Eve Seymour - Editor
E.V. Seymour is the author of fourteen novels and writes in two genres: psychological thriller featuring female leads, and action adventure/spy fiction featuring male main protagonists.
Eve’s latest novel, ‘My Daughter’s Secrets’, was published by Joffe in September 2022. Her other recent novels, ‘Neon’ and ‘Six’, were written under the pseudonym G.S. Locke and published by Orion in 2020 and 2021.
She has taken part in various literary events, including Crimefest, Bristol, and Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, and is no stranger to talking about her books on BBC radio. In November 2019, she appeared in ‘Everything is Connected – George Eliot’s life,’ a new Arena documentary directed by artist Gillian Wearing on BBC 4. In the programme, Eve talks about why she chose to write with a male pseudonym, together with the challenges of writing in a genre that is traditionally associated with male writers.
She is represented by Broo Doherty at DHH Literary Agency, London. You can visit her website at www.evseymour.co.uk and find her on Twitter @EveSeymour
Testimonials
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WHY WE LOVE EVE
Eagle-eyed Eve, a master of thrillers, will provide a deeply insightful and structured report that won’t leave any stone unturned. Her advice on thrillers is so spot on that we asked her to write a blog all about it: 7 Tips For Writing a Thriller Novel. Her thoughtful evaluations ensure that the assessment of your book will be thorough and considerate. Look no further for a supportive, honest editor!
WHAT EVE SAYS ABOUT EDITING
When I started writing I stumbled around for quite a while before I found an editorial consultancy that made the difference. Suddenly, and with a measure of embarrassment, I realised all the basic mistakes that I’d made and, more importantly, understood how to avoid them. It was like receiving a massive reality check. Shortly after working with an editor, I obtained agent representation. It was that simple. This only serves to illustrate that I genuinely recognise the importance of providing constructive criticism to new writers.
I’m also well aware that criticism, however well intentioned, can be difficult to accept. Some writers find it a painful and bruising process because they have invested so much of themselves in a story. It’s why I genuinely try to let a writer know, whatever point is made, I’m batting for them and that my job is to help each author make their story the best it can be. Depending on the author, I’m known for softening any critical pill with a little humour.
What Eve works on
Manuscript assessment
Developmental Editing
Agent Submission Pack assessment
Genres Eve specialises in
Eve's published books
My Daughter's Secrets
Grace has the perfect life.
Then her husband replaces her with a younger, blonder version.
Three years later, Grace’s sixteen-year-old daughter Tara is stabbed to death in a seedy hotel.
Grace’s life stops.
After a harrowing trial, Tara’s boyfriend is convicted of her murder. At least now it’s over.
Until someone breaks into Grace’s house and ransacks Tara’s belongings.
And now the questions have only just begun.
Grace thought she knew her daughter. But Tara had been keeping secrets from her. Very dark secrets.
Six
Successful criminal defence lawyer, Jon Shaw, comes face to face with Danny Hallam, the man he tried to murder twenty-five years ago…
Then: While drug running for a local crime lord, Danny decides to call in a large debt from a young female drug addict, Micki Ashton. During a chaotic night on a riverbank, in which punches are thrown, Shaw steps in to protect the defenceless woman, but things turn deadly when Danny produces a knife and Micki is stabbed. Appalled by his friend’s actions, Shaw deliberately pushes Danny into the river. Danny survives and, arrested and charged for murder, spends the next quarter of a century in prison.
Now: Meanwhile, the gang disintegrates, each haunted by the death of a young woman. Throughout his sentence, Danny refuses to name those involved. But someone knows and believes they should all pay. As, one by one, the former friends are picked off only Danny and Shaw remain. With the race on to identify a determined and forensically aware killer, Shaw throws in his lot with a detective who has her own cross to bear and her own reasons for abandoning routine police procedure.
Neon
A detective desperate for revenge. A hitwoman with one last job. A killer with both on his list.
Detective Matt Jackson’s beloved wife, Polly, is the latest victim of a serial killer – Neon – who displays his victims amongst snaking neon lights.
Suicidal but unable to kill himself, he hires someone to finish the job. But on the night of his planned murder he makes a breakthrough in the Neon case and offers his assassin, Iris, an irresistible opportunity: help Jackson find and kill Neon in return for his entire estate.
What follows is a thrilling game of cat-and-mouse between detective, assassin and serial killer. But when Jackson discovers it’s not a coincidence that their paths have crossed, he begins to question who the real target has been all along…
A Deadly Trade
An unputdownable new thriller from E. V. Seymour, introducing hired assassin Josh Thane, perfect for fans of Lee Child, Mark Dawson and Alan McDermott.
One moment of weakness can cost you everything…
Rogue assassin Josh Thane is an artist in murder. His next target is a British microbiologist suspected of creating devastating chemical weapons. Breaking into her house, he discovers someone has beaten him to it – she’s already dead. In a moment of weakness, he saves the life of her son. A single mistake that destroys everything he’s worked for and puts him and the boy in immediate danger…
Final Target
The old ways die hard…
A gripping thriller full of shocking twists from E. V. Seymour, perfect for fans of Mark Dawson, Lee Child and David Baldacci.
There’s always one who gets away…
Ex-assassin Josh Thane has given up his life of murder and bloodshed and gone to ground in London. But when glamorous MI5 agent, McCallan, needs his help with a dangerous operation in Berlin, Josh can’t resist being pulled back into the game.
Soon he realises that a deadly organization is out not just to get him but those closest to him. As crime bosses and intelligence officers are picked off one by one, McCallen disappears and Josh is faced with a choice that could make this mission his last: either he walks into the trap set for him, or McCallen dies.
Her Sister’s Secret
When Molly Napier’s sister Scarlet is killed in a road accident the whole family are left in shock. The police are certain she purposely caused the crash that killed another, but what could have happened for sensible Scarlet to lose control at the wheel?
Determined to discover the truth, Molly begins to dig deeper into her sister’s life. With every question she uncovers yet more secrets, all connected to her own family’s past… One of them has something to hide.
And then Molly meets Rocco, a stranger with dark secrets of his own. Nothing could ever have prepared her for what comes next.
House of Lies
A sudden disappearance… When Roz Outlaw’s partner Tom mysteriously vanishes, she knows his life is in danger. Tom has been distracted lately, afraid, as though he is being hunted…
A desperate search… With the police showing little interest Roz knows it falls to her to find Tom. But as Tom’s secrets are uncovered nothing can prepare Roz for the dark lies and twisted truths she finds. She thought she loved Tom, but quickly realises she has been living with a stranger – a man with murder in his past.
A house of evil… The key to unlocking Tom’s past lies in his childhood home – Vixenhead. A house of wickedness that keeps its secrets well hidden. Can Roz find Tom before it’s too late or will the evil within Vixenhead claim her too…
An Imperfect Past
The past can be a foreign country and, for Kim Slade, a clinical psychologist specializing in young women with eating disorders, it’s deadly, too.
No sooner than Kim returns to work after a mental breakdown, she’s summoned to the deathbed of a former client, Mimi Vellender. Mimi’s dying wish is that Kim finds her brother, Nicholas, who mysteriously disappeared five years ago.
Just as mysteriously, Kim’s long-estranged mother, Monica, comes back into her life following the suspicious death of the judge she worked for as a live-in housekeeper. Is the sudden desire for a family reunion all it seems, or does Monica have something to hide?
Beautiful Losers
Kim Slade has many admirers, but only one wants her dead. Kim Slade is a clinical psychologist specializing in young women with eating disorders. She also has someone who specializes in her: an anonymous stalker. When Kyle Stannard, a former model with a facial disfigurement, steps suddenly into her life, Kim assumes he s her stalker. Partially scarred after a childhood accident, Kim believes this is the reason for Stannard s obsession and reports him to the police. But smart-mouthed Stannard denies the accusation and has a plausible explanation for every twisted move he makes. Can Kim nail him? Or is the person who wants to destroy her closer to home . . . Praise: “Beautiful Losers is a dark and disturbing read that grabs from the off. Eve Seymour doesn’t put a step out of place with her writing. I loved it.” Amanda Jennings, author of Sworn Secret, The Judas Scar and In Her Wake “A chilling descent into paranoia and self-obsession. Seymour invites us to look into the mirror, and judge.” Paul Hardisty, author of The Abrupt Physics of Dying and The Evolution of Fear
Resolution to Kill
The United Nations is under threat. After a spate of attacks, a round of hostage taking erupts in three Western European capitals. A previously unknown group claim responsibility. The members are all women. Revenge is their business. All are survivors. All have come of age. And all have a personal hatred of the United Nations whose peacekeepers failed them.
Taking time out after his last bruising mission in Russia, Tallis is recalled to London. When the first hostage is executed Tallis struggles to keep up with the killers’ relentless pace, then events take a sudden and deadly twist: the secretary general of the United Nations is kidnapped. But all is not as it appears. Faced with a crisis decision by his paymasters, Tallis is forced to choose between two evils, an act that will change his life forever.
Land of Ghosts
Seconded from MI5 to the SIS, Tallis must take on his most explosive mission yet. A series of high profile killings has made the Russian government increasingly authoritarian. And for Paul Tallis, former elite firearms officer and currently working off the books for MI5, the crumbling international situation is about to become very personal. Unknown to Tallis, his old schoolfriend, Rufus Graham, has been working deep undercover for the Secret Intelligence Service in the Chechen mountains. When it’s feared that Graham has turned rogue agent, Tallis is tasked with finding his old friend and bringing him back home. But for the first time in his life, Tallis is forced to question not only the legitimacy of his orders, but whose side he wants to take.
The Mephisto Threat
Ex-army. Ex-police. Unofficial MI5 spook. Meet Paul Tallis – a spy for the 21st Century. In Istanbul, crime journalist Garry Morello is executed in cold blood. Moments before his death, he meets with old friend Paul Tallis, hinting that he has uncovered a link between international terrorism and organised crime back home. On the run from the Turkish authorities, Tallis makes his way back to London and passes the Intel to his MI5 handler. Sent undercover in Birmingham to investigate the threat, Tallis’ mission is to infiltrate the inner circle of crime boss Johnny Kennedy. Once inside, Tallis must determine if the charismatic gangster is involved in planning the biggest terrorist attack on Britain – or if his MI5 paymasters are the ones he should be watching.
The Last Exile
No job? No family? Few friends? MI5 wants you. After acting on poor intelligence, officer Paul Tallis shoots a suspected terrorist in a Birmingham shopping centre. With his career over, Tallis leaves the elite firearms unit and is utterly disillusioned.A year later, Tallis is approached by a shadowy figure working for MI5. The offer is simple – unearth four dangerous illegal immigrants accidentally released from prison and hand them over to the authorities.At first, the plan runs like clockwork, but then Tallis makes an ugly discovery. Suspecting he’s being set up, Tallis smells a conspiracy, but now the authorities are demanding the last exile – only this time the man is innocent.
Absent Light
Helen Powers was once a scenes of crimes officer for the West Midlands Police. It’s four years since the case, involving the death of a young teenage girl, shattered her career. In an attempt to rebuild her life, she now works as a portrait photographer. But the past is not so easily left behind…
After a series of inexplicable and vicious attacks on her, Helen fears that someone is out to take revenge. For Helen, however, it’s only the start of something more personal and sinister.
Desperate to confront her demons and redeem herself in the face of a formidable adversary, Helen swiftly finds that neither time nor the elements are on her side…