Zoë Sharp was born in Nottinghamshire, but spent most of her formative years living on a catamaran on the northwest coast of England. After a promising start at a private girls' school, she opted out of mainstream education at the age of twelve in favour of correspondence courses at home.
Zoë went through a variety of jobs in her teenage years, from yacht delivery crew to van driver, horse riding instructor to pensions
and mortgage advisor, including a tough six months selling advertising for a local newspaper.
In 1988, on the strength of one accepted article and a fascination with cars, she gave up her regular job to become a freelance motoring
writer. She quickly picked up on the photography side of things and since her fiction writing career took off, she now dovetails her
photography work with her novels.
Zoë wrote her first novel when she was fifteen, but success came in 2001 with the publication of the first Charlie Fox book, Killer Instinct, by Piatkus Books. This was followed by Riot Act (2002) and Hard Knocks (2003). Charlie Fox next found herself in Florida in the breakneck thriller First Drop, first published in the UK (2004) and in the States by St Martin's Press (2005).
Zoë did an extensive US signing tour to promote it and it immediately achieved bestseller status with the Independent Mystery Booksellers' Association and was nominated for a Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel. This was followed in the UK by the fifth in the series, Road Kill (2005), and then Second Shot, which was published simultaneously in the UK by Allison & Busby and in the States by St Martin's.
The seventh Charlie Fox book, Third Strike, was published in summer 2008, followed by Fourth Day in spring 2010, which was again nominated for the Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel. Fourth Day came out in the States from Pegasus Books in spring 2011, just as book number nine, Fifth Victim, was published in the UK (US 2012).
Zoë’s books are now available in hardcover, paperback, large print, audio and e-format. In 2010 the Charlie Fox series was optioned by Twentieth Century Fox TV.
Zoë's short stories have been published in anthologies and magazines, and have been shortlisted for the Short Story Dagger by the UK Crime Writers' Association. Her other writing has been nominated for the coveted Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America, the Anthony Award presented by the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, and the Benjamin Franklin Award, one of the most prestigious awards given to independent publishers by the Independent Book Publishers Association.
Zoë lives in the English Lake District, and is married. Her hobbies are sailing, fast cars (and faster motorbikes), target shooting, travel, films, music, and reading just about anything she can get her hands on. She and her husband, Andy, who is a non-fiction author, have recently self-built their own house.