Steve Cavanagh was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and for twenty years he practiced civil rights law.

All of his novels have been nominated for major awards and many are international bestsellers. His third novel, The Liar, won the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year 2018. Thirteen won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2019. Fifty-Fifty was a Richard and Judy Book club choice, and was also selected for the BBC Between The Covers book club.

Twisted, Fifty-Fifty and The Devil's Advocate were all Sunday Times Top 10 bestsellers.