Deborah Crombie was born and educated in Texas. After living in both England and Scotland, she wrote her first Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid / Sergeant Gemma James novel. A Share in Death [Scribner, 1993], was subsequently given Agatha and Macavity nominations for Best First Novel of 1993. Her fifth novel, Dreaming of the Bones [Scribner, 1997] was given a Edgar award nomination by Mystery Writers of America for Best Novel in 1997. It was a New York Times Book of the Year, and was chosen by the Independent Mystery Booksellers of America as one of the 100 Best Crime Novels of the Century.