Tim Hannigan was born in Penzance in the far west of the UK, and grew up on the stormy shores of the Atlantic. After leaving school, he worked as a chef to fund his travels, before studying journalism at the University of Gloucester. He then headed to Indonesia to teach English. He stayed on in the country for several years as a journalist and travel writer. His first book, Murder in the Hindu Kush, was published in 2011, and was shortlisted for the Boardman-Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature.