My cousin Carol Smith, who has died aged 84, was a literary agent and author best known for her thrillers Kensington Court (1996) and Unfinished Business (2000).
Born in London to Winifred (nee Mapleston), a teacher, and David Smith, a businessman, Carol attended the North London Collegiate, after which she could not wait to get straight to work so took a shorthand course and flew to New York at the height of the Mad Men advertising era. Funny, charming, clever and ambitious she quickly found her first job with the publisher Arthur Rosenthal, who took her under his wing and moved her around every department of his company.
After a stint as a story editor for MGM she returned to London in 1965 and joined AP Watt literary agency. She built up a wide friendship circle of authors and publishers, including Arianna Huffington, Bernard Levin, Edward de Bono, Stephen King, Roy Hattersley and Miriam Margolyes. In the early 1970s she sealed her first million-dollar deal and celebrated by buying herself a large diamond ring. Another celebratory purchase was a luxurious wolf jacket and, with a wardrobe full of Armani, she was always extremely stylish.
After making a lot of money for her employers and authors she launched the Carol Smith literary agency and bought a large rambling flat in Kensington, where she liked nothing more than bringing together a disparate group to introduce young editors to their opposite numbers and authors to each other. She had an endless curiosity about people, and what made them tick, and took that with her when she reinvented herself as a novelist after selling her agency in 1998.
Her expertise as an agent advising authors on how to create tantalising storylines meant that her own stylish brand of blood-curdling thrillers were an instant hit. She even invented her own genre: the “creepy weepy”.
Susan Fletcher, the former deputy managing director of Hodder & Stoughton and a longtime friend, said: “Carol was a glamorous presence, with her blond hair, a husky voice that spoke of a 50-a-day cigarette habit – though in fact she never smoked – and the diamond rings she awarded herself for every mega deal. But that flamboyance came alongside a terrifically perceptive eye for talent and formidable negotiating skills.”
She is survived by a niece, Asta, and nephew, Karl.
