Tana French was born in the United States to Elena Hvostoff-Lombardi and David French, but lived in numerous countries as a child, including Ireland, Italy, the United States, and Malawi. Her father was an economist who worked on resource management for the developing world, so the family lived in many different cultures.
French attended Trinity College, Dublin and trained in acting.
She lives in Dublin. She is referred to as the "First Lady of Irish Crime" and is set to have become a huge international name among crime fiction readers. French was enthralled by both acting as well as writing since her childhood days but prioritized her attention to focus on acting. She trained as a professional actor at Trinity.
French works in theater, film, and voiceover.
In her later 30"s she accidentally rekindled her passion towards writing. Her choice of genre stems from her profound interest in mystery and crime novels which she grew up reading.
She began writing the debut novel in the months-long lulls between castings. The first publication copy of In the Woods came to be released in the year 2007 to much international acclaim and received rave reviews from many news publications.
As of 2015 more than one million copies of that book have been sold.
In 2015, Euston Films & Veritas acquired the rights to her novel to be launched as a television series. Flavorwire, in 2014, voted it as 50 of the Greatest Debut Novels Since 1950. Her follow-up novel The Likeness (2008), presents the story about the debut novel"s lead character Cassie Maddox.
lieutenant immediately soared high on the bestseller lists in various countries and stayed firmly anchored in the The New York Times Best Seller list for several months.
In it"s reviews for the novel, Kirkus stated - "Police procedures, psychological thrills and gothic romance beautifully woven into one stunning story".
2008 Edgar Award for Best First Novel, for In the Woods 2008 Anthony Award, Best First Novel for In the Woods 2008 Macavity Award, Best First Mystery for In the Woods 2008 Barry Award for Best First Novel 2007 Finalist for Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Mystery/Thriller) 2012 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award nomination for Faithful Place 2012 Irish Book Award, Irish Crime Fiction Award for Broken Harbour 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Mystery/Thriller) for Broken Harbor.
