Robert Barnard was born and brought up in Essex. After reading English at Balliol College, Oxford, he worked for a time for the Fabian Society, and in 1961 became lecturer in English at the University of New England, in New South Wales. He taught in Norway for seventeen years from 1966, and in 1983 came back to Britain to write full time. As well as nearly thirty mysteries, he has written books on Dickens, Agatha Christie and a history of English Literature. He and his wife now live in Leeds.