Meet the author

Nicki Thornton.

Writer · United Kingdom

Nicki Thornton: bookseller-turned-author of magical whodunits, from the prize-winning Last Chance Hotel to the Howling Hag Mysteries, fair-play puzzles with a supernatural shiver for ages 9–12.

Nicki Thornton is a British children's author who ran an independent bookshop for over ten years before her debut, The Last Chance Hotel, won the Times/Chicken House competition and became an international bestseller. She writes magical whodunits for readers of nine and up: fair-play mysteries that fold golden-age detective logic into a world where spells are as dangerous as suspects. The Seth Seppi trilogy, beginning at the Last Chance Hotel, follows a put-upon kitchen boy and his sharp-tongued talking cat Nightshade, who returns to sleuth again in the cosier Howling Hag Mysteries. Thornton's books blend genuine enchantment with warm humour and properly clued puzzles, always playing fair with the reader. A dependable pick for children who love a whodunit with a supernatural shiver.