Víctor Del Árbol holds a degree in History from the University of Barcelona. He worked as an officer of the Catalan police force from 1992 to 2012. In 2003, he was the runner-up for the VIII Fernando Lara Award with El abismo de los sueños and in 2006, he won the Tiflos de Novela Award with El peso de los muertos.

His novel La tristeza del samurai received the Le Prix du Polar Européen 2012 and was runner-up of the Prix polar SNCF 2013 in France. Afterwards he published Respirar por la herida (Breathing through the Wound, 2013), and Un millón de gotas (A Million Drops, 2014) winner of the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière 2015, best foreign noir novel (Magazine Lire) and Le Prix du Polar SNCF 2018. A Million Drops (Other Press, 2018) was also named a Notable Book of the Year by the Washington Post.

His novel La víspera de casi todo was awarded the Nadal Prize in 2016. His books have been translated into several languages and enjoy extraordinary success in France, where, in 2018, Victor was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.