The Very Merry Murder Club

Abiola Bello is a Nigerian-British, prize-winning, bestselling children’s and YA author who was born and raised in London. She is an advocate for diversity in books for young people. She’s the author of the award-winning fantasy series Emily Knight and was nominated for the CILIP’s Carnegie Award, won London’s BIG Read 2019, and was a finalist for the People’s Book Prize Best Children’s Book. Abiola contributed to The Very Merry Murder Club, a collection of mysteries from thirteen exciting and diverse children’s writers and was selected as Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month. Her debut YA, Love in Winter Wonderland was an Amazon’s Editor’s Choice and was featured in The Guardian’s Children’s and Teens Best New Novels. Only for the Holidays was The Bookseller One To Watch, one of Waterstones Best Paperbacks of 2023 and was featured in The Guardian’s Children’s and Teens Best New Novels. The Love Dare is shortlisted for Peters Children's Book of the Year 2025.

Abiola won The Black British Business Awards 2023 for Arts and Media and The London Book Fair Trailblazer Awards 2018. She is the co-founder of Hashtag Press, Hashtag BLAK and The Diverse Book Awards. She has appeared in Cosmopolitan, Female First Magazine, The Mirror, BBC1XTRA to name a few. As well as being a writer, Abiola is a professional dancer. She performed for more than a decade in prestigious venues including The Royal Opera House, The Barbican, Sadler's Wells, Hammersmith Apollo and Unicorn Theatre. Abiola has also appeared on BBC's The Apprentice, Got To Dance and Street Dance AllStars The Movie.

Maisie Chan is the British-born Chinese author of Stories From Around the World, a collection of fairy tales, myths and legends.

Roopa Farooki was born in Pakistan, and brought up in London. She is the author of the Double Detective mystery series and is an NHS doctor.

Sharna Jackson is the award-winning author of High-Rise Mystery and Mic Drop. High-Rise Mystery won both the Waterstones Book Prize and was Sunday Times Book of the Week.

Elle McNicoll is a bestselling and award-winning novelist and screenwriter. Her debut, A Kind of Spark, won the Blue Peter Book Award and the Overall Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, as well as Blackwell’s Book of 2020. She is a four time Carnegie nominated author, and was shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Awards 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Branford Boase Award 2020 and The Little Rebels Award 2020 and 2021. She was also honoured in the US with the Schneider Award, 2022. Her second novel, Show Us Who You Are, was Blackwell’s Book of the Month and one of The Bookseller’s Best Books of 2021. Her first fantasy middle grade, Like a Charm, was nominated for Best Children’s Book for Older Readers in the first ever Week Junior Book Awards, and was highly praised in the New York Times. Her debut novel, A Kind of Spark, has also been adapted for television, is Emmy nominated and won Best Children’s Programme at the Broadcast Awards and a Royal Television Society Award. She is twice nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award and the winner of the 2025 Books Are My Bag Young Adult Readers Award for Wish You Were Her. Her adult debut, Unapologetic Love Story, published in 2026.

E.L.Norry, also known as Em Norry, is the author of debut middle grade spy novel, Amber Undercover.

Serena Patel is the author of the Anisha Accidental Detective series, winner of the Sainsbury's Children's Book Awards.

Annabelle Sami is a writer, director and performer. She is the author of Llama Out Loud and mystery series, Agent Zaiba Investigates.

Dominique Valente is fairly certain she has a Benjamin Button type of disease where you grow younger the older you get, as apart from an odd blip in her twenties where she was a journalist for ten years, she came to her senses and decided to make up stories about witches and grumpy monsters instead.
She grew up in South Africa, but now lives in the UK along the Suffolk coast with her husband and their bulldog, Fudge.

Joanna Williams’ debut series The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries is a middle grade mystery full of daring adventure in Georgian London.