Kate's writing career began when she won the North West Playwrights Competition in 1990. However, she 'turned to crime' in 1998 with her first novel 'The Merchant's House' and she has had eight book published to date with her ninth, 'A Cursed Inheritance', out in March 2005. Her books, featuring Devon based detectives DI Wesley Peterson and DCI Gerry Heffernan, have been described by 'Scotland on Sunday' as 'traditional detective fiction with a historical twist' and by 'The Bookseller' as 'unputdownable'.

As well as her full length crime novels, Kate has written short stories for anthologies and for Ellery Queen Magazine in the USA. Her story 'Les Inconnus' was shortlisted for the Crime Writers'Association Short Story Dagger in 2003.