Sheffield writer is winner of top children’s author competition run by Waterstones

She received £2,000 and the promise of ongoing commitment to her writing career.

Sharna is the artistic director at Site Gallery, Sheffield’s leading international contemporary art space, a member of BAFTA’s Children’s and Learning and New Talent committees and the Children’s Media Conference advisory board.

In High-Rise Mystery Sharna tells the gripping story of sleuthing sister duo Nik and Norva who, armed with curiosity and home-turf knowledge, set out to solve a murder in their high rise home The Tri.

Full of suspense and surprising twists, the story keeps readers on their toes as they follow the young protagonists on their adventures.

Waterstones’ buyer Florentyna Martin said: “Whilst mystery fiction has long been a favourite genre of writing, Sharna’s skilful crafting of language levels directly with younger readers and brings forward a fresh, pacey and exciting angle for the genre.

"Characterisation is key in any whodunnit plot and High-Rise Mystery’s collection of characters kept us guessing until the very end, weaving us masterfully in and out of plot with enough unstoppable intrigue to keep us reading after bedtime.

"Nik and Norva lead the way as two of the best super sleuths we’ve ever met, and we can’t wait to read what they do next.”

Sharna said: “I’ve been reading, watching and playing with mysteries since I was small – thanks to a Sherlock Holmes-obsessedum. The genre is great fun – it’s ludic and gets your readers quickly engaged and feel smart, which they all undoubtedly are. The twists, the turns, the chicanery and all-out scammery in murder mysteries is fantastic – but the typically-posh, vintage, white and stuffy characters and settings were due an update. High-Rise Mystery was therefore an experiment. I wanted to see if mystery’s codes and conventions could be transposed to today in a new context, to a working-class setting, led by two contemporary clever and funny black girls. I like to think that winning this prize means that the experiment was a success, so thank you.”

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