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Alex Gray is a Scottish author that writes crime fiction. Born in 1950 in Glasgow, Alex attended the University of Strathclyde (English and Philosophy). She describes her time as a DHSS officer as post-graduate education because it taught her so much. She also trained as a secondary school teacher.
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Order of Detective Lorimer Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Never Somewhere Else | 2002 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | A Small Weeping | 2004 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Shadows of Sounds | 2005 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | The Riverman | 2007 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Pitch Black | 2008 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | Glasgow Kiss | 2009 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Five Ways to Kill a Man | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | Sleep Like the Dead | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | A Pound Of Flesh | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
| 10 | The Swedish Girl | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
| 11 | The Bird That Did Not Sing / The Silent Games | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
| 12 | Keep the Midnight Out | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
| 13 | The Darkest Goodbye | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
| 14 | Still Dark | 2017 | Description / Buy | |
| 15 | Only the Dead Can Tell | 2018 | Description / Buy | |
| 16 | The Stalker | 2019 | Description / Buy | |
| 17 | When Shadows Fall | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
| 18 | Before the Storm | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
| 19 | Echo of the Dead | 2022 | Description / Buy | |
| 20 | Questions for a Dead Man | 2023 | Description / Buy | |
| 21 | Out of Darkness | 2024 | Description / Buy |
Alex Gray Anthologies
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Protectors | 2012 | Description / Buy |
Alex met her husband at a friend’s wedding. The wedding venue was far, and because she couldn’t drive, the author’s friends arranged for Donnie to give her a lift. Donnie left for Zimbabwe to work as an accountant soon after.
However, the pair wrote to each other for the next nine months. They got married in a Church in Harare. Alex had to abandon her teaching career to make the trip, but she never regretted the decision.
They waited until they came back home to start their family. Their friends thought they were crazy because they had no money at the time. Fortunately, Donnie received a job offer later that allowed them to get by.
Alex’s children changed her entire life because they did not sleep for the first two years. The author took comfort in the words of her friends, who assured the parent that sleeplessness in babies was a sign of intelligence.
Alex waited until her kids started primary school to resume her teaching career. But she had to abandon it in 1992 after falling seriously ill. Not only was she struggling to stay awake, but she could barely speak. Her children thought she was dying.
It took a visit to Rapha Center, Perthshire, for the author to discover that she had insufficient minerals. Alex believes that her hectic schedule was the cause. She was pushing herself too hard. The people at the Rapha Center got her back on her feet.
However, because she couldn’t teach during her illness, the author had begun to write. She started with short stories before joining a workshop and finally penning a novel.
Alex thinks she was a late bloomer. She was 51 when she published her first novel. But the author also believes that her age enriched her stories. Publishers kept telling her that they were drawn to writers that had life experience.
CANONGATE published her first novel. Though, she did not stay with them. After the success of Life of Pi, which they published, the company decided that they wanted to pursue literary fiction. So they eliminated their crime imprint.
They assured the author that she would secure a replacement with relative ease. They were right. It took Alex just two weeks to join Allison and Busby.
However, it wasn’t until she signed with Little Brown that the author felt truly at home. Both Little Brown and Transworld wanted her, but Alex went with Little Brown because David Shelley, Allison and Busby’s former managing director, had jumped to Little Brown, and she liked him.
Alex Gray Awards
Alex is a recipient of the ‘Scottish Association of Writers’ Constable and Pitlochry Trophies.’
Best Alex Gray Books
The author has been a committed Christian since the age of 12. Her faith has encouraged her during the most challenging moments of her life, including her father’s death. Alex Gray’s best books include:
Never Somewhere Else: Several women are dead. Someone strangled them before abandoning them in Glasgow Park for the public to discover. DCI Lorimer must find the killer. But the task is far from easy. The culprit is a vicious murderer who mutilated the victims.
To better understand the kind of mind that would stoop to such depths, Lorimer requires the assistance of Sol Brightman, a psychologist.
A Small Weeping: Glasgow has a serial killer. Someone murdered a prostitute and left her at a train station. The ritualistic arrangement of the body makes no sense to DCI Lorimer. He needs an expert to decipher the clues the killer left. Unfortunately, more people are dying. As the body count grows, so does the pressure on Lorimer.
This is the second novel in the DCI Lorimer series. In the first book, Lorimer is a blank slate, the sort of character upon which the reader can project any personality they wish.
The sequel makes more of an effort to flesh out Lorimer and Doctor Brightman, painting a concise picture of who they are as human beings.
When Does The Next Alex Gray book come out?
Alex Gray doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Out of Darkness and was released on March, 21st 2024. It is the newest book in the Detective Lorimer Series.
Alex Gray (my absolute favorite!) next book is #20 in the Lorimer series titled “Questions for a Dead Man” to be published in 2023. (I wish my library would carry her books.)