James von Leyden worked as a copywriter and travel writer before becoming a novelist. He first visited Morocco in 1985. Fifteen years later, while researching a travel article for The Independent, he came across an old customs house in Oualidia, the Villa La Diouana, which he restored and now rents out as a holiday home. Last Boat from Tangier is his second thriller featuring a Marrakchi detective and his adoptive sister. James divides his time between Oualidia and Lewes, East Sussex.