Marion Todd is a highly acclaimed mystery author, best known for her "Detective Clare Mackay" series. Born and raised in Dundee, she now resides in Fife, across the River Tay from her hometown. Todd was married for several decades and raised three children with her husband, who was a detective in Police Scotland. After his death, she had to put her writing on hold to focus on raising her children and took up various jobs, including a hotel lounge pianist, candle maker, and lecturer. These experiences provided her with a wealth of material that she would later use in her novels.
Once her children were grown, Todd returned to her passion for writing. She has had several of her short fiction pieces featured in "My Weekly Magazine" and the "Dundee Courier." In 1987, she won the Short Story for Children Competition by Family Circle Magazine. Todd has also been nominated for several awards, including the Scottish Arts Council Short Story Award and the Sunstory Award. Her debut mystery novel, "See Them Run," was published in 2019 after she won a three-book deal with Canelo.
Todd's writing journey began early on, with point-of-view pieces published in the Dundee Courier and short stories in My Weekly magazine. She won first prize in the Family Circle Magazine Short Story for Children Competition in 1987. In recent years, Todd has turned her hand to crime fiction and was one of only six commercial fiction writers selected to pitch to an industry panel at XPONorth in Inverness in 2017. In 2018, she was long-listed for the Sunstory Award and the Scottish Arts Council Short Story Award. This year she was short-listed for Dundee Rep’s Stripped programme. She is represented by Northbank Talent Management and her debut novel, See Them Run, was published as an eBook by Canelo on 31 October 2019.
Before becoming a full-time writer, Todd worked as a lecturer, candle-maker, and hotel lounge pianist, jobs that provided rich material for her novels. When she is not writing, Todd enjoys walking in the beautiful Scottish countryside and tussling with her jungle-like garden. She is also a sometime babysitter for her daughter’s unruly but lovable dog. Todd's writing is deeply rooted in her Scottish heritage, and her novels reflect her deep understanding and appreciation for the region and its people.