Rhys Bowen is the New York Times bestselling author of more than forty novels, including The Victory Garden, The Venice Sketchbook, The Tuscan Child, and In Farleigh Field. In addition to her standalone historical novels, she currently writes two popular historical mystery series – The Molly Murphy Mysteries and the Royal Spyness Mysteries.
Bowen’s books have sold 10 million copies worldwide and have been published in over 22 languages. She has won numerous awards, including several Agatha Awards and several Macavity Awards. In Farleigh Field won the Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel, the Left Coast Crime Lefty Award, and the Macavity Award Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Novel.
In the 1980s, Bowen wrote many successful children’s books and several Young Adult series under her married name Janet Quin-Harkin before she turned to writing mystery novels in the 1990s. She chose to write the mysteries under her Welsh grandfather’s name, Rhys Bowen.
Bowen’s first mystery series, featuring a Welsh police constable named Evan Evans, was, in part, inspired by her childhood spent visiting relatives in Wales. Her Molly Murphy series revolves around an Irish immigrant (Molly Murphy) working as a private detective in early 1900s New York City. Bowen’s daughter Clare Broyles currently co-writes the series with her. Bowen’s Royal Spyness series stars Lady Georgie, a penniless aristocrat and 35th in the line to the throne of England.
Bowen was born in Bath, England, and studied at London University. Before she became a novelist, she worked in the drama department of the BBC in London and, later, for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Sydney, Australia. She also worked as a drama and dance teacher. She moved to the United States after marrying John Quin-Harkin.
Bowen has four children and currently divides her time between California and Arizona. She writes on her website that “when she’s not writing, she loves to travel, sing, hike, paint, play the Celtic harp and spoil her grandchildren.”
