harbinder Kaur series.

Early life

Griffiths was born in London. After reading English at King's College London, she worked in publishing for many years.

Writing career

Griffiths' first series features as a main character forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway, who lives in a remote seaside cottage near King's Lynn in Norfolk and teaches at the University of North Norfolk. This character was inspired by Griffiths' husband, who gave up a city job to train as an archaeologist, and her aunt, "who lives on the Norfolk coast and filled her niece's head with the myths and legends of that area". Griffiths released the first book in this series, The Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway #1), in 2009.

Griffiths' second series, set in 1950s Brighton, focuses on the duo of Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens and magician Max Mephisto. Griffiths released the first book in this series, The Zig Zag Girl, in 2014.

In 2017, Griffiths was the Programming Chair for the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, part of the Harrogate International Festivals portfolio.

Griffiths won the 2020 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel for The Stranger Diaries. In 2021, The Postscript Murders was shortlisted in the Gold Dagger category at the Crime Writers' Association Awards.