Her seamless blend of good writing and pulse-racing tension is her stock-in-trade. The Rizzoli and Isles series, featuring a homicide detective and medical examiner, propelled Tess to international bestseller position.

A violinist, piano player and composer, Tess brings her melodic passion and analytical approach to embody ‘medical suspense’. She has said her experience as a doctor was intense preparation for life as a writer.

At first she wrote romance novels, a comforting escape before a plot dropped into her lap over dinner with a former policeman, who told her the story of orphans and organ donors; Harvest was born. Published in 40 countries, Tess is renowned for her intense approach to research, exploring Egyptology, archaeology, and even space travel, pretending to be an astronaut for two years while writing Gravity, about the NASA space programme.

Special Guest: Tess Gerritsen was recorded live at Harrogate International Festivals' Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in July 2016.

Podcast music by Joseph McDade.