Her father was a diplomat, and as a child she moved between various countries, including Syria, India, the Sudan, and Russia.

Pinbrough rose to prominence in 2017 with the cross-genre thriller Behind Her Eyes, which was adapted as a limited series for Netflix in 2021.

Jim Steel[6] Subversive retellings of fairy stories published by Gollancz Books.

In 2012, Pinborough wrote Old School Ties, the second episode of the ninth series of the BBC TV crime drama New Tricks.

On Dec 4, 2023, it was announced that Pinborough will adapt her Dog Faced Gods novels to television for Red Planet Pictures.