Helen Forbes
Author of Scottish crime fiction and thrillers
​
"Forbes’s brand of ‘Highland Noir’ is shaping up to be a good series."
Sunday Herald
About
Hello and welcome
I’m an author of Scottish crime fiction, living in my home-town of Inverness, in the Scottish Highlands. I’ve been writing novels and short stories for many years. Much of my writing is set in the Highlands and Islands and Edinburgh, although I’ve also written and published award-winning short stories set in the Antarctic and Italy.
​
My latest novel, Queen of Grime, was published in December 2022. It features an Edinburgh crime scene cleaner with a deadly secret that is endangering her family. It is full of grime, gore and dark humour. Spoils of the Dead, a prequel novella in the Queen of Grime series is also available as a free e-book for subscribers to our mailing list. To ensure your copy, please subscribe using the subscription form at the bottom of the page.
​
I began by writing contemporary and historical fiction, with no intention of turning to crime. It was a chance remark at a writing group about a short story I'd written that led to my debut police procedural novel, In the Shadow of the Hill, set in Inverness and South Harris, and featuring Detective Sergeant Joe Galbraith. It was published by ThunderPoint Publishing in 2014. Madness Lies, Book 2 in the DS Joe Galbraith series, set in Inverness and North Uist, was published in 2017.
​
Unravelling, a standalone crime thriller, set in Inverness, was published by Scolpaig Press in July 2021.
​
Deception, a dark Edinburgh tale of a relationship mired in deceit and lies, uplifted by a cast of interesting characters brought together in adversity, was published by Scolpaig Press in January 2022.
​
Subcribe to the email list
Join our email list for publishing news and your free copy of Spoils of the Dead.