C. J. Merritt served as a British diplomat in Iraq and Jerusalem. Pursuing his interest in the psychological impact of armed conflict, he then retrained as a Clinical Psychologist and worked for the National Health Service in London, where he focused on treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. During this time, he began writing fiction, and his debut novel was published in 2018. Since then, he has authored several more thrillers (as Chris Merritt). Now, alongside his writing, he analyses espionage and insider risk for a cybersecurity consultancy. He lives in London.