Rae Starling

Rae Starling is the penname of Rachel Sargeant, a bestselling British author. Her dark thriller, An Ordinary House, will be published in September 2026 with Hera Books. A second standalone will follow in August 2027.

As Rachel Sargeant, she writes the Gloucestershire Crime Series, published by Hobeck Books. The first title is Her Deadly Friend. The second is Her Charming Man. The third title, Her Rising Star, came out in May 2026.

Her novels with HarperCollins are The Roommates, a psychological thriller set in a university during freshers' week; The Good Teacher, a detective mystery, featuring DC Pippa “Agatha” Adams; and The Perfect Neighbours, a psychological thriller set in Germany.

Rachel studied German at Aberystwyth University in Wales, spent several years living in Germany and now lives near the Welsh/English border in Gloucestershire with her family. Her hobbies are swimming and visiting coffee shops, country gardens and the theatre. She has a doctorate from the University of Birmingham.