Minette Walters

Minette Walters (born 26 September 1949) is an English crime writer. Her first full-length novel, The Ice House, was published in 1992. It took two and a half years to write and was rejected by numerous publishing houses until Maria Rejt, Macmillan Publishers, bought it for £1250. Within four months, it had won the Crime Writers' Association John Creasey award for best first novel[3] and had been snapped up by 11 foreign publishers. Walters was the first crime/thriller writer to win three major prizes with her first three books. Walters's second novel, The Sculptress, which was inspired in part by an encounter Walters had as a volunteer prison visitor, won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award. Walters's third novel, The Scold's Bridle, then won the CWA Gold Dagger, giving her a unique treble.