Jake Arnott was born in 1961, and lives in London. He worked as a labourer, a mortuary technician, a theatrical agent's assistant, an artist's life model and a sign language interpreter before his debut novel, The Long Firm, was published by Sceptre in 1999 to high public and critical acclaim. He Kills Coppers (Sceptre 2001) and Truecrime in (Sceptre 2003) are the second and third books of the trilogy.

In 2004, The Long Firm was made into a widely-praised television series by the BBC. His latest novel, Johnny Come Home, was published by Sceptre in 2006.

His latest novel, The Devil's Paintbrush, is set fin de siecle Paris and is published by Sceptre (2009).