Gillian McAllister (born February 28, 1985) is a British author known for her mystery, thriller, and suspense novels. She trained for two years as a lawyer after graduating from the University of Birmingham in England. She wrote fiction in her spare time, recalling it as “by far the hardest time of [her] life, [her] memories of which are sitting in cold train stations at nine o’clock at night, writing on the floor of the waiting room with fingerless gloves on” (“My Story.” Gillian McAllister). After publishing her debut novel, Everything but the Truth (2017), she began writing full-time, publishing eight books that have all appeared in the top 20 on the British Sunday Times Bestseller List.

McAllister’s work takes a layered view of crime, exploring the motives and emotions of the perpetrators and their families, victims, lawyers, and police. For example, her 2023 novel Just Another Missing Person centers on the case of a missing person, Olivia Johnson. The point of view shifts between the detective investigating the case, the father and mother-in-law of another missing girl, and Olivia herself. In this way, McAllister offers a complex look at both the crime itself—which is more complicated than it originally appears—and the people impacted by it. Similarly, Famous Last Words opens with Luke holding several people hostage and examines the impact of the incident on Cam’s life as she tries to uncover the truth. Both novels center around the theme of Appearance Versus Reality, as the narrators uncover a world of deception and hidden motives as they search for the truth.

Central to McAllister’s work is her use of a shifting point of view, which allows her to explore the motives and emotions of various characters. Her science fiction novel, Wrong Place Wrong Time (2022), begins with a murder, as Jen witnesses her son, Todd, killing someone in her driveway. Jen travels backward through time, reliving the days leading up to the murder. Jen and investigator Ryan Hiles uncover the truth about the man Todd killed—and the complex world of crime in which Todd found himself involved. By limiting and shifting the point of view, McAllister builds suspense and creates mystery, while slowly revealing information about the murder. In Famous Last Words, the point of view shifts between Cam, Niall, and an anonymous third person. McAllister explores the impact that Luke’s actions have on both his wife and the hostage negotiator while obscuring the truth about the crime at the center of the novel until its end.

As a thriller and suspense writer, McAllister’s work hinges on secrets, plot twists, and the controlled release of information to the reader. She often begins with a crime—like a murder or a hostage situation—then unveils pieces of a puzzle that blur the lines between right, wrong, and justified. By evoking various perspectives, such as the police, loved ones, victims, and perpetrators, she explores a breadth of human emotions—such as love, betrayal, and loyalty—in atypical situations, emphasizing the importance of human connection in the pursuit of the truth.