Meet the author

Emma Swan.

Writer · United Kingdom

Emma Swan: a Horrible Histories stage star whose award-winning Cruise Ship Kid mysteries serve up funny, twisty cosy crime at sea for newly confident readers.

Emma Swan is a British children's author and West End actor, originally from Rotherham, known for her stage work with Horrible Histories. Her debut, Cruise Ship Kid: Thief at Sea!, draws on her own unusual childhood spent aboard the ships her parents worked on, and introduces ten-year-old Silver, a would-be detective with a floating home full of pools, shops and passengers but no friend her own age until a mystery gives her the perfect chance to prove herself. Brightly illustrated by Katie Saunders, the cosy-crime-at-sea series won both Newcomer and Readers' Choice at the 2025 Books Are My Bag Readers Awards, and continued with Kidnap at Sea!. Warm, funny and fast-moving, Swan's mysteries are ideal for newly confident readers who love a laugh, a twist and a heroine worth cheering for.