EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL was born and raised on the west coast of British Columbia. She studied dance at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and lived briefly in Montreal before relocating to New York.

Her previous novels are The Lola Quartet, which was the #1 Indie Next pick for May 2012; Last Night in Montreal (a June 2009 Indie Next pick and a finalist for ForeWord Magazine's 2009 Book of the Year); and The Singer's Gun (winner of an Indie Bookseller's Choice Award, #1 Indie Next pick for May 2010, long-listed for both The Morning News' 2011 Tournament of Books and the 2011 Spinetingler Awards).

She is a staff writer for The Millions. Her essays and short stories have been included in numerous anthologies, including The Best American Mystery Stories 2013. She is married and lives in Brooklyn.