Nicki Thornton Books in Order

Nicki Thornton lives in Oxfordshire, England, and writes mysteries for young readers in which magic is never quite as helpful as it first appears. Her books combine suspicious deaths, locked-door puzzles, curses, oddball suspects, and young people trying to work out who they can trust.

Before becoming a novelist, Thornton spent many years in the book world. She ran her own bookshop for more than a decade, then mentored other booksellers. It gave her a close look at the small dramas that gather around books, readers, and local communities, which is a pretty useful background for someone who likes writing crime fiction.

She has been a lifelong fan of mysteries, and her work brings that love of clue-following into fantasy settings made for younger readers.

Her first middle-grade novel, The Last Chance Hotel, introduced Seth Seppi, an overworked kitchen boy whose carefully made dessert poisons an important guest. Suddenly Seth is the main suspect in a murder case, despite knowing nothing about the secret world of sorcerers gathered at the remote hotel. The book won the Times Children’s Fiction Prize and later received several award nominations.

Seth’s story continues in The Bad Luck Lighthouse and The Cut-Throat Cafe. He is joined throughout by Nightshade, a sharp-tongued cat with strong opinions about detective work. As Seth learns more about magic, the mysteries grow bigger, from sinister accidents at a lighthouse to attacks on young magical apprentices.

Nightshade gets more room to investigate in the related books The Howling Hag Mystery and The Poisoned Pie Mystery. Those stories keep the same mix of magic and crime while bringing in new young leads. Raven Charming must protect her witch sister when a school is hit by strange curses, while accident-prone Oakmoss Hornbeam wonders whether somebody has put a dangerous bad-luck spell on him.

Thornton also wrote The Floating Witch Mystery, a riverside fantasy thriller about school reporter Veena Vale, who is trying to convince her friends that dark magic threatens the home she loves. Across these books, her characters are often outsiders or people underestimated by those around them. They have to pay attention, ask difficult questions, and keep going when adults have missed the point.

Cats keep turning up in Thornton’s fiction, though she does not keep one herself. She is a wildlife gardener and a biodiversity volunteer in Oxford, helping assess habitats for animals including badgers and bats. She has said that walks, runs, and time outdoors are useful for finding plot ideas.

She still cares deeply about reading for pleasure and about helping young readers find books that feel like they were written for them. That spirit runs through her work. The puzzles are serious, but there is room for humor, friendship, and the occasional magical disaster.