C. B. Everett is the pen name of author Martyn Waites. He trained at the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama and worked as an actor for many years before becoming a writer. His novels include the critically acclaimed Joe Donovan series, The Old Religion and The White Room. In 2013 he was chosen to write Angel of Death, the official sequel to Susan Hill's The Woman in Black, and in 2014 he won the Grand Prix Roman Etranger for Born Under Punches. He has been nominated for every major British and French crime fiction award and has also enjoyed international commercial success with eight novels written under the name Tania Carver.

'Crime writer Martyn Waites's second novel as CB Everett is a metafictional tour de force... Buckle up for a darkly funny mystery about friendship, rivalry, ambition and - wannabe novelists look away now - the more soul-destroying aspects of authorship' THE GUARDIAN  'CB Everett is the pseudonym of the crime writer Martyn Waites. His alter ego is not only the “author” of this startling new novel, but a central protagonist in a literary mystery. Everett’s friend and rival, a novelist called Jonathan Durward, disappeared more than a decade ago when his career was on the slide. There’s a buzz when the manuscript of a new book arrives at his publisher’s office, apparently from Durward, stipulating that it should be published with an introduction and notes by Everett. He begins the task in a straightforward manner, providing explanations of the text, but can’t hide his glee when the novel turns out to be a mediocre spy caper. As Everett’s notes become longer, his seething envy of Durward’s success starts to emerge. A clever piece of crime-fiction, crime is concealed within this intriguing novel within a novel.'  THE TIMES