Zoë Rankin grew up in rural Scotland and now lives in New Zealand with her husband and two young daughters. After leaving school, Zoë spent ten years travelling between Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. During this time, she studied International Relations with Arabic at the University of St Andrews and completed a postgraduate diploma in education, which led to her becoming a teacher. Zoë’s stories about her travels have appeared in blogs and online magazines, and a selection of her short stories have been commended and published. She won the writing award at Rotorua Noir, New Zealand’s international crime-writing festival. Zoë’s debut novel, The Vanishing Place, was published by Moa Press (Hachette NZ) in September 2025, Berkley (US) in September 2025, and Viper Books (UK) in October 2025. On publication in New Zealand, The Vanishing Place went straight to number one in the charts.