INTERVIEW: Best-selling Lancaster children's mystery writer looks ahead to city's celebration of books

A Lancaster writer who went from a Saturday job at Waterstones to becoming a Sunday Times bestseller is looking forward to being part of the city's oldest festival.

Katherine Woodfine is the author of the popular Sinclair's Mysteries and Taylor and Rose Secret Agents series.

Katherine, from Lancaster, went to Lancaster Girls' Grammar School and worked at the King Street book shop as a teenager.

Then at the launch of her writing career, Waterstones chose her 2015 debut novel, 'The Clockwork Sparrow', as their book of the month.

It also became a Sunday Times bestseller and Katherine has now written 15 books over the past decade, delighting children with her series of thrilling mystery adventures.

LISTEN to our interview with Katherine Woodfine

Katherine said she has had huge support during her writing career from the people of Lancaster, including the Litfest literature festival which begins this week.

She made her first steps towards a writing career when she entered a Litfest competition and was one of the winners.

Her career is now coming full circle as she returns to Litfest to host a number of events at the 46th annual festival this week, as a 'reader in residence'.

This coincides with the launch of her latest Taylor and Rose Secret Agents book 'Secrets on the Shore'.

You can see Katherine at Lancaster Library on Saturday March 8 for a drop-in event encouraging children and families to come along to chat about books and maybe get some tips and reading recommendations.

Times are 10.30am (8-12 years), 11.30am (13-14 years) and 12.30pm (15-16 years).

She will also be at The Dukes theatre on Sunday March 9 from 11am, to talk about 'Secrets on the Shore' and her historical mysteries.

And on Monday March 10 Katherine will be at Bay Leadership Academy in Heysham, talking about her detective books.

Katherine is one of many writers taking part in this year's Litfest.

The event gets under way on Friday March 7 and runs until March 17.

Festival tickets are £3 to watch online or £5 to come along to one of the Lancaster venues but all the children's devents are free thanks to support via a Crowdfunder. 

The theme for the fest is World Into Words - making sense of our world, its history and environment, through literature, stories and discussion. 

For more information on Litfest 2025 see HERE.