Barry Maitland was born in Scotland and brought up in London. After studying architecture at Cambridge, he practiced and taught in the UK before moving to Australia where he was Professor of Architecture at the University of Newcastle. He has since retired from the university to pursue his writing. Maitland's first mystery The Marx Sisters was a nominee for the John Creasey Award for Best First Novel and The Malcontenta won the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction.

Barry now writes fiction full time, and lives in the Hunter Valley.