Michael Ridpath's first novel, Free to Trade, was written during evenings and weekends over a four year period. When it was accepted for publication with a large advance, he gave up working in the City to become a full-time writer. He went on to write seven more thrillers set in the worlds of business and finance, before turning his hand to something slightly different. The result, Where The Shadows Lie, the first in a series featuring an Icelandic detective named Magnus, was published in June 2010.
