Val McDermid grew up in a Scottish mining community then read English at Oxford. She was a journalist for sixteen years, spending the last three years as Northern Bureau Chief of a national Sunday tabloid. Now a full-time writer, she divides her time between Cheshire and Northumberland. Her novels have won international acclaim and a number of prestigious awards, including the Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year, the Anthony Award for best novel, and the Los Angeles Times Book of the Year Award. Her thriller series featuring criminal profiler Tony Hill has been adapted into the much-loved TV series Wire in the Blood.

'She is the real mistress of psychological gripping thrillers; no-one can plot or tell a story like she can. The hairs on my neck literally stood up' Express'McDermid has become our leading pathologist of everyday evil… The subtle orchestration of terror is masterful' Guardian'Dark, clever and timely' Scotland on SundayPraise for Val McDermid:'Val McDermid is a roaring Ferrari amid the crowded traffic on the crime-writing road' Independent‘Manchester's answer to Thomas Harris’ Guardian