Malcolm Pryce

For the footballer, see Malcolm Price.

Malcolm Pryce (born 1960) is a British author, mostly known for his noir detective novels.

Born in Shrewsbury, England, Pryce moved at the age of nine to Aberystwyth, where he later attended Penglais Comprehensive School before leaving to do some travelling. After working in a variety of jobs. including BMW assembly-line worker in Germany, hotel washer-up, "the world's worst aluminium salesman" and deck hand on a yacht in Polynesia, Pryce became an advertising copywriter in London and Singapore. He is currently resident in Oxford.

Pryce writes in the style of Raymond Chandler and has been labelled "the king of Welsh noir". His Aberystwyth Noir novels are incongruously set on the rainswept streets of an alternate universe version of the Welsh seaside resort and university town of Aberystwyth. The hero of these novels is Louie Knight, the best private detective in Aberystwyth (also the only private detective in Aberystwyth), who battles crime organised by the local Druids, investigates the strange case of the town's disappearing youths, and gets involved in its burgeoning film industry, which produces What The Butler Saw movies.

Pryce has also written The Case of the 'Hail Mary' Celeste and Aberystwyth Noir - It Ain't Over till the Bearded Lady Sings, a BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Drama, first broadcast on 15 May 2013, featuring Louie Knight and produced and directed by Kate McAll.