Matthew Plampin was born in 1975 and grew up in Essex. He read English and History of Art at the University of Birmingham and then completed a PhD at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. He now lectures on nineteenth-century art and architecture. His first novel, The Street Philosopher (HarperCollins) was picked as one of Waterstone's New Voices for 2009. His second novel, The Devil's Acre was published by HarperCollins in 2010 and was picked for the Channel 4 TV Book Club. His most recent novel, These Wicked Devices, will be published by The Borough Press in 2025.
