© Rob Irish
Alys Cummings is a writer and journalist based on the North East coast. She is an Emerging Creative Associate with New Writing North, and a member of their North East Novelists group. As a producer and director, Alys has made documentaries for BBC Panorama. Her debut novel, The Answer is Murder - which mixes cryptic crossword clues with murder mystery - won the Pitch Perfect award at the 2024 Bloody Scotland crime writing festival. It will be published by Penguin Michael Joseph in 2026.