Richards was born in Epping, Essex, on 14 September 1961. After attending Dean Close School in Cheltenham he obtained a BA (Hons) in English and Theatre at the University of Warwick.1
As well as his literary career, Richards has worked as a technical writer,2 editor, programmer, and user interface designer at IBM, and as an errand boy in a hotel.3
Richards is married with two sons, Julian and Chris, and lives in Warwickshire.4
Richards' first published novels were based on Doctor Who, published in the Virgin New Adventures, Virgin Missing Adventures and Virgin Decalog series. He continued to write for BBC Books after they resumed publishing Doctor Who stories, and as well as producing numerous novels, audio books, activity books and reference books he is Creative Director for the BBC Books range of Doctor Who novels.
In 2003, Richards began writing a series of crime novels for children (The Invisible Detective), whose parallel plots (between the 1930s and the present day) show a fascination with time and temporal paradox that is also evident in the Time Runners series that came out in 2007–08. More action-oriented books include the Agent Alfie books for younger readers, and a series of action-adventure books for young teens co-written with Jack Higgins. Other books have a more supernatural plot element, including the Department of Unclassified Artefacts novels and the School of Night books.
His book The Chaos Code won the Hull Children's Book Award 2008.5 Demon Storm (from the School of Night series) has been shortlisted for the Southampton's Favourite Book award 2011.6[needs update]
Richards has also written audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions, original audiobooks, and has contributed to television including Five's soap opera Family Affairs. In 2011, Richards ventured into electronic publishing through his own publishing company, Braxiatek. His novel The Skeleton Clock was made available later that year in electronic formats only (for the Amazon Kindle and for other Ebook readers).7
Set in London in the 1930s, the series recounts the adventures of Arthur (Art) Drake, Jonny Levin, Meg Wallace and Flinch, who invented the "Invisible Detective" Brandon Lake and who investigate all his cases themselves. Each story has a parallel subplot set in the 2000s, where Art's grandson, also named Art, and his friend Sarah have related mysteries to solve.9
Further information: The Invisible Detective
(written with Jack Higgins)
A series of books set in Victorian London (1886) describing the adventures of Eddie Hopkins, Liz Oldfield, Sir William Protheroe of the British Museum's secret 'Department of Unclassified Artefacts' and his assistant George Archer.10
A series of books which chronicle the adventures of schoolboy Jamie Grant who falls through a time break and becomes a Runner along with the mysterious Anna, with power to control time and a duty to protect it from malign interference by the sinister Darkling Midnight.11
Further information: Time Runners
A supernatural horror series, described by the publisher as "perfect for readers not yet old enough for Darren Shan".12
Further information: List of Doctor Who audio plays by Big Finish
"Justin Richards". waterstones.com. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20121018045515/http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/navigate.do?pPageID=200000997 ↩
James Whittington (11 June 2011). "Justin Richards". Interviews. Kasterborous: Doctor Who News, Opinions, Reviews & PodKast (kasterborous.com). Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110617071143/http://www.kasterborous.com/2011/06/justin-richards/ ↩
"Justin Richards". Loewe Verlag. Archived from the original on 1 April 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20090401133628/http://www.loewe-verlag.de/autoren/autor-10556_richards_justin.html ↩
"Southampton's Favourite Book Award 2011". 27 June 2011. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110605023736/http://www.southampton.gov.uk/s-leisure/libraries/bookaward.aspx ↩
"Doctor Who: Code of the Krillitanes". BBC Skillswise. Retrieved 12 July 2011. [dead link] https://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/quickreads/2010/doctor_who.shtml ↩
"Welcome". The Invisible Detective by Justin Richards. Simon & Schuster (invisible-detective.com). Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2011. [page needed] https://web.archive.org/web/20110713051813/http://www.invisible-detective.com/main.htm ↩
"Welcome". The Parliament of Blood [Justin Richards Parliament of Blood site]. justinrichards.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 February 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20070212055926/http://www.justinrichards.co.uk/ ↩
"The Official home for all things Justin Richards". timerunners-com [copyright 2013 Justin Richards & Braxiatek Ltd]. Retrieved 12 July 2011. [page needed] http://www.time-runners.com ↩
School of Night: Demon Storm. ASIN 0571245080. /wiki/Amazon_Standard_Identification_Number ↩