Anna Mazzola books

Anna Mazzola is a British author of historical crime fiction whose novels span centuries of European history, from 17th-century Rome to 1930s Italy. Her debut The Unseeing won an Edgar Award, and The Book of Secrets won the 2025 CWA Gold Dagger.

Anthologies

Title Published Buy on Amazon
CWA Anthology of Short Stories: Mystery Tour 2017 Buy

Standalone Novels

Title Published Buy on Amazon
The Unseeing 2016 Buy
The Story Keeper 2018 Buy
The Clockwork Girl 2022 Buy
The House of Whispers 2023 Buy
The Book of Secrets 2024 N/A

Anna Mazzola is a British author and human rights solicitor who writes historical crime fiction rooted in real events. She trained as a lawyer within the Government Legal Service, working for the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice, before moving into private practice as a human rights solicitor. She is also a consultant at the Centre for Women’s Justice. Her legal work with victims of crime feeds directly into her fiction, which often explores the psychological weight of injustice.

Her debut novel, The Unseeing (2016), drew on the true 1837 Edgware Road murder case and won the Edgar Award in the US. She followed it with The Story Keeper (2018), set on the Isle of Skye during the Highland Clearances, and The Clockwork Girl (2022), set in 1750s Paris amid the disappearances of street children. The House of Whispers (2023) moved to Fascist-era Rome, and The Book of Secrets (2024), inspired by the Acqua Tofana poisonings in 17th-century Italy, won the 2025 CWA Gold Dagger. She also contributed a short story to the CWA Anthology of Short Stories: Mystery Tour (2017). Mazzola lives in South London and also writes legal thrillers under the pen name Anna Sharpe.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books has Anna Mazzola written?

Anna Mazzola has written six books across two series.

What was Anna Mazzola's first book?

Anna Mazzola’s first book is The Unseeing, published in 2016.

Has Anna Mazzola won any literary awards?

Yes. Her debut novel The Unseeing won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original in the United States. Her fifth novel, The Book of Secrets, won the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year in 2025. The Clockwork Girl was a Sunday Times Historical Fiction pick in 2022.

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