Shortly after university Charles Cumming was approached by MI6. A Spy By Nature was inspired by this experience. Since then Charles has written several bestselling thrillers. A Foreign Country won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Best Thriller and the Bloody Scotland Crime Book of the Year. He is often compared to Ian Fleming and John Le Carré. His latest book, The Man Between, was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize and is a Daily Telegraph thriller of the year.