Discover Matthew Palmer's Story
Explore the world of Matthew Palmer, a South West–based author whose fiction ranges from ecclesiastical mysteries and traditional CID investigations to forensic dramas and speculative Viking myth. His stories bring together layered investigations, human complexity, and the quiet shadows of English life, creating mysteries that feel both modern and deeply rooted in tradition.
Meet Matthew Palmer
Matthew Palmer is a crime and speculative-fiction author based in the South West of the UK. He writes The Lanternlight Cases, an ecclesiastical mystery series featuring DI Eleanor Brand and DS Matthew Thresher; The Harcourt Mysteries, traditional CID investigations set across the Home Counties and East Anglia; the forensic, character-driven Wychwood on Lea Mysteries; and The Wolf Awakens, a speculative historical narrative in which Viking legends and ancestral myths prove to be rooted in unsettling truth.
Matthew Palmer
Author & Storyteller
Crime & Mystery World-Builder
Creative Journey
Narrative Architect
Inspirations
Crime Fiction & Mythology Enthusiast
Discover Matthew Palmer's Cozy Crime World
Delve into visuals that echo the atmosphere of Matthew Palmer’s work—from cathedral cloisters and rural landscapes to the more speculative edges of history and myth. Each image hints at the tone, tension, and quiet intrigue that shape his stories.
Matthew Palmer
Author of Cosy Crime & Speculative Fiction
Matthew’s writing weaves the warmth of cosy crime together with the depth of modern mystery and speculative history, creating stories that linger long after the final page.
Discover Matthew's World
Dive into Matthew Palmer’s fictional worlds and keep up to date with new releases, series news, and exclusive insights into his characters, settings, and creative process.
The Lanternlight Cases
The Lanternlight Cases follows DI Eleanor Brand and DS Matthew Thresher through a series of ecclesiastical mysteries rooted in cathedral life, parish politics, and the quiet pressures of tradition. Set in and around a Somerset cathedral city, the series blends modern investigative work with hidden histories, torn parchments, and the kind of secrets that settle over old stones and older institutions.
The Harcourt Mysteries
The Harcourt Mysteries feature CID detectives Harcourt and Redgrave as they work cases across the Home Counties and East Anglia. These stories lean into the traditions of classic British detective fiction: self-contained investigations, tight-knit communities, long memories, and puzzles built on motive, opportunity, and consequence, all handled with a modern sense of authenticity.
Wychwood on Lea Mysteries
Wychwood on Lea Mysteries is a crime novel series that moves deeper into forensic and psychological territory. When the physical evidence refuses to match the stories being told, the investigation becomes a dissection of memory, motive, and self-preservation. The series explores how truth fractures under pressure—and what happens when the body on the table is the least complicated part of the case.
The Wolf Awakens
The Wolf Awakens steps beyond crime into speculative historical fiction, imagining a world in which Viking sagas and ancestral myths are revealed to be far more literal than anyone suspected. Blending archaeology, cultural memory, and slow-burn suspense, the story explores what happens when the legends a people live by begin to wake—and when history itself refuses to stay buried.