Born in 1946 in the Black Country, Cutler later moved to the Birmingham suburb of Harborne.

She started writing while at Oldbury Grammar School, winning the Critical Quarterly Short Story prize. She read English at university, but wrote nothing more until in her thirties. While suffering from chickenpox, she started her first, unpublished, novel. Two further unpublished works followed.

She taught English at a Further Education College in Birmingham, but quit after the publication of her first novel, and moved to the suburb of Kings Heath.

For many years she was a trustee of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's Benevolent Fund and on the Committee of Birmingham Chamber Music Society. Her partner is Keith Miles.

Novels

Sophie Rivers

• Dying Fall (1995)
• Dying On Principle (1996)
• Dying To Write (1997)
• Dying For Millions (1997)
• Dying For Power (1998)
• Dying To Score (1999)
• Dying By Degrees (2000)
• Dying By The Book (2001)
• Dying in Discord (2002)
• Dying to Deceive 2003

Kate Power

• Power On Her Own (1998)
• Staying Power (1999)
• Power Games (2000)
• Will Power (2001)
• Hidden Power (2002)
• Power Shift (2003)

Caffy Tyler

• Scar Tissue (due April 2004)

Non-series romances

• Coming Alive (2000)
• Head Over Heels (2001)

Short stories

Cutler has also written several successful short stories, for Radio 4, Bella magazine and others.