SC Langley is the pen name of Simon Langley-Evans, a retired academic now living in Leicestershire with his wife and a selection of grumpy feline companions. Freed from the structures of academic life, Simon now spends his time watching wildlife and writing fiction.

During his distinguished academic career, Langley-Evans made a lasting contribution to the field of nutrition, most notably through three editions of Nutrition, Health and Disease: A Lifespan Approach, a widely adopted textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Published by Wiley in 2021, the third edition has been translated into Polish, Russian and Chinese, and has sold over 3,000 copies across all editions. It remains a set text at universities around the world.

Since retiring, he has written How to Write a Scientific Paper, a practical guide for early-career researchers, and continues to speak out about the sustainability of academic workloads and institutional expectations. Describing himself as a "recovering academic", he brings wit, insight and hard-earned clarity to both his nonfiction and creative writing.

Simon has also published several short story collections — including Death Comes to Cockburn and Other Stories, After Dark, Gods and Monsters, and Lectures on Death — exploring themes of revenge, mortality, politics, and the supernatural. These earlier works are now out of print, reflecting his decision to focus fully on crime fiction.

Writing as SC Langley, he is the creator of Detective Kate Ellis, a complex and compelling protagonist whose cases combine psychological depth with social commentary. 

Simon wrote his first Kate Ellis story (The Head Of The Snake) as part of the Lectures on Death collection. Kate soon took over his writing and following Lectures on Death, Kate has has appeared in four short story collections and a novel.

Find out more about the origins of Kate Ellis and what Simon thinks about the series here.

See here for more information.
Get in touch at DetectiveKateEllis@gmail.com