Welcome to Penny Hancock’s website!

Hi, I’m so glad you’ve found your way to my website.

On here you can find out more about my novels, The Ingenious Miss Sly, The Choice, Tideline, (a Richard and Judy Bookclub pick in 2012), The Darkening Hour, A Trick of the Mind and I Thought I Knew You.

I love to hear from readers so do use the contact page if you’d like to get in touch.

You can also find out about events and courses I’m running on the events page and if you’re a library interested in author visits, let me know as I love to support libraries.

Lastly, if you’re a writer looking for some encouragement and input, take a look at my writer’s mentoring scheme Turn the Page. As well as writing, one of my passions is helping other writers achieve their goals.

My newest book The Ingenious Miss Sly is out now

Front cover of 'The Ingenious Miss Sly' book, showing fingers reeaching around a curtain holding it back

As the coldest winter ever grips London, things are stirring under the snow. New music, new fashions, and a woman who will go further than most to be seen. 

The Ingenious Miss Sly will appeal to lovers of novels set in the early 1960s, such as Lessons in Chemistry (Bonnie Garmus), The Land in Winter (Andrew Miller) and The Safekeep (Yael Van Der Wouden). It is also for  those who enjoy character based thrillers such as Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr Ripley.

Read more about the book Buy on Amazon

About me

I started out training as a teacher, not believing I could make a living from writing, and while that was true, to a certain extent, I could never quite stop writing. As a qualified teacher, I have taught from early primary to post graduate, and have been the Royal Literary Fellow at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, and then an advisory fellow and a Bridge fellow working with sixth formers on their writing. But I have always written; articles, short stories and ultimately novels. In spite of the ups and downs I still love it. And I have, in fact, at times made some sort of a living from it. So the moral is, never give up!

In addition to writing, I spend my time reading, swimming, and making up stories for and with the grandkids

I also write a substack newsletter The New Grandparenting, see my newsletter page for more details.

What people are saying about The Ingenious Miss Sly…

Lesley Kara, best selling author of The Rumour and Trouble Maker

’A dark, exquisitely controlled psychological thriller threaded with menace and deeply unsettling. With shades of both Highsmith and Rendell, this is not to be missed.’

David Lambert, author of The House at Bacolet

'Ripley meets Notes on a Scandal'

Susan Elliott Wright, author of All You Ever Wanted

"Thrilling and utterly compelling"

Kate Rhodes, author of the Scilly Isles Mysteries

"Tense, twisty and brilliant"

Cressida Downing, author of Consider the Ravens

"Chilling"

Find Penny’s Books on Amazon…

Front cover of A Trick Of The Mind by Penny Hancock
front cover of The Darkening Hour by Penny Hancock
Front Cover of Tideline by Penny Hancock

Leaving online reviews

Online reviews make a big difference and it’s always lovely for authors to hear your feedback. If you’re not sure how to leave a review then you can read about how to do so on Amazon UK and on goodreads.com. Thank you.