Best-selling author Nikki Smith spoke to a packed audience at Stoneleigh Community Library on Thursday 10 September 2026.
The author of six psychological thrillers and co-host of the podcast In Suspense spoke with the library's Events Coordinator, Wendy Drewett, between 7.00 pm and 8.30 pm.
Nikki studied English Literature at Birmingham University and worked in finance at firms including BDO and Morgan Stanley before joining a creative writing course in 2017. Her first novel, All In Her Head, followed three years later. It became an Amazon bestseller, was nominated for the Guardian's Not The Booker Prize and may be turned into a TV drama.
Known as the "Queen of Destination Thrillers", she also described the research behind the glamorous, faraway settings of books such as The Guests and her latest, The Last Place You Look, where wealthy characters see their perfect lives fall apart.
The biggest talking point was artificial intelligence. Nikki explained that older books are being bought up to feed AI systems that produce new stories, which sparked a debate about protecting human creativity.
After an audience Q&A, Nikki stayed behind to chat and sign copies of her books supplied by Waterstones, while guests enjoyed Wendy's homemade oat and raisin cookies.
Future author events are listed on the library's What's On pages.
