Katy Massey

We are thrilled to welcome Katy Massey to the Book Tree to discuss her brilliant debut crime novel, All Us Sinners. 

The event will be a hosted Q&A to tie in with the book's publication. Bring your questions along, or hear more about the novel and Katy's writing through her answers to questions from the bookshop and audience. Katy will also read an extract from the book, and sign copies at the end of the evening. 

Tickets are free, but need to be booked in advance.  As always, we will provide complementary wine or cordial, plus a cosy evening in the bookshop. Book soon to guarantee a seat!

Powerful, provocative, beautiful and unforgettable. All Us Sinners is a chilling, moving, majestic debut and Katy Massey is a wonderful storyteller — Chris Whitaker

Set in a brothel during the Yorkshire Ripper murders of 1977, Katy Massey's dazzling debut crime novel is inspired by her unique real-life experience  and explores issues of race, sex work, class, and trust in the police.  

A note from the author 

My mother worked in the sex industry in Leeds and for a time ran a successful  brothel. This experience, informed All Us Sinners and its consideration of the harsh choices women can be forced to make, whether due to economic hardship, exploitation, or parental absence or neglect. My hope is that this book will open a discussion around blame culture that chides and admonishes women for sex work while ignoring or minimising the fact that demand comes from men, who both use and profit from the industry. Time and time again we witness convenient male blindness, at its best, and exploitative collusion at its worst. It begs the question who the real sinners are? — Katy Massey

The cover blurb

Leeds, 1977. A chill lies over the city: sex workers are being murdered by a serial killer they are calling the 'Ripper', the streets creeping with fear. 

Tough, sharp, but tender, Maureen runs Rio's, a clean, discreet brothel in the city. She's a good boss who takes great care of her workers - especially her best girls, Bev and Anette. The Ripper may be terrifying girls who work the street, but at Rio's the girls seem safer. 

But when Bev's sweet-natured son is found beaten to death, a figure from Maureen's past, DS Mick Hunniford, shows up at her door. Does his arrival herald danger or salvation? And who can Maureen really trust? 

More about Katy

Katy Massey was a journalist for 15 years before studying for an MA and PhD in Creative Writing from Newcastle University. Her memoir, Are we home yet? was published in 2020 and shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the Portico Prize. In addition, her fiction and nonfiction has been widely anthologised, including in Common People edited by Kit de Waal, The Place for Me, and Glimpse. All Us Sinners is her first novel.  

You can find her on Twitter/X and Facebook. 

Praise for Katy Massey

Loved it. A gem! — Bernardine Evaristo 

Wonderful — Louise Doughty    

Funny, pin-sharp and wise, Katy's writing gets under your skin  and right into your heart — Kit de Waal