Val McDermid is the best-selling author of The Skeleton Road and twenty-eight previous novels, which have been translated into over forty languages. She has received numerous awards recognizing her exceptional career, including the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for outstanding achievement in the field of crime writing and the Pioneer Award from Lambda Literary. Her individual books have won many prizes, including the Los Angeles Times Book of the Year Award and the CWA Gold Dagger.