Nicola Martin
Nicola Martin studied at the University of East Anglia and the University of California, Berkeley. After many years working as a senior copywriter in the low carbon technology sphere, she is now a freelance writer. Dead Ringer, her first novel, won the Lakeland Book of the Year Prize for Fiction.
Dead Ringer
Read an extract
WINNER: Lakeland Book of the Year 2021, The Gilpin Hotel and Lake Prize for Fiction ‘Will delight fans of Killing Eve.” Daily Mail The idea is simple, vain, exciting. Tap the app, upload a picture, find your #deadringer – and if you like, set up a meeting in real life. When Ella and Jem connect, the resemblance is uncanny, but their lives are polar opposites. One is stuck in a rut in her Northern hometown, while the other, an aspiring actor living in a multimillion-pound mansion, is a Chelsea socialite who knows she’s skating on thin ice. Other than their looks, their only similarity is the desire to escape. Is it possible to hide in your double’s skin? And at what cost? All too believable, twisty, compelling and fast – Dead Ringer will leave you reeling.
Prizes and awards
WINNER: Lakeland Book of the Year 2021, The Gilpin Hotel and Lake Prize for Fiction
REVIEWS OF Dead Ringer
“Dead Ringer takes you on a riotous and compelling ride. Nicola Martin delivers an accomplished debut, one that successfully captures the twisted inherent desires that surface when two differing lives become dangerously entwined.” Lloyd Otis, author of Dead Lands
“What a cracking debut! Tense, thrilling, thought-provoking.” Alex Kane, author of No Looking Back
“[This] scintillating debut is pacy, often witty, always succinct, a credible and well-constructed tale of two young women … Excellent. Buy this book. Nicola Martin is a writer to watch.” Bob Cornwell, Crimetime
“A serious meditation on who we are when we spend hours and hours on social media … a fast-moving thriller … a cracking read.” Judith Sullivan, Shots Magazine
“A tense and compelling story that courageously embraces contemporary themes ranging from new tech consumption to mental health … plays out as a treacherous and disturbing nightmare … will delight fans of Killing Eve.” Daily Mail
