Eric Wright was born in England but immigrated to Canada as a young man and settled in Toronto. For a number of years he taught English literature, and he has written for television and magazines as well as his Charlie Salter detective novels. The first of these, The Night the Gods Smiled, won the John Creasey Award in Britain for best first novel. His third novel, Death in the Old Country, also won the Arthur Ellis Award. Eric Wright is married, with two daughters, who also live in Toronto.