Catriona McPherson was born in the village of Queensferry in south-east Scotland in 1965 and educated at Edinburgh University. She left with a PhD in Linguistics and spent a few years as a university lecturer before beginning to write fiction. The first Dandy Gilver novel was short-listed for the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger of 2005 and the second was long-listed for the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year Award 2007. In 2012 Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains was nominated for a Historical Macavity Award. Catriona writes full-time and divides her time between southern Scotland and Northern California.