Richad Crompton is a distinguished British novelist, particularly known for his crime fiction, suspense, detective fiction, and mystery novels. He is most famous for his Detective Mollel series, which features a Massai detective named Mollel, who is based in Nairobi, Kenya. Crompton is also a respected journalist, having previously worked for the BBC. He moved to Nairobi with his wife and three children in 2005 and has been living there since then.
Crompton's wife is a lawyer who specializes in human rights, and she moved to Nairobi to accept a job offer that involved researching the Rwandan genocide and working to prosecute those responsible. In 2007, Crompton worked as a journalist for CNBC and covered the violence that erupted in Kenya following the elections. In 2010, he won the Daily Telegraph competition for ghost stories with his short story "Friends," which was inspired by the background story of Facebook. Crompton continues to live in Nairobi with his family and draw inspiration from his experiences there for his writing.