Val McDermid

Scottish crime writer, best known for a series of suspense novels featuring Dr. Tony Hill. Her works are part of the "Tartan Noir" Scottish crime fiction genre.

McDermid's works fall into three series: Lindsay Gordon, Kate Brannigan, and the Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series. Her characters include a journalist, Lindsay Gordon; a private investigator, Kate Brannigan; and a clinical psychologist, Tony Hill. The Mermaids Singing, the first book in the Hill/Jordan series, won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of the Year. The Hill/Jordan series has been adapted for television under the name Wire in the Blood, starring Robson Green.

McDermid has stated that Jacko Vance, a TV celebrity with a secret lust for torture, murder and under-age girls, who featured in the Wire in the Blood and two later books, is based on her direct personal experience of interviewing Jimmy Savile.

On 6 December 2012 McDermid was attacked by an assailant who poured ink over her during an event at the University of Sunderland.

McDermid is openly lesbian. She and her former spouse share custody of their son, who was conceived by McDermid's ex via donor insemination.