Robert J. Harris was born in Dundee and studied at the University of St Andrews where he graduated with a first class honours degree in Latin. He is the designer of the bestselling fantasy board game Talisman and has written numerous books including Leonardo and the Death Machine, Will Shakespeare and the Pirate's Fire, and more recently The Artie Conan Doyle Mysteries, a series featuring the youthful adventures of the creator of Sherlock Holmes. His first Richard Hannay novel, The Thirty-One Kings, was acclaimed by critics and readers alike and was listed by The Scotsman as one of the fifty best books of 2017. He lives in St Andrews with his wife Debby.