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I was born in
England, although my mother's family comes from Wales. I got an
early introduction to the country when I was taken by my aunt to
spend summers in a little village very like Llanfair. I grew up in
Bath, England and went to school and college in England, Austria and
Germany. After completing my degree I went to work with the BBC in
London, finding my niche in the drama department. Working on so many
fine plays inspired me to write my own. Dandelion Hours was my first
published, or in this case, broadcast, work. It was followed by
several other radio and TV plays before the urge for sunshine drove
me to work in Australia.
Taking up an offer from Australian
broadcasting, I went to work in Sydney, where I met my future
husband, a fellow Englishman. He was on his way to San Francisco,
where we settled in 1966 and have lived ever since.
Finding
nothing like the BBC existed in my part of the States, I had to turn
to other directions for my creative outlets. I started writing
children's picture books. The first book won several awards and
established me in a new career. Children's books, young adult books,
adult historical romances and sagas followed until I decided it was
finally time for me to write what I enjoyed reading most... and that
was mysteries. The kind of mystery that gives the reader a great
sense of time and place as well as a rattling good story.
Too
many books had been written about San Francisco and it was only when
I was recounting tales of my childhood summers spent with relatives
in North Wales that I realized I had a great setting for a mystery
series. The battling ministers, the postman who read the mail, the
overwhelming landlady all existed in a village very like Llanfair.
For this new venture my agent and editor suggested that I
use another name, as it is so different from my other writing. I
chose my Welsh grandfather's name, Rhys Bowen. I hope he'll look
down favorably on my tales of his native land.
Now that
there are several Constable Evans mysteries out, I decided to try a
new venture. I wanted to create a protagonist who was very different
from mild-mannered Evan Evans.
Well -- Molly Murphy couldn't
be more different. She's brash, loud, and not afraid of much. Take a
look at the Molly Murphy Mysteries page to see more on Molly Murphy.
Murphy's Law is the winner of the 2002 Agatha Award, a Mary Higgins
Clark award finalist, and a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice and
Herodotus winner.
And I've tried my hand at a couple of short
stories too. My short story, "The Seal of the Confessional," which
appears in the anthology Unholy Orders, was a finalist for the
Agatha and Anthony awards.
When I'm not writing, I love
traveling, hiking, tennis, singing and sketching. But not as much as
playing with my three little grandchildren.
What's next? Who
can say. Stay tuned.
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