About Nic Smurthwaite

Nic Smurthwaite is a novelist whose work explores the hidden intersections of power, history, and conscience. His Aldridge series — beginning with The Heir and the Shadows — weaves together espionage, family legacy, and moral intrigue, moving effortlessly between the shadows of war and the complexities of the modern world.

Before turning to writing full-time, Nic spent nearly five decades in the IT industry as a project manager — long enough, he jokes, to qualify as an IT fossil. When he began his career, the computing power now tucked into a smartphone required an entire office floor. That same mix of innovation, adaptability, and quiet persistence finds its way into his fiction.

Nic lives in East Farleigh, Kent — just around the corner from West Farleigh, which, far from being fictional, provides much of the inspiration for his settings. His local pub, The Tickled Trout, even makes an appearance in The Heir and the Shadows. He also spent ten years living in Western Australia, whose vineyards and light inspired some of the saga’s most vivid scenes.

A proud father of three and grandfather of nine, Nic draws on a lifetime of experience across continents and generations to craft stories about legacy, identity, and the choices that define us. He is currently at work on The Inheritance of Shadows, the next chapter in the Aldridge series.