Matt Fullerty writes novels about chess, crime and conmen, namely a chess prodigy, a murderess and an art forger.

Novels by Matt Fullerty

The Knight of New Orleans (available 28 Sept 2011)           The Murderess and the Hangman (available 28 Feb 2012)           American X Trilogy (28 Oct 2012)

Deadly Women episode about Kate Webster (Season 5, 'Breaking Point') with Matt Fullerty (September 2011)

The Skull Was Julia Thomas's! Live Interview with Radio London 94.9

On 6th February 2011, I interviewed (briefly!) with Eddie Nestor of Radio London 94.9 Drivetime, about the confirmation that the skull found in David Attenborough's garden last October did in fact belong to Julia Martha Thomas of Richmond. The case was strange enough with a 132-year old skull undergoing 21st century radiocarbon testing, but to be found in Sir David Attenborough's garden...that is enough to make you wonder.

Anyway, for a snippet introduction to the story, you can hear the Radio London interview at this link. It's about 3 minutes long. As Eddie would say, "bit gruesome, isn't it?"

Interview for Discovery Channel and Beyond Productions's "Deadly Women" (February 2011)

Crime Novel Becomes Reality for GW English Professor (October 2010)

Last weekend, a human skull was dug up in the garden of broadcaster/naturalist Sir David Attenborough in London. It turns out to be the long-missing head of an 1879 murder victim named Martha Thomas, who was killed by her maid Kate Webster.

In a peculiar twist, Dr. Fullerty has been writing about the murder--in the form of a novel--for the past two years. After the murder, Kate impersonated Martha Thomas around London, wearing her clothes and jewelry, and selling her victim's belongings. After trying to flee to Ireland, Kate was arrested and put on trial at the Old Bailey, eventually confessing to her priest. She was hanged in Wandsworth Prison by the "royal hangman" William Marwood on 29 July, 1879.

When the story broke on Saturday in England, Matt became the go-to source for the British press. The result was a feature in Tuesday's Daily Mail about life of the killer (and the man who hanged her).

You can read more about Matt Fullerty's novel The Murderess and the Hangman here. Matt is currently looking for a publisher for his work, and we hope this strange turn-of-events will help him land a book deal in time for Halloween!

Vermont Studio Center (August 2011)

Having enjoyed my time at the I-Park Foundation as a Writer-in-Residence (fiction) in July 2010, I was pleased to attend the Vermont Studio Center on an Artist's Grant in August 2011, along with a host of other writers including Booker Prize-winning novelist Kiran Desai, author of THE INHERITANCE OF LOSS (Booker winner in 2006). Including myself, there were 16 writers in the Maverick Studio writing building, eight in a line side by side upstairs, and 8 downstairs directly below them. I was in pod 2, downstairs, with a lovely view of the river (everyone ha a view of the river). I remember, most days, wondering what is Kiran Desai writing today while I'd doodle my latest short story brainwave on a piece of printer paper and feel a deluded sense of accomplishment! During the two weeks I was in Johnson, VT, I mainly worked on my novels, as usual, and the story ideas took a backseat--I spent more time telling people my latest story idea. Isn't that what story ideas are for? Oh yeah, the writing part....

Residencies: you can't beat 'em.

The location was beautiful and I continued work on my third novel American Con Artist on-site. It was a fine way to end the summer!