About Mel

British-born suspense writer Mel Parish's innate curiosity leads her to find intrigue even in everyday happenings. She is fascinated by how one seemingly small decision can have dramatic repercussions, a fascination she explores in her stories of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Fortunately, the characters in her head are the ones who have to deal with the fall-out while she leads a relatively normal life - or at least, what she considers normal. 

Mel wrote her first book at the age of twelve when she took her English teacher’s instructions to write a story with more than one chapter literally and ended up with a young adult mystery novel. The passion for writing was temporarily eclipsed by the needs of career, marriage and family, but was reignited when her then eight-year-old daughter announced she was writing a book, prompting Mel to wonder why she’d ever stopped. She’s been writing ever since and has published nine novels. 

Her latest novel, Long Shot,  Book 5 in the Detective Rigby series, was published in September 2023.  She is currently working on Book 6. 

Born in the north-east of England and now resident in New York, Mel has also lived in London and Hong Kong for substantial periods and traveled extensively on all three continents. An avid traveler and walker, Mel spends her free time exploring places near and far and blogs about her trips on Food for the Author: Books and Travel.