Immaculate Conceit (2000) concerns a lap-dancer who is told by her angel lover that she is to be the mother of the new Messiah. In the splenetic fairy-tale novel Singling Out the Couples (1998), shape-shifting Princess Cushla is on a mission: to break up couples in love by becoming what they most desire. Stella Duffy is a writer of satirical wit and linguistic energy – as well as variety. She has also recorded several plays and the sitcom Losers for BBC Radio 4. She has performed in Improbable Theatre's highly acclaimed Lifegame throughout Britain, off-Broadway in New York, and in Australia.

In addition to her writing work, Stella Duffy is an actor, comedian and improviser. Her short story, 'Martha Grace', included in the Tart Noir anthology, was awarded the CWA Macallan Short Story Dagger in 2002. With Lauren Henderson she is co-editor of the anthology Tart Noir (2002). She has published over 20 short stories, many feature articles for magazines and newspapers, and also writes for radio and theatre. She has also written five crime novels featuring Private Investigator Saz Martin: Calendar Girl (1994) Wavewalker (1996) Beneath the Blonde (1997) Fresh Flesh (1999) and Mouths of Babes (2005). Her latest book is The Purple Shroud (2012). Her novels are: Singling Out the Couples (1998) Eating Cake (1999) Immaculate Conceit (2000), adapted for the stage with the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain State of Happiness (2004), in which a couple, Jack and Cindy, find that when Cindy falls dangerously ill they must face the ultimate test of their relationship Parallel Lies (2005), involving the murder of one member of a menage a trois T he Room of Lost Things (2008) and T heodora: Actress, Empress, Whore (2010), based on the life of Empress Theodora, born around 500AD. Stella Duffy was born in London in 1963 and spent her childhood in New Zealand.

London Lies Beneath by Stella Duffy