Keith Miles is a writer of historical fiction

Historical fiction

Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...

 and mystery novels. He has also written children's books, radio and television dramas and stage plays. He is best known under the pseudonym

Pseudonym

A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 Edward Marston, and has also written as Martin Inigo and Conrad Allen.

Career

Miles was born and educated in South Wales. He gained a degree in Modern History from Oxford University and spent three years as a lecturer, before becoming a full-time writer. Miles's early work was as a scriptwriter for television and radio, including series such as Crossroads, Z-Cars

Z-Cars

Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...

and The Archers

The Archers

The Archers is a long-running British soap opera broadcast on the BBC's main spoken-word channel, Radio 4. It was originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk", but is now described on its Radio 4 web site as "contemporary drama in a rural setting"...

.

Beginning in the mid-1980s, Miles turned to writing mystery fiction. His first series, written under his own name, featured Alan Saxon, a professional golfer-turned-amateur detective. After four books, Miles's publisher did not wish to continue the series, which only resumed after a hiatus of more than a decade.

In 1988, Miles began another series, set in the theatrical world of Elizabethan

Elizabethan era

The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...

 London. For this series, and for most of his subsequent writing, he adopted the pseudonym Edward Marston, the name reflecting that of a real Elizabethan playwright, John Marston

John Marston

John Marston was an English poet, playwright and satirist during the late Elizabethan and Jacobean periods...

. The series features a fictional theatrical company, Westfield's Men, and, in particular, Nicholas Bracewell, its book-holder, a position similar to that of the modern stage manager.

Marston's next series was set during the reign of William the Conqueror; its two protagonists, surveyors for Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

, are Ralph Delchard, a Norman soldier, and Gervase Bret, a former novitiate

Novitiate

Novitiate, alt. noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a novice monastic or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to the religious life....

 turned lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

, who is half Norman-half Saxon

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

.

Miles has written three other series of historical mysteries under the Marston pseudonym: one set in Restoration London; another set in Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 England during the 1850s against a background of the development of the railways; and the third set during the military campaigns of the Duke of Marlborough

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...

.

Under another pseudonym, that of Conrad Allen, he has written a series featuring two ship's detectives during the early 1900s, while under his own name he has written two mysteries, set in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, which feature a Welsh architect, Merlin Richards.

Keith Miles was chairman of 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....

 for 1997-8. He was previously married to Rosalind Miles

Rosalind Miles

Rosalind Miles is an author born and raised in England and now living in Kent, England. She has written 23 works of fiction and non-fiction. As a child, Miles suffered from polio, and had to undergo several months of treatment. At high school Miles acquired a working knowledge of Latin and Greek,...

 and is now married to another mystery writer, Judith Cutler

Judith Cutler

Judith Cutler is a writer of crime fiction whose novels are mostly in three series: ten in the series about amateur sleuth and lecturer Sophie Rivers; six about Detective Sergeant Kate Power; plus a forthcoming series with Caffy Tyler...

.

As Keith Miles

• The Alan Saxon series
  • Bullet Hole (1986)
  • Double Eagle (1987)
  • Green Murder (1990)
  • Flagstick (1991)
  • Bermuda Grass (2002)
  • Honolulu Play-Off (2004)

• The Merlin Richards series
  • Murder in Perspective (1997)
  • Saint's Rest (1999)

• Warrior Kings (1978)

As Edward Marston

• The Elizabethan Theatre series, featuring Nicholas Bracewell, stage manager (and amateur detective) for one of Elizabethan London leading theatrical companies:
  • The Queen's Head (1988)
  • The Merry Devils (1989)
  • The Trip to Jerusalem (1990)
  • The Nine Giants (1991)
  • The Mad Courtesan (1992)
  • The Silent Woman (1992)
  • The Roaring Boy (1995) (nominated for the Edgar Award
    Edgar Award
    The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
    
     for Best Novel, 1996)
  • The Laughing Hangman (1996)
  • The Fair Maid of Bohemia (1997)
  • The Wanton Angel (1999)
  • The Devil's Apprentice (2001)
  • The Bawdy Basket (2002)
  • The Vagabond Clown (2003)
  • The Counterfeit Crank (2004)
  • The Malevolent Comedy (2005)
  • The Princess of Denmark (2006)

• The Domesday series
  • The Wolves of Savernake (1993)
  • The Ravens of Blackwater (1994)
  • The Dragons of Archenfield (1995)
  • The Lions of the North (1996)
  • The Serpents of Harbledown (1996)
  • The Stallions of Woodstock (1997)
  • The Hawks of Delamere (1998)
  • The Wildcats of Exeter (1998)
  • The Foxes of Warwick (1999)
  • The Owls of Gloucester (2000)
  • The Elephants of Norwich (2000)

• The Restoration series, featuring architect Christopher Redmayne and Constable Jonathan Bale, set in 1660s/70s London
  • The King's Evil (1999)
  • The Amorous Nightingale (2000)
  • The Repentant Rake (2001)
  • The Frost Fair (2003)
  • The Parliament House (2006)
  • The Painted Lady (2007)

• The Railway Detective series, featuring Scotland Yard detectives Inspector Robert Colbeck and Sergeant Victor Leeming, set in the 1850s
  • The Railway Detective (2004)
  • The Excursion Train (2005)
  • The Railway Viaduct (2006)
  • The Iron Horse (2007)
  • Murder on the Brighton Express (2008)
  • The Silver Locomotive Mystery (2009)
  • Railway to the Grave (2010)
  • Blood on the Line (2011)

• The Captain Rawson series, featuring Captain Daniel Rawson, soldier and spy, set around the period of the War of the Spanish Succession
  War of the Spanish Succession
  The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
  
  :
  • Soldier of Fortune (2008)
  • Drums of War (2008)
  • Fire and Sword (2009)
  • Under Siege (due 2011)

As Conrad Allen

• The Dillman and Masefield series, featuring private detectives George Porter Dillman and Genevieve Masefield, and set on board ocean liners of the early 1900s:
  • Murder on the Lusitania (1999)
  • Murder on the Mauretania (2000)
  • Murder on the Minnesota (2002)
  • Murder on the Caronia (2002)
  • Murder on the Marmora (2004)
  • Murder on the Salsette (2005)
  • Murder on the Oceanic (2006)
  • Murder on the Celtic (2007)