Obituary: Thalia Proctor

Thalia Proctor 25th June 1970–2nd April 2022

Thalia Proctor was one of a kind, always so completely, wonderfully herself. She touched the lives of so many people within publishing, especially within the crime fiction community, over her 30-year career. Warm, welcoming, stupendously knowledgeable, she leaves so many in our industry heartbroken at her loss, but the outpouring of love for her has been such a comfort to her family and friends. She would have been mightily embarrassed by it all.

An avid reader from a young age, books were in the genes of the Proctor family. As a teenager, Thalia joined the Sherlock Holmes Society with her mum, Loretta, reading Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels multiple times and making notes as she went. I was particularly grateful for this knowledge when she correctly answered Mark Billingham’s Harrogate crime-quiz question of how many steps there were from the ground floor to the study at 221b Baker Street (17, of course). After her A-Levels, Thalia stayed with friends in France at their hotel, where she cleaned chalets in the mornings, and read Agatha Christie and swam in the afternoons. On her return to the UK, Thalia immediately started work, first at Athena before starting her bookselling career at Maxim Jakubowski’s Murder One, the crime fiction bookshop. After that, she moved her expertise to Crime in Store, with Geoffrey Bailey, and Goldsboro Books with David Headley. Next steps in her career included time at the Van Lear Literary Agency, before joining Orion as an editorial assistant on its crime fiction list. In 2006, Thalia was headhunted by David Shelley to join Sphere and she spent nearly 16 incredibly happy years at Little, Brown, progressing to the role of editorial manager. For colleagues and authors alike, she was a joy to work with. She supported many junior colleagues and continued to make friends everywhere she went—my heart goes out to all those friends now.

I started working with Thalia 12 years ago and being in her presence was always a delight. She was simply brilliant as editorial manager at Sphere, our crime fiction expert and the heart of our team. Thalia was exceptionally loyal to our authors and colleagues, both past and present. Her many passions included penguins, Benedict Cumberbatch, musicals, comedy, travel, Harrogate crime festival, her friends, the Oscars (she always booked the next day off as she stayed up all night watching them) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (a life-size cardboard cut-out of him was a regular sight during Teams calls). I’m richer for having known and loved her, as are so many of us. Thal, you’re a marvel.

Thalia is survived by her mother Loretta, father John and brother Lawrence.

By Catherine Burke, Sphere executive publisher and deputy m.d. of Little, Brown Book Group