Steph Broadribb Books in Order

Steph Broadribb was born in Birmingham, England, and grew up in Buckinghamshire. She was a big reader from an early age, especially after discovering Sherlock Holmes as a child. Crime stories stayed with her, not just for the mysteries, but for the people who have to make difficult choices when the pressure is on.

Before novels became the center of her work, Broadribb spent her days in corporate jobs and her evenings writing about crime fiction. Under the name Crime Thriller Girl, she reviewed books, interviewed writers, and stayed close to the genre she loved. That long stretch of reading, blogging, and talking about mysteries gave her a strong sense of what keeps a crime story moving.

Then she took the leap into writing her own.

Broadribb studied for an MA in Creative Writing, with a focus on crime fiction, at City, University of London. She also trained as a bounty hunter in California. It is the kind of research most crime writers only imagine doing, and it gave her useful details about the work, rules, and risks behind a career that would become central to her first series.

Her debut, Deep Down Dead, introduced Florida bounty hunter Lori Anderson, a single mother balancing dangerous work with the need to care for her young daughter. The book puts Lori on the road after her former mentor, then keeps tightening the danger around them. It launched the Lori Anderson series, which continued with Deep Blue Trouble, Deep Dirty Truth, and Deep Dark Night. Readers who like brisk action, close calls, and a lead character who refuses to quit will find plenty to enjoy there.

Broadribb also writes as Stephanie Marland. Her Starke & Bell novels, beginning with My Little Eye, move into darker psychological crime territory. They pair DI Dominic Bell with Clementine Starke, a troubled outsider drawn into cases involving online true-crime communities, serial killers, and people who are not always what they claim to be. You Die Next keeps that uneasy mix of police work, technology, and personal secrets going.

There is a lighter surface, but not necessarily lighter stakes, in the Retired Detectives Club books. Death in the Sunshine brings together four former investigators living in a Florida retirement community, where their plans for quiet lives do not last long. The series combines sunny settings, group chemistry, and traditional whodunit puzzles, while still making room for the characters’ old cases and private troubles.

Her work often returns to people with practical skills who are pushed out of their comfort zones. Bounty hunters, detectives, former police officers, and armchair investigators all have to decide whom to trust, what to hide, and how far they will go for someone they care about.

Broadribb remains based in Buckinghamshire and has also worked with writers through coaching and manuscript critiques. Between her different pen names and series, she has built a varied crime-fiction shelf, from hard-driving thrillers to puzzle-led mysteries.