J.A. Kay lives in the Lowlands of Scotland. He completed his secondary education at Greenwood Academy in Dreghorn. He was a Police Constable for thirty years. On his retirement he started writing to counter the effects of PTSD, caused by being run down while on duty in 1994. He started his writing career with a short story entitled "The mythical Highland Haggis, which is included in Book One of the Rory Mac Sween series, of which this book is the sequel. He was inspired to write by his English teacher William McIlvanney, the Scottish novelist, short story writer and poet. He is an active Real Ale tester with CAMRA and enjoys spending time with his family. He was trained in the martial art of Judo as a teenager and was part of the Scottish Judo Squad which stood him in good stead during his Police career. He has been married for thirty-seven years and has two adult children and two granddaughters, aged three and one.