Born in Ixelles, Belgium, in 1949, Philippe Bouin has written many mystery novels that have been translated all over the world. Some of them feature the colorful Sister Blandine and differ from traditional mysteries thanks to their refreshing verve and exhilarating outspokenness. They're like Georges Simenon novels but with a very slangy female Maigret who happens to be a nun. In 2008, his novel Comptine en plomb (Lead Riddle) won a major French prize for a mystery novel: the Prix Polar de Cognac.