Robin was born and raised in Masham, North Yorkshire. One of the earliest and most vivid memories of her childhood was the death of Stephen's (her older brother) dog, Bruno.Robin moved to London about two months after the death of Lula Landry. She moved with her boyfriend Matthew to the lower floor of a semidetached house in Clapham. He proposed to her on her first day in her new job as the secretary of, unbeknown to her, Strike, a private detective. She arrived in the building in time to see Charlotte leaving the office in a rush, after fighting and breaking up with Strike. Strike ran into her as she went up the stairs as he set off to go after Charlotte. He was able to catch her in mid air by grabbing a substantial part of her breast.