Abie Longstaff is the eldest of six children and grew up in Australia, Hong Kong and France. She knows all about squabbling and bossing younger sisters around so she began her career as a barrister.

She started writing when her children were born. Her books include The Fairytale Hairdresser series and The Magic Potions Shop books. She has a life-long love of fairy tales and mythology and her work is greatly influenced by these themes.

Abie got the idea for the Trapdoor Mysteries from her parents' house in France. The house is big and old, with lots of rooms and outbuildings. In one of the bedrooms, there is a secret entrance hidden in a fireplace. It leads to a room that was used by the French Resistance during the war. It was the perfect idea for a book!

Abie lives with her family by the seaside in Hove.

Lauren Beard is an illustrator based in Manchester. As a child she loved drawing and reading, and would write and illustrate short stories for her two younger brothers. She has been fascinated by animals, fairy tales and folklore since childhood, when she would visit her Irish Grandma and was told to "watch out for the fairies!" Her work is hand-drawn and coloured both digitally and by hand, using all types of media to get different textures. Lauren enjoys adding little details and modern humour to her illustrations appealing to children and adults alike. Lauren lives with her cat, Sushi, who keeps her company when drawing.