A. E. Colmer was born in April 1980 in Hungary and grew up in Nyiregyhaza, a small city with a long name. She had two passions as a child: writing novels and painting. She won her first award for a novel at age 14. She studied law and political science at the University of Debrecen. After qualifying as a lawyer she moved to London for a few months. She worked as a lawyer in Budapest for 4 years but missed London, and decided to move back in 2010. She has lived in London ever since.