Frances Fyfield
Encyclopedia
Frances Fyfield is the pseudonym of Frances Hegarty. Fyfield is a British lawyer and crime-writer.
Born and brought up in Derbyshire
, Frances Hegarty was mostly educated in convent schools before reading English at Newcastle University. After graduation, she took a course in criminal law
. She worked initially for the Metropolitan Police
and later the Crown Prosecution Service
. She claims "After a long diet of criminal law, including dangerous dogs, rape, mayhem and much, much murder, the indigestion of pity and fury provoked me to write. I wanted to write romance, but the domestically macabre always got in the way." Fyfield has won several awards, including the Crime Writers' Association
Duncan Lawrie Dagger for Blood From Stone in 2008 and the Silver Dagger for Deep Sleep. In addition the novel Safer than Houses was nominated for the Duncan Lawrie Dagger in 2006.
She also writes psychological thrillers under the name of Frances Hegarty, among them, The Playroom, Half Light and Let's Dance, which was published in 1995.
Her novels have been translated in fourteen different languages, and a number have been adapted for television. The most popular of Fyfield's novels, the Helen West series, have twice been adapted for television. Juliet Stevenson
played Helen West in Trial by Fire (1999) and Amanda Burton
later took on the role in a successful British television series in 2002.
It has been written that "The defining feature of Fyfield's novels is their astonishing generosity of spirit, which may seem somewhat incongruous given her subject matter: insanity, incest, violence (often murder), emptiness, suicide -- all at the darkest extreme of human experience. Yet each of her characters is accorded a distinctive voice, that humanizes even the most unregenerate of them (Charles Tysall in Shadows on the Mirror and Perfectly Pure and Good being a partial exception)".
Born and brought up in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, Frances Hegarty was mostly educated in convent schools before reading English at Newcastle University. After graduation, she took a course in criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
. She worked initially for the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
and later the Crown Prosecution Service
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
. She claims "After a long diet of criminal law, including dangerous dogs, rape, mayhem and much, much murder, the indigestion of pity and fury provoked me to write. I wanted to write romance, but the domestically macabre always got in the way." Fyfield has won several awards, including the Crime Writers' Association
Crime Writers' Association
The Crime Writers Association is a writers' association in the United Kingdom. Founded by John Creasey in 1953, it is currently chaired by Peter James and claims 450+ members....
Duncan Lawrie Dagger for Blood From Stone in 2008 and the Silver Dagger for Deep Sleep. In addition the novel Safer than Houses was nominated for the Duncan Lawrie Dagger in 2006.
She also writes psychological thrillers under the name of Frances Hegarty, among them, The Playroom, Half Light and Let's Dance, which was published in 1995.
Her novels have been translated in fourteen different languages, and a number have been adapted for television. The most popular of Fyfield's novels, the Helen West series, have twice been adapted for television. Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, CBE is an English actor of stage and screen.- Early life :Stevenson was born in Kelvedon, Essex, England, the daughter of Virginia Ruth , a teacher, and Michael Guy Stevenson, an army officer. Stevenson's father was in the army and was posted to a new place every...
played Helen West in Trial by Fire (1999) and Amanda Burton
Amanda Burton
Amanda Burton is an award-winning actress from Northern Ireland. Burton is best known for her high-profile television roles as Karen Fisher in Waterloo Road , Sam Ryan in the BBC crime drama series Silent Witness, Clare Blake in The Commander, Beth Glover in Peak Practice, and Heather Black in the...
later took on the role in a successful British television series in 2002.
It has been written that "The defining feature of Fyfield's novels is their astonishing generosity of spirit, which may seem somewhat incongruous given her subject matter: insanity, incest, violence (often murder), emptiness, suicide -- all at the darkest extreme of human experience. Yet each of her characters is accorded a distinctive voice, that humanizes even the most unregenerate of them (Charles Tysall in Shadows on the Mirror and Perfectly Pure and Good being a partial exception)".
Filmography
- Helen West (2002) TV Series
- The Blind Date (2000)
- Trial by Fire (1999) (TV)