Anderson was born in Greenock, of Scottish and Irish parents. Her father was a detective in the CID.[3] She worked in the Nigerian bush for five years during the 1980s, and later wrote an African short story which was broadcast on BBC Radio Four. Another of her African stories was published in the 10th Anniversary Macallan/Scotland on Sunday Short Story Collection.[4] Before turning full-time to writing, she used to teach maths and computing at George Watson's College, Edinburgh.
Lin is a massive fan of the film Braveheart, claiming to have seen it over fifty times, and in 2004 wrote a book about the making of it (see Non-fiction below).[7]
Lin is a member of the Femmes Fatales crime writing trio, together with Alanna Knight and Alex Gray.
She and Alex Gray[8] are amongst the co-founders of Bloody Scotland,[9] a Tartan Noir and Scottish crime writer's festival, which is held in Stirling since 2012.