Karen Campbell Books In Order

Publication Order of Anna Cameron Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Karen Campbell is a Scottish author of mystery, literary, and general fiction novels. The author made her debut with the publishing of “The Twilight Time,” the debut novel of the “Anna Cameron” series of novels.
Before she became an author, she used to work as a police officer and this perhaps informs the writing of her first four novels.

Early on in her life, Campbell attended primary and high school in southside, Glasgow. Even at that very young age, she was very much interested in reading and remembers reading the “Twinkle Comic” just after she started school.

Her interest in books was heightened when one day her mother came home with a box full of books that had belonged to the daughter of one of her colleagues. She dived into the books that included the likes of “What Katy Did” and Enid Blyton.
After she was done with that, she was hooked and has loved reading and writing ever since. Apart from her first Scottish crime novels, she is also the author of “Paper Cup” and “The Sound of Hours” which are literary fiction works.
She currently makes her home in Galloway and in her free time mentors and teaches creative writing students. She has also been a Galloway and Dumfries Council Writer in Residence.

While she had always loved reading, Karen Campbell had a meandering path to becoming an author.

Since she loved reading, she went to college to study English but after graduating, she felt she was no longer feeling the magic and decided she was more interested in something more practical.

Campbell would then follow in the footsteps of her parents to become a police officer for a little over half a decade. She would then leave to begin a family and it was during her time away that she once again begin writing.

She combined the funny incidents and stories she remembered from the police and some domestic stuff in addition to the sense of overwhelming responsibility as a young woman being a police officer in Glasgow.

Working as a police officer, she had to deal with all manner of criminal activities that provided much fodder for mystery fiction writing.

She would end up writing a novel that she would have loved to read but could never find in the bookshops and libraries that she often trawled through.

Still, she credits her writing career to her decision to attend the Glasgow University Creative Writing Masters when her kids were toddlers.

By the time Karen Campbell enrolled for her creative writing master’s degree, she had quit the police and was working at City Chambers as a media officer. She was busy crafting stories for press releases which got her interested in fiction writing.
She would then begin writing short stories that she would tuck into her drawer. It was about this time that she read about Rachel Seiffert, who was shortlisted for the Booker Prize after attending the prestigious course.

Attending the course changed her life as she finally got access to other like-minded people looking to get published. With so many people to share her work with and talk to, it was like someone had turned on a light for her.

She learned what had worked for others and had her ideas challenged and some praised. Coupled with gentle guidance and a bit of nudging from the tutors, she would graduate and finally publish “The Twilight Time” her debut novel in 2008.

Karen Campbell’s novel “The Twilight Time” introduces Sergeant Anna Cameron that has just been promoted to the head of the Glasgow-based Flexi Unit.

A big part of the unit she will be heading will be to persecute and protect local prostitutes. Recently protection has come to the fore as someone has been slashing the cheeks of prostitutes in the city.
Meanwhile, Anna meets a charming old man who soon enough ends up getting murdered and she cannot help but get involved.

Anna is a good-looking woman but with a rude, cold, and repellent manner which has made her widely disliked. As such, she is always on the verge of getting fired but what saves her is the fact that she is a tireless investigator and dedicated officer.
She is a woman that messes with sexual stereotypes and comes out as a compassionate, complex, aggressive, and heroic character in turn.

It is a very gritty work with a lot of black humor and with enough atmosphere and pace that will give the likes of author Denise Mina a lot of competition for readers.

“After the Fire” by Karen Campbell is the story of newly qualified firearms officer Constable Jamie Worth. He believes he is a sharpshooter in the mold of John Wayne but even better as he has a Glasgow swagger.
But following the shooting of an unarmed teenager named Sarah while responding to a domestic disturbance call, his whole life is turned upside down.

His marriage had already been under a lot of strain following his affair with former associate Inspector Anna Cameron. The latter is now a United Kingdom represe

ntative on the United Nation’s Justice and Police Task Force in New York.

After she fails to get a long-term appointment, she comes back to Scotland and learns that her lover Jamie has just been convicted of murder.

While they have a strong distaste for each other, Cath and Anna join forces as they embark on a quest to prove Jamie is innocent.

Campbell is an expert at exploring the horrifying consequences of a miscarriage of justice and a botched investigation.

The heart-wrenching portrait of the slain girl caught in a horrifying web of family abuse only adds to the powerful story.

In Karen Campbell’s “Shadowplay” Anna Cameron is about to turn 40 and has just been promoted to Chief Inspector with the Strathclyde Police. This means that she has now been sent to a more affluent area of Glasgow.

She had been eager to start at her new post working with a fellow woman as boss as she believes they should have a bit of solidarity. But commander Marion Hamilton Marie is an intimidating bully who loves to harass her at every turn.

Meanwhile, crime has been continuing unabated in the city with the most baffling case being that of Cassie Maguire an elderly woman who went missing from a nursing home.

There is also the case of the murder of a man named Sabir Aziz who was killed in what seems like a racist gang-related incident, the assault of a young and enthusiastic constable, and the circulation of counterfeit money.

Writing in vivid descriptions, the author brings to life what is a plausible and very authentic narrative.