Tom Bale was born in Brighton in 1966. He left school at eighteen and worked a number of jobs before starting a career in the insurance industry. He managed a claims office in Yorkshire for five years before returning to Sussex for a far more rewarding - and exhausting - stint as a househusband. After years of collecting rejections slips, his publishing breakthrough came in 2006 and he has now been a full - time writer for more than fifteen years. His books have sold more than half a million copies and been translated into various languages.

An avid reader of crime and thrillers, he lives on the Sussex coast where he loves to cycle, swim in the sea and spend time with his grandchildren.