{{Short description|British novelist and journalist}} {{Use British English|date=August 2011}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox writer | name = Gareth Rubin | birth_date = 1976 | birth_place = England, UK | occupation = Novelist, journalist | language = English | nationality = British | citizenship = | alma_mater = University of St Andrews<br>East 15 Acting School | genre = Thriller, High-concept fiction | notableworks = ''The Turnglass'', ''Holmes and Moriarty'' | website = {{URL|garethrubin.com}} }} '''Gareth Rubin''' (born 1976) is an English novelist and journalist. He has published five novels and writes on cultural and social topics for British newspapers, having worked for many years at ''The Observer'' as a features writer and opinion columnist.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gareth Rubin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/gareth-rubin |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=The Guardian |publisher=}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=November 2025}}
Rubin's novels are largely in the high-concept thriller genre, and several experiment with story structure. For example, ''The Turnglass'' (2023) is a tête-bêche novel in which two linked stories in the same volume are published back to back and upside down in relation to each other, giving the book two front covers and two first pages.
The sequel to ''The Turnglass'', ''The Waterfall'' (2025), is described as "a story within a story within a story within a story",<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Spanoudi |first=Melina |date=4 March 2024 |title=S&S UK snaps up two more high-concept mysteries by the author of The Turnglass |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/ss-uk-snaps-up-two-more-high-concept-mysteries-by-the-author-of-the-turnglass |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=The Bookseller |publisher=}}</ref> featuring four imaginary books, dating from Jacobean times to the 1940s, that each play a significant role in the book that follows them.
He has also written ''Holmes and Moriarty'' (2024), a new Sherlock Holmes novel endorsed by the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle, which features dual narration by Dr Watson and Colonel Moran.
==Early life and career== Rubin was born and grew up in Kent, and studied at the University of St Andrews, graduating in English. He went on to study acting at East 15 Acting School.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rubin Gareth |url=https://www.rcwlitagency.com/authors/rubin-gareth/ |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=RCW Literary Agency |language=en}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=November 2025}} Rubin worked as a TV critic for ''Time Out'', then as a freelance arts and features writer for ''The Independent'' and ''The Observer''.{{Cn|date=November 2025}}
== Novels == Rubin's first novel, ''Liberation Square'' (2018), is set in an alternate history version of London that is divided as Berlin was after the Second World War, into US and Russian sectors, following the failure of the D-Day landings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shepperson |first=Laura |date=May 2019 |title=Liberation Square |url=https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/liberation-square/ |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=Historical Novel Society}}</ref> His second, ''The Winter Agent'' (2020),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/304838/the-winter-agent-by-rubin-gareth/9781405930635|title=The Winter Agent by Gareth Rubin |publisher=penguin.co.uk}}</ref> follows the exploits of a compromised Special Operations Executive unit in wartime France.
His third novel, ''The Turnglass'' (2023), features two linked stories relating to the same family's secrets, one from the 1880s and one from the 1930s, in a tête-bêche format.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Svenne |first=Jasmina |date=February 2024 |title=The Turnglass |url=https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/the-turnglass/ |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=Historical Novel Society}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-09 |title=The Turnglass |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gareth-rubin/the-turnglass/ |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=Kirkus Reviews}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-25 |title=The Turnglass by Gareth Rubin |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781454955979 |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=Publishers Weekly}}</ref> The stories are published back to back and upside down in relation to each other in a single volume, which comes with two front covers and no back cover. ''The Guardian'' described it as "an intricate and thoroughly mesmerising tale of family plots and schemes across several generations",<ref>{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=Laura |date=18 August 2023 |title=The best recent crime and thrillers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/aug/18/the-best-recent-and-thrillers-review-roundup |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=The Guardian |publisher=}}</ref> and it was shortlisted for the 2025 Grand Prix des Lectrices in the French edition of ''Elle'' magazine.<ref>{{cite web |date=14 November 2024 |title=Grand prix des lectrices 2025 : les 3 nouveaux livres sélectionnés (2/8) |url=https://www.elle.fr/Loisirs/Livres/Prix-litteraire-des-lectrices/Grand-prix-des-lectrices-2025-les-3-nouveaux-livres-selectionnes-2-8-4284836/ |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=Elle.fr |publisher= |language=fr}}</ref>
His fourth book, ''Holmes and Moriarty'' (2024),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-17 |title=Holmes & Moriarty by Gareth Rubin |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781454961772 |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=Publishers Weekly}}</ref> is one of five novels to have been authorised by the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle as a continuation of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and imagines the detective and his nemesis, Professor Moriarty, thrown into an uneasy alliance by strange events.<ref>{{cite web |last=Thorpe |first=Vanessa |date=20 April 2024 |title=Revealed: the next Sherlock Holmes author, with a twist in the tale |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/20/revealed-the-next-sherlock-holmes-author-with-a-twist-in-the-tale |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=The Guardian |publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Svenne |first=Jasmina |date=November 2024 |title=Holmes and Moriarty |url=https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/holmes-and-moriarty/ |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=Historical Novel Society}}</ref> The book is alternately narrated from Holmes and Moriarty's point of view by their respective companions, Dr Watson and Colonel Moran.
His most recent novel, ''The Waterfall'' (2025), is a sequel to ''The Turnglass''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bentham |first=Lizzie |date=November 2025 |title=The Waterfall |url=https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/the-waterfall/ |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=Historical Novel Society}}</ref> Described on release as "a story within a story within a story within a story",<ref name=":0" /> it features four imaginary books written over a period of 400 years, from Jacobean times to the 1940s, each of which becomes central to the plot of the book that follows it. Writing in ''The Daily Telegraph'', Jake Kerridge called the book "a sort of crime ''Cloud Atlas'', comprising four tangentially linked mysteries spanning the centuries".<ref>{{cite web |last=Kerridge |first=Jake |date=19 October 2025 |title=The 21 best crime and thrillers of 2025 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/crime-fiction/best-new-crime-thrillers/ |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=The Daily Telegraph |publisher=}}</ref>
In December 2025, Rubin was a guest on the ''Off the Shelf'' Podcast.<ref>https://open.spotify.com/episode/61KWcDF1ibnyEKi76G9Fdq?si=2e28659cb43a4aac</ref>
==Bibliography== *''Liberation Square'' (2018, Michael Joseph) *''The Winter Agent'' (2020, Michael Joseph) *''The Turnglass'' (2023, Simon & Schuster) *''Holmes and Moriarty'' (2024, Simon & Schuster) *''The Waterfall'' (2025, Simon & Schuster)
==References==
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Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:English male novelists Category:The Observer people Category:Writers from Canterbury