Dr Ruth Dudley Edwards was born and brought up in Dublin, Ireland. Since she graduated she has lived in England, where she has been a teacher, a Cambridge postgraduate student, a marketing executive, a civil servant and, finally, a freelance writer, journalist and broadcaster.An historian and prize - winning biographer, her recent non - fiction includes the authorized history of The Economist, a portrait of the British Foreign Office and a book about the newspaper world of the mid - twentieth century. She uses her knowledge of the British establishment in her satirical crime novels: targets so far include the civil service, gentlemen's clubs, Cambridge colleges, the House of Lords, the Church of England, publishing, literary prizes and - always - political correctness. She has three times been short - listed for awards from the Crime Writers' Association. www.ruthdudleyedwards.com