David spent more than fifteen years as a journalist, including seven years as a crime reporter with the Yorkshire Post - walking the Hull streets that would later become the setting for the Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy novels. He has been championed by such industry luminaries as Val McDermid, Peter James, Mick Herron and Martina Cole. He has written 12 novels in the McAvoy series, as well as two McAvoy novellas, A Bad Death and Fire of Lies, which are available as ebooks. His first historical thriller, The Zealot’s Bones, was a Sunday Times Book of the Year. With publishers Severn House, he has written the critically-acclaimed thrillers The Burying Ground, A Rush of Blood, Borrowed Time, Suspicious Minds and Cages. Other critically acclaimed works include The Guest House, Anatomy of a Heretic, Into the Woods, and the forthcoming Twist of Fate, under the pseudonym D L Mark. His first work of non-fiction, a mental health memoir detailing his battle with depression and addiction, was released in last year to great acclaim. Piece of Mind has been described as 'lyrical, raw, brutal and very funny'. Dark Winter was selected for the Harrogate New Blood panel (where he was Reader in Residence) and was a Richard & Judy pick and a Sunday Times bestseller. Dead Pretty was long-listed for the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger in 2016, as was Cold Bones in 2019. David’s Radio 4 drama, A Marriage of Inconvenience, aired in 2017. His first novel has been adapted for the stage. He has also written for the theatre and has contributed articles and reviews to several national and international publications. He is a regular performer at literary festivals and is a sought-after public speaker. He also teaches creative writing and is a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund. He lives in rural Northumberland with his family.
