The Librarians' Q&A: Actually, I’m a Corpse by Terry Deary

June 11th 2026

Bestselling author of the acclaimed Horrible Histories series Terry Deary talks about his latest adult crime fiction book Actually, I'm a corpse, the second installment in the Actually murders series.

He tells us which crime fiction writers inspire him, about his writing routine and reading habits,  and how he "accidentally" became a playwright.

Actually, I’m a Corpse is your second novel in the ‘Actually’ series, following on from Actually, I’m a Murderer in 2025. However you’re perhaps best-known as writer of the best-selling Horrible Histories series for children, having written more than 350 books, including children’s fiction. How did you find the adjustment to writing fiction for an older audience?
 
I read nothing but murder-mysteries, and have done for sixty years, so I am in my element turning my hand to the genre. The books are writing themselves (but don't tell my publisher that.)        

What can readers expect from Actually I’m a Corpse?
 
I thought I was writing dark murder stories but everyone who has read 'Actually I'm a Murderer' and now 'Corpse' has commented on the humour. 'I laughed out loud in places' is the regular refrain. For 'Actually I'm a Corpse' the editor said it was 'even funnier' than 'Actually I'm a Murderer.' The second book has three times as many murders. So if I write the next one with a hundred murders I'll surely get the Nobel Prize for comedy? 
 
What do you think it is that makes crime fiction so popular?
 
It's a game of wits between the writer and the reader. The murderer is hiding behind the clues but so are the innocent. Readers say they spotted the murderer before the end, and they feel good that they've beaten the writer. 
 
You started out your career as a professional actor – what led to the switch into writing? Did you always want to be a writer?
 
I always wanted to be a country music singer and still do. I became an actor with a Welsh theatre company and we had to perform original stories for the communities we visited. We had the 'facts' but they needed to be shaped and given a dramatic structure and dialogue. It turned out I had a knack for writing so I accidentally became the company playwright. Plays end their 'run' and the characters vanish. I wanted one of my popular children's plays to live on, so I adapted it as a children's book. It was accepted and writing took over my life. My dreams of singing country music died and eventually my theatre career too. 
 
Are there any crime fiction writers or books you've been particularly inspired by? 
 
Anthony Horowitz and Simon Brett can do no wrong. Other writers have off-days but they never do. 
 
Can you tell us a bit about your writing routine?
 
I write four days a week (Monday to Thursday), 52 weeks a year, from 8 a.m. till 5 p.m. I generally have a word target of around 3000 to 5000 words a day. The other 3 days a week I help my wife by working on her farm as an unpaid labourer. Mucking out horses or feeding sheep keeps you grounded. I can recommend it.
 
What are your reading habits?
 I go to bed at 10 and read for half an hour each night. I read e-books on a smartphone because they are convenient and can be adapted to my failing eyesight. I can't read paper books any longer and don't enjoy listening to audio books ... though I do record them. 
 
What’s next – what are you working on at the moment?

I am lucky to now have parallel careers in fiction and non-fiction for adults.

The non-fiction has taken me to number 1 in the Sunday Times best sellers and the most recent one, Revolting came out in paperback in May 2026.

Meanwhile I am writing the next Actually, due in 2027 with a new series planned for 2028.

Actually, I'm a corpse 1973. Hours after a mysterious phone call is made to the police, a train pulls into Sunderland station with a dead body on board. Cause of death: strangulation. Victim: unknown. Witnesses: none. Undeterred by this baffling set of circumstances, newly promoted Police Sergeant Aline James vows to crack the case and prove her critics wrong. But when her famously ruthless investigation tactics yield no results, she is forced to seek help from two unlikely allies: unassuming assassin John Brown and calamitous actor Tony Davies. As bodies pile up, can this unusual trio thwart a devilishly complex plot, before one of them, actually, becomes a corpse? DISCOVER

Discover our Librarians Q&A with writing duo Nicci French  READ NEXT

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