Paul Williams Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Paul Williams is a British born author who grew up in Africa and then spent several years practicing as a frontline medic in two civil wars. He was then a lead guitarist of a Middle East rock band, a surfer in Durban and radio DJ in Zimbabwe. He then went on to get a Ph.D. in the United States and is now a professor and Programme Leader at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland Australia, where he teaches Creative Writing. He has published in several genres internationally and his works include short stories, non-fiction, young adult novels, fiction and critical articles. His works include the short story collection “The Art of Losing,” his guide to writing “Novel Ideas: Writing Innovative Fiction,” “Fail Brilliantly,” “Soldier Blue,” and “Playing with Words.” He has also written the novel “Twelve Day” a crime thriller that was published in 2019. “Soldier Blue” his memoir about his experiences in the civil wars in Africa was the 2008 Book of the Year in South Africa. He currently lives with his family near the beach.

Paul Williams has asserted that his novel “Twelve Day” is more of a remake of closed-room mystery in the mold of the Agatha Christie novels such as “Then There Were None.” He wrote the novel in only three months after he became fascinated with the hidden meaning of Christie’s novel. While he had published many of his previous works with the large publishers, this work was published by Bloodhound Books, an independent publisher in the UK. The novel was hugely successful as it went on to become an Amazon Bestseller rising up the ranks to peak at number 133 in the UK Kindle Rank. It did even better in the psychological fiction chart as it rose to top out at number 15. The novel is about 10 people that meet for a reunion organized by a minister in an ancient castle. But then there are a set of mysterious murders and one of the visitors is the suspect and they cannot find out who it is. The multiple award-winning author is making a foray into the crime fiction genre and has said that it has been quite the learning curve though an exciting experience to work in something new. His success as a writer makes him well qualified to teach students at the University of the Sunshine Coast to be ready for all the changes happening in publishing. His crime fiction debut “Twelve Days” was published in December 2019.

“Twelve Days” by Paul Williams is a novel full of suspense and tension right from the start of the story. Compared to an Agatha Christie metafictional narrative, it is a thrilling, nail-biting mystery that would have made the king of mystery proud. It is set in a castle, the perfect setting for a hidden killer who can perform his dark deeds unseen. Williams writes in such a way that the reader can imagine the secret passageways and flickering lights of the ancient castle. He also writes gloriously ghoulish descriptions of the tools of torture that the killer has at his disposal. With each new murder, suspicions shift from one visitor to the next as the author is a master of laying the red herring. Each new suspect also has a different motive as each person has a lot of secrets that come to light as they start accusing each other. Even with just a few of the visitors yet to be eliminated from the suspects’ list, it is still almost impossible to guess who the killer could be. In addition to the compelling main plot, the novel also comes with several subplots that include the characters’ relationships with each other and their histories. The lead is a man named Rafe, a smart philosopher turned detective who is dealing with longings of the past, unresolved love, and an ancient Italian castle with a brooding dark menace inside it. It ends in an exhilarating finale that combines all the addictive ingredients to make for one of the best thriller mysteries you could read.

“Twelve Days” by Paul Williams introduces Rafe, a man that as a youngster had been initiated into “The Twelve,” a religious cult led by a self-proclaimed mister named Reverend James. He had finally managed to extricate himself from the cult and even changed his beliefs. He is now a successful author as he had written a book denouncing God and his former church. As such, it comes as a surprise to receive an invitation from the Reverend James, who wants him to join the other members of the cult to a reunion. They are going to be meeting at an ancient remote castle out in the middle of nowhere. He accepts the invitation since he thinks he might get to meet Suzanne. He once had an obsession with Suzanne, a girl that had been a member of the cult and is now a popular actress. It is a group of ten current and former members of the sect that meet in the castle hemmed in by the grey walls of the castle that protects them from the snowstorms outside. Inside the building, they get to feast their eyes on medieval torture devices that are the pride and joy of the owner. James tells them that his purpose for having them all together is to give them an understanding of the twelve days of Christmas, a new concept he says he just learned. But someone is picking off the visitors to the castle one by one in horrendous and bizarre ways and in doing so is making the old friends turn on each other in suspicion. Everyone is afraid that they might just be the next victim and in the ensuing chaos old secrets and scores are uncovered to complicate things even further. The rational philosopher and thinker Rafe believes he is the only one who can investigate and resolve the mystery of the killer lurking within the castle walls.