Miyuki Miyabe was born in downtown Tokyo in 1960 and worked in a law office before becoming a full-time writer. In 1987, the previously unknown author won the Japan Mystery Writers Association Prize for her short story "Warera no rinjin wa hannin" ("Our Neighbor is a Criminal"). Her first novel All She Was Worth (Kodansha International, 1996), a huge bestseller when first published in Japan in 1992, was named Japan’s Best Mystery Novel and Best Novel of the Year. Since All She Was Worth, Miyabe has published over 35 full-length novels as well as several short story collections, and long running serials in Japanese newspapers. With her taut writing style and expert pacing, Miyabe is best-known for her extensively researched crime fiction which explores Japan’s real-life social issues. She reigns not only as one of Japan’s best-selling mystery writers but also the country’s mystery doyenne who has inspired a whole generation of provocative female writers in Japan.

Miyabe is the recipient of numerous literary prizes including the Yamamoto Prize, the Japan Mystery Writers Association Prize, the Yoshikawa Prize, and in 1998 she was awarded the Naoki Prize, Japan’s most prestigious award for popular literature, for her novel Riyû (The Reason). In addition, Miyabe has published a number of historical novels to similar acclaim. Shadow Family is her second novel to be published in English. Miyuki Miyabe lives in her beloved old city of Tokyo, where over four generations of her family reside.

Biography provided by Amazon.com.