Making her crime fiction debut in the pandemical pandaemonium of 2021, AD FOX has been published for fifteen years and won a plethora of awards as children’s author Ali Sparkes. ‘I have always loved writing for children, but for many years I harboured the dark secret of really wanting to murder people,’ confesses Ali. ‘Happily, only in print. Well, as far as the authorities know…’ Having despatched quite a few characters in her bestselling Shapeshifter Series, Ali had always nursed the urge to take it up a gear for her readers beyond school age - and the cancellation of scores of festival and school event bookings in 2020 provided that silver lining. Time. ‘It’s been hideous for so many people,’ she says, ‘and I wouldn’t wish a global pandemic on anyone. Obviously. But the extra time has finally allowed me to scratch that crimey itch. Henry & Sparrow is the result. I can only hope both the police and the dowsing community will one day forgive me…’ Before becoming an author Ali worked as a reporter in local newspapers and later as a BBC broadcast journalist and a comedy writer for BBC Radio 4. Prior to all of this she was a bit of a luvvie and a singer in bands - and a Pontin's Bluecoat for one memorable summer season. Her experiences in all these fields have provided a rich background tapestry for the Henry & Sparrow series. She lives in Hampshire, England, with her husband, occasional boomeranging offspring and a highly porous labradoodle who loves too much. She likes to go running. Not quite so often in the woods since writing The Dying Dolls.