Nicola Martin Bio

Nicola was brought up in Bristol and returned there as an adult.

She studied literature at the University of East Anglia and the University of California, Berkeley.

 Before turning to fiction full-time, she followed a 15-year career in PR and marketing.

 That commercial background is visible in everything from her clean, purposeful prose to the way her plots move, fast, direct, and reluctant to waste a scene.

Martin’s route to publication was as deliberate as her plotting. Long before she landed a major deal, she had more than 40 short stories published in magazines including The People’s Friend, Best, and the Sunday Express.

She also co-authored a non-fiction book, Defeat Dyslexia!: The Parents’ Guide to Understanding Your Child’s Dyslexia.

 The range tells you something: Martin is a working writer who built her craft across forms and formats, not someone who arrived fully formed at the debut novel stage.

Dead Ringer (2020) put her on the map.

Using facial recognition software, a doppelganger-finding app called MeetYourDouble lets users find their lookalike. When Ella and Jem connect, the resemblance is uncanny but their lives are polar opposites, one stagnating in her northern hometown, the other a Chelsea socialite and aspiring actress living in a multimillion-pound mansion. Other than their looks, their only similarity is the desire to escape.

 The premise sounds playful. The execution is darker.

The novel features a doppelganger showdown on the sinking sands of Walney Island in Cumbria, and the Lake District setting was central to the book’s identity.

The Lakeland Book of the Year award, sponsored by Cumbria Tourism, showcases literary talent inspired by the landscapes, history, and culture of the Lake District and Cumbria, a fitting home for a thriller that uses the region’s coastline as a stage for its final, dangerous confrontation.

The book attracted strong reviews. The Daily Mail called it “a tense and compelling story that courageously embraces contemporary themes ranging from new tech consumption to mental health.”

 The award followed.

Martin signed a two-book deal with Raven Books, part of Bloomsbury, whose list she describes as “books with a touch of the dark side.”

 Her second novel, The Getaway (November 2024), moved the setting entirely.

Welcome to Keeper Island: a private Caribbean paradise where the cocktails are chilled, the guests are not, and new manager Lola is hoping nothing messes up her badly needed fresh start. Her previous job in Hong Kong ended in tears, and quite a lot of blood, so she has come to Keeper to lie low, as well as to provide the gold-star service the resort’s wealthy guests expect. Her only connection to her previous life is her old mentor and new boss, Mike Moxham. When Moxham is found dead less than a day after her arrival, the rules Lola uses for working with the super-rich quickly become rules for survival.

The book was positioned as “Bella Mackie meets the Eras Tour” in the music of the thrillers world.

 The comparison stuck: The Getaway found an engaged readership and positioned Martin firmly within the smart, character-led wing of British crime fiction.

The Spotlight, published by Raven Books in June 2026, is Martin’s third novel.

It is about a pop star targeted by a killer.

 More specifically, musician Kirby embarks on a last-ditch effort at success, fame, and fortune by taking a job on tour with the pop star Silver. The trouble for Kirby is that everyone thinks she is a murderer, because her bandmate Hailey drowned in mysterious circumstances, Kirby was at the scene, and she had a motive. Eventually, Kirby decides it is time to clear her name and find out who really killed Hailey.

A consistent thread runs through all three novels. Martin writes about women under extreme pressure, in settings that carry their own menace, a windswept Cumbrian island, a sealed Caribbean resort, an arena tour where fame itself becomes a trap. Her books are plot-driven but character-rooted. She is interested in the psychology of desire and deception, and in the particular damage caused when people try to become someone else.

In addition to writing, Martin works as an experienced marketing consultant, working with small businesses and freelancers via Killer Marketing, and with authors via Author Website Marketing.

She is also a co-founder of Bristol Fictionists, an informal writers’ group that meets monthly at a Bristol city centre location.