Martyn Waites was born and raised in Newcastle Upon Tyne. He first worked as an actor and has appeared in numerous theatre and TV productions. His first novel, Mary's Prayer, featuring investigative journalist Stephen Larkin, was published in 1997. He has been shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger for thriller of the year, the Dagger in Library and the short story Dagger, and his novel The White Room was Guardian Book of the Year. Writing as Tania Carver, he created the Phil Brennan/Marina Esposito series, the first of which, The Surrogate, was shortlisted for the Theakstons Award for crime novel of the year. He has held two writing residencies in YOIs and prisons, twice been the RLF Literary Fellow at Essex university, held classes in creative writing for excluded teenagers and taught an MA in crime fiction. He can be found at www.martynwaites.com or www.taniacarver.com.