Simon Beckett is the international bestselling author of the David Hunter thrillers. His books have been translated into twenty-nine languages, appeared in the Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller list, and sold more than ten million copies worldwide. A former freelance journalist who has written for the Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Independent on Sunday and the Observer, Beckett's inspiration for the first David Hunter novel came after a visit to the world-renowned Body Farm in Tennessee introduced him to the work of forensic anthropologists.

As well as co-winning the Ripper Award in 2018/19, the largest European crime prize, Beckett won the Raymond Chandler Society's 'Marlowe' Award and was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger, CWA Dagger in the Library, and Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year.

In addition to his David Hunter series, Beckett has written five standalone novels, one of which, Where There's Smoke, was adapted into a major two-part drama.