Welcome to the official website of M.J. (Miranda) Carter, biographer and author of the CWA, BAILEYS and EDGAR nominated Blake and Avery thrillers. The site comes in UK and US versions (you’re looking at the UK version, but can switch by clicking here – or on the flag buttons in the top right-hand corner).

Out now in Paperback

Shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger

The Devil’s Feast

BLAKE & AVERY BOOK 3

“Wonderful… the whodunit plot takes in celebrity chefs, extraordinary cuisine, international diplomacy and and Victorian political shenanigans… a sumptuous treat.”
The Times

“Irresistible”
The Financial Times

The Devil’s FeastThe Strangler Vine

London, 1842. A mysterious and horrible death at the Reform, London’s newest and grandest gentleman’s club, is hushed up. Amateur private inquiry agent Captain William Avery is persuaded to investigate, and soon discovers a web of rivalries and hatreds, both personal and political, simmering behind the club’s handsome façade—and in particular surrounding its resident genius, Alexis Soyer, ‘the Napoleon of food’, a chef whose culinary brilliance is matched only by his talent for self-publicity. [ Read More ]

The Infidel StainThe Infidel Stain

Available Now

The Printer’s Coffin

Originally published as The Infidel Stain this is the much-awaited sequel to The Strangler Vine.

“Even more fun [than The Strangler Vine]. Delicious stuff.”
Financial Times

“Terrific atmosphere accompanies an intriguing plot. Carter confirms the excellence of her move to historical crime fiction.”
Sunday Times

Victorian London, 1841. A series of hideous murders in the world of the gutter press. Dark and mysterious forces operating to prevent their investigation. Simmering rivalries between grub street printers, Evangelical missionaries and would-be revolutionaries.

Three years after they last saw each other in India, Jeremiah Blake and William Avery must combine forces again to fight their way to the truth. But after four years apart, are their differences too great to overcome? [ Read More ]

Shortlisted for the US Edgar Awards best novel of 2016

The Strangler Vine

“A splendid novel with an enthralling story, a wonderfully drawn atmosphere, and an exotic mystery that captivated me.”
Bernard Cornwell

“An absolute corker of a read.”
Booklist ★ Starred Review

The Strangler VineThe Strangler Vine

Calcutta 1837. The acclaimed first book in M.J. Carter’s Blake and Avery series follows William Avery, a down-at-heel junior officer in the East India Company’s army, and Jeremiah Blake, a brilliant but taciturn special inquiry agent, set out on a secret mission: to track down the notorious adventurer, spy and poet Xavier Mountstuart.

The Strangler Vine was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Dagger and the HWA Debut Crown, and longlisted for the Bailey’s Prize 2015 and the Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year. [ Read More ]

This just in: The Devil’s Feast is out now in papeback.

Anthony Blunt

As Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures and Director of the Courtauld Institute, Blunt’s position was assured until his exposure in 1979 left his reputation in tatters. [ Read More ]

The Three Emperors

The Three Emperors is the story of the three dysfunctional rulers of Germany, Russia and Great Britain at the turn of the last century, combined with a study of the larger forces around them. [ Read More ]