Martina Cole was born Eilidh Martina Cole, in March 1959 in Essex. She is a British crime writer and businesswoman. As of 2009 she has released seventeen novels about crime some of which examine London's gangster underworld. Most of her novels feature a female protagonist or antihero, and some take place within the Irish community in and around London. In 2010 the novel Two Women was adapted for the stage. This is the first time one of Martina Cole's novels has been adapted for the theatre. Cole's novel, The Faithless, was released in 2011 and it has already appeared on the Sunday Times Bestseller list. Four of her novels, Dangerous Lady, The Jump, The Take and The Runaway have been adapted… into high-rating television dramas. She has achieved sales of over ten million in the UK alone, and her tenth novel, The Know, spent seven weeks on The Sunday Times's hardback bestsellers list.