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1,366 books added

Matthew Costello


USA flag (b.1948)

aka Shane Christopher, Matt Costello, Matthew J Costello

Matthew Costello's award-winning and bestselling work--across all media--has meshed story, gameplay and technology.

His novels, spanning genres, have been published all around the world. His classic horror novel, Beneath Still Waters, was filmed by Lionsgate. His novel Vacation was a major release from Macmillan, who also released the sequel, Home, as well as his epic SF novel, Star Road.

He cocreated and coauthors, with Neil Richards, the hit mystery series Cherringham, which has sold over 1,000,000 copies worldwide. With Neil Dudgeon (Midsomer Murders) reading, the series has become a bestselling audio series, also with over 700,000 sales. Cherringham has also been sold globally, in many languages. His latest series with Neil Richards, set in 1929--Mydworth Mysteries--has also quickly become a bestseller, with Wolf Hall actor Nathaniel Parker performing the audiobooks.

He has also written and designed dozens of award-winning and bestselling games including The 7th Guest, G-Force, Aladdin, Just Cause 1&2, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Time magazine said of Doom 3, which he scripted, "The story is delivered with unusual art." Rage, which Matt also wrote, won the most Game Critics Awards at E3, including Best Console Game'. He continues to write and help create groundbreaking games worldwide, most recently the interactive film Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier. 

March 2023 brought the release of Resident Evil 4, one of the most anticipated games of the year, scripted by Matt, which sold 4 million copies in its first two weeks.

Matt has also written episodes and created TV formats for PBS, Disney, SyFy, and the BBC. He consults on story, creativity, games and multiplatform projects around the world.
 


Genres: Cozy Mystery, Horror, Science Fiction, Fantasy
 
New and upcoming books
September 2024

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Silent Night, Stolen Night
(Cherringham, book 47)
December 2024

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False Witness
(Mydworth Mystery, book 17)
March 2025

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A Fatal Illusion
(Cherringham, book 48)
June 2025

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Lost in the City of Light
(Mydworth Mystery, book 18)
Series
Time Warrior (as by Matthew J Costello)
   1. Time of the Fox (1990)
   2. Hour of the Scorpion (1991)
   3. Day of the Snake (1992)
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Wurm (as by Matthew J Costello)
   1. Wurm (1991)
   2. Garden (1993)
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David Rodriguez and Mari Kinsella (as by Shane Christopher)
   1. In Dreams (2006)
   2. Nowhere (2007)
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Doom 3
   1. Worlds on Fire (2008)
   2. Doom 3 Maelstrom (2009)
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Jack Murphy
   0.5. Day One (2011)
   1. Vacation (2011)
   2. Home (2012)
   3. Family (2017)
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Cherringham (with Neil Richards)
   1. Murder on Thames (2013)
   2. Mystery at the Manor (2014)
   3. Murder by Moonlight (2014)
   4. Thick as Thieves (2014)
   5. Last Train to London (2014)
   6. The Curse of Mabb's Farm (2014)
   7. The Body in the Lake (2014)
   8. Snowblind (2014)
   9. Playing Dead (2014)
   10. A Deadly Confession (2014)
   11. Blade in the Water (2014)
   12. Death On a Summer Night (2014)
   13. A Lesson in Murder (2015)
   14. The Secret of Combe Castle (2015)
   15. A Fatal Fall (2015)
   16. The Last Puzzle (2015)
   17. Final Cut (2015)
   18. The Vanishing Tourist (2015)
   19. Ghost of a Chance (2015)
   20. Follow the Money (2015)
   21. Murder Most Wild (2015)
   22. The Song Never Dies (2015)
   23. A Bad Lie (2016)
   24. A Death in the Family (2016)
   25. Secret Santa (2016)
   26. Death on a Moonlit Night (2017)
   27. Scared to Death (2017)
   28. A Dinner to Die For (2018)
   29. The Drowned Man (2018)
   30. The Gentleman Vanishes (2018)
   31. Trail of Lies (2018)
   32. Death Trap (2018)
   33. Cliffhanger (2019)
   34. The Secret of Brimley Manor (2019)
   35. Too Many Lies (2019)
   36. Murder under the Sun (2020)
   37. Killing Time (2020)
   38. Still Dead (2020)
   39. Killer Track (2021)
   40. Cold Case (2021)
   41. No Place to Hide (2022)
   42. In the Frame (2022)
   43. A Score to Settle (2022)
   44. Deadline (2023)
   45. Bad Neighbours (2023)
   46. In Good Faith (2024)
   47. Silent Night, Stolen Night (2024)
   48. A Fatal Illusion (2025)
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Mydworth Mystery (with Neil Richards)
   1. A Shot in the Dark (2019)
   2. A Little Night Murder (2019)
   3. London Calling! (2019)
   4. Murder wore a Mask (2020)
   5. Deadly Cargo (2020)
   6. Danger in the Air (2020)
   7. The Wrong Man (2021)
   8. Secrets on the Cote d'Azur (2021)
   9. A Distant Voice (2021)
   10. City Heat (2021)
   11. Fool's Gold (2022)
   12. Murder in the Dark (2022)
   13. A Deadly Match (2023)
   14. Dead of Night (2023)
   15. A Fatal Affair (2023)
   16. The Lost Man (2024)
   17. False Witness (2024)
   18. Lost in the City of Light (2025)
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Novels
   Sleep Tight (1987)
   Fate's Trick (1988) (as by Matt Costello)
   Beneath Still Waters (1989) (as by Matthew J Costello)
   Midsummer (1990) (as by Matthew J Costello)
   Child's Play 2 (1990) (as by Matthew J Costello)
   Child's Play 3 (1991) (as by Matthew J Costello)
   Caught in Time (1992) (as by Matthew J Costello)
   Darkborn (1992) (as by Matthew J Costello)
   Homecoming (1992) (as by Matthew J Costello)
   seaQuest 2 (1994) (as by Matthew J Costello)
   See How She Runs (1994) (as by Matthew J Costello)
   The 7th Guest (1995) (as by Matthew J Costello) (with Craig Shaw Gardner)
   Mirage (1996) (as by Matthew J Costello) (with F Paul Wilson)
   DNA Wars (1998) (as by Matthew J Costello) (with F Paul Wilson)
     aka Masque
   Unidentified (2002) (as by Matthew J Costello)
   Missing Monday (2004) (as by Matthew J Costello)
   King Kong: The Island of the Skull (2005)
   Rage (2011)
   Star Road (2014) (with Rick Hautala)
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Collections
   Artifact (2003) (with others)
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Series contributed to
Crossroads Adventure
   Revolt on Majipoor (1987) (as by Matt Costello)
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Guardians of the Three / Exiled
   3. Wizard of Tizare (1989) (as by Matthew J Costello)
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SeaQuest DSV
   2. The Fire Below (1994) (as by Matthew J Costello)
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Never Fear
   Never Fear - The Tarot (2016) (with others)
   Never Fear - The Apocalypse (2017) (with others)
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Non fiction show
 
Books containing stories by Matthew Costello
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The Best of Cemetery Dance, Volume 2 (2020)
(Best of Cemetery Dance, book 2)
edited by
Richard Chizmar
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Mister October, Volume I (2013)
An Anthology in Memory of Rick Hautala
edited by
Christopher Golden

More books 


Award nominations
1999 Prometheus Award (nominee) : DNA Wars
1992 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel (nominee) : Homecoming


Matthew Costello recommends
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The Razor (2018)
J Barton Mitchell
"J. Barton Mitchell's The Razor is cutting-edge SF."
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The Chrysalis (2018)
Brendan Deneen
"Slowly-mounting dread mixed with can't-stop-turning-the-pages fascination. Recalling modern horror classics like Rosemary's Baby."
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Dayfall (2018)
Michael David Ares
"Dayfall delivers, big-time. Michael Ares’ careful imagining of a post-apocalyptic world where people still kill and detectives need to stop them, makes for perfect edge-of-your-seat reading."

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