Born in London but brought up in New Zealand, Stella Duffy has been a stand-up comic, a member of improvisation company Spontaneous Combustion, and is the author of four cult crime novels (Serpent's Tail), Singling Out the Couples (Sceptre 1998) and Eating Cake (Sceptre 1999) She continues to perform, recently appearing in the successful improvisation Lifegame, and now lives in London.