About
Hi, my name's Barnaby and I'm the author of psychological thrillers (as B.P. Walter), horror (as Barnaby Walter) and gothic fiction (as S.G. Hartnell). I was born and raised in Essex and after spending my childhood and teenage years reading compulsively, I went to uni to study film and English literature. Whilst there, I decided I wanted to write books, and after some time working in bookselling and social media coordination, that's what I've ended up doing!
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My first two novels, A Version of the Truth (published in the US as The Couple's Secret) and Hold Your Breath, were published by Avon in 2019 and 2020. My third book, The Dinner Guest, was published by HarperCollins imprint One More Chapter in Spring 2021. It was chosen as a Waterstones Thriller of the Month and became a Top 10 Sunday Times Bestseller and a Number 1 Times Bestseller. In the years since, my psychological thrillers have included The Woman on the Pier, The Locked Attic, Notes on a Murder, The Garden Party and The Treehouse. My first horror novel, Scuttle (written as Barnaby Walter) was published by HarperCollins in 2024, and in 2025 my gothic horror novel Medlock (written as S.G. Hartnell) will be published by Sphere.
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