From My Blog

In which (to my surprise) I learn how to ski.

I have been away for a couple of weeks in the Rocky Mountains, learning how to ski.                     Why one earth would I want to do that, you may well ask, given my well-documented fear of heights, of being cold and of going too fast? Well, I did like

A frivolous article about my purple gloves

Can you believe anyone would want to publish an article about MY GLOVES?  Well, yes they did! ‘Personal Style, Lucy Worsley’, as told to David Hayes.  From The Financial Times, 9 November 2013 ‘My favourite accessory is a pair of long purple leather gloves. They are about five years old and are in a very

I am jealous of ‘Elizabeth and Her People’ at the NPG

A bit of ruff: meet the middle-class Elizabethans My article from The Times, 28 October 2013 ‘A genteel confrontation is about to take place.  No one is going to shout; tea will probably be drunk; it will all be very middle class. I’m at The National Portrait Gallery to see the the new exhibition ‘Elizabeth

The first fictional female detectives!

Here’s a little article on the first female detectives, which first appeared on the Dead Good crime writing website… ‘As an avid reader of crime stories, I’ve always had a soft spot for a female detective, with Nancy Drew, Harriet Vane and Miss Marple among my favourites. What is it that readers particularly like about

How to film a murder in a library … a guest post from TV researcher Chloë Penman

Hello from me!  I’m here only briefly today, to introduce my guest.  Chloë Penman (left), who works for BBC Bristol, was our brilliant young researcher on the series ‘A Very British Murder’.   I’ve asked her to tell you a bit about her experience of what became known as ‘Library Day’, the day we spent filming

On the perils of writing book reviews

I’ve been getting some reviews for my new book A Very British Murder this week, and I’m delighted to reveal that the Sunday Times, the Independent, the Evening Standard, Literary Review and the Express have all had something nice to say.  THERE, having got the real reason for this post (a bit of showing off)

Murderous ornaments, puppets, knick-knacks, ritual artefacts and books

Well, as you seem to have been enjoying the pictures of various murderous ornaments I’ve been putting on Twitter and Facebook recently, I thought I’d share an article I recently wrote in the BBC History Magazine with more detail… As Britain’s cities expanded in the early 19th century, so too did the nation’s obsession with

Why I was disappointed by the ‘Heritage Centenary Debate’

My work took me to Germany last week, so I missed the heritage debate held at the RIBA last Monday night: a big event supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council with the participation of English Heritage, The National Trust and the Society of Antiquaries. I’m as interested in anyone else in the future

It’s publication day for ‘A Very British Murder’ …

… so here’s a recent article, from ‘The Mail on Sunday’, to tell you what it’s all about.   Wearing a demure white mob-cap, I step out onto the stage of London’s Old Vic theatre. I am Maria Marten, a village maiden, secretly meeting my lover.  But my – or Maria’s – happiness is to

A Very British Murder

Dear readers, some of you have noticed that my blog has been rather quiet in the last few months, but that’s because I’ve been spending my Sundays on something else instead. I’m now happy to have in my hands finished copies of my new book – my fourth – about the history of the British