Robert Goddard (novelist)


Robert William Goddard is an English novelist.
WWW robertgoddardbooks.co.uk

Life and career

Goddard grew up in Fareham, Hampshire, before studying history at Peterhouse, Cambridge. After working in journalism and teaching, he worked for a time as an educational administrator in Devon before becoming a full-time novelist. His thrillers usually have a historical element and settings in English towns and cities, and many plot twists. They usually involve the lead character gradually uncovering a secret or conspiracy which has long been kept secret, by means of historical documents such as diaries or by means of word-of-mouth accounts that have been handed down from one person to another. Goddard's first novel, Past Caring, was published in 1986. He has since written more than twenty novels.

Awards

Goddard's 1990 book Into the Blue was the inaugural winner of the W H Smith Thumping Good Read Award, presented to the best new fiction author of the year.
Goddard's book Long Time Coming won the 2011 Edgar Award for Best Original Paperback and was nominated for the 2011 Anthony award in the same category.
In 2019, Goddard was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger by the Crime Writers' Association for his outstanding lifetime contribution to the crime fiction genre.

Harry Barnett

The books Into the Blue, Out of the Sun and Never Go Back, although distinct books in their own right, form a chronological series featuring the central character of Harry Barnett. Barnett also appears in both of Goddard's two published short stories, one of which, Toupee for a Bald Tyre, is set in 1970 before the events of the books.
Into the Blue was adapted for television in 1997 and starred John Thaw in the lead role of Harry Barnett.

Personal life

Goddard lives with his wife Vaunda in Truro, Cornwall.

Novels

  • Past Caring,
  • In Pale Battalions,
  • Painting the Darkness,
  • Into the Blue,. Harry Barnett, Book 1.
  • Take No Farewell,
  • Hand in Glove,
  • Closed Circle,
  • Borrowed Time,
  • Out of the Sun,. Harry Barnett, Book 2
  • Beyond Recall,
  • Caught in the Light,
  • Set in Stone,
  • Sea Change,
  • Dying to Tell,
  • Days Without Number,
  • Play to the End,
  • Sight Unseen,
  • Never Go Back,. Harry Barnett, Book 3
  • Name to a Face,
  • Found Wanting,
  • Long Time Coming,
  • Blood Count,
  • Fault Line,
  • The Ways of the World,. James 'Max' Maxted trilogy, Book 1
  • The Corners of the Globe,. James 'Max' Maxted trilogy, Book 2
  • The Ends of the Earth,. James 'Max' Maxted trilogy, Book 3
  • Panic Room,
  • One False Move,
  • The Fine Art of Invisible Detection, Umiko Wada, Book 1
  • This Is the Night They Come For You, Mouloud Taleb and Souad Hidouchi, Book 1
  • The Fine Art of Uncanny Prediction, Umiko Wada, Book 2
  • This Is the Day They Dream of,

Short stories

  • 'Toupee for a Bald Tyre'.. Included in The Detection Collection
  • 'Intersection: Paris, 1919', 2013. Prologue to ‘The Ways of the World’’. Made available for free.
  • 'Birthday Buoy'. Included in ''First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books''