H. R. F. Keating was one of Britain's most highly acclaimed crime fiction writers, known predominantly for his series of novels featuring Inspector Ghote of the Mumbai Criminal Investigation Department. Educated at Merchant Taylor's School in London, Keating wrote his first story at the age of eight, and went on to twice win the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award for Best Novel. A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, Keating moved to London to work as a journalist for The Daily Telegraph before reviewing crime novels for The Times for fifteen years. However, writing eventually became his full-time profession. In addition to his crime novels, he wrote non-fiction and edited numerous books in the crime genre, and also completed a biography of Dame Agatha Christie, entitled Agatha Christie: First Lady of Crime. Keating's contribution to crime fiction was significant and spanned over forty years: publishing twenty-six books following Inspector Ghote of the Mumbai Police, alongside an abundance of standalone or other series fiction. His later novels focus on UK police detectives whose human weaknesses adversely affect their work. Alongside writing, Keating served as Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and of the Society of Authors, and was elected President of the Detection Club in 1987. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and received the George N. Dove Award and Cartier Diamond Dagger Award in 1995 and 1996, respectively, for outstanding services to crime literature. He died in March 2011 at the age of eighty-four.