Janet Quin-Harkin (born 24 September 1941,

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

) is an author best known for her

mystery novel Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a re ...

s for adults written under the name Rhys Bowen.

Career

Before she began writing novels, Quin-Harkin worked in the drama department of the

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

in London and, later, for the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

in Sydney, Australia. She also worked as a drama teacher and a dance teacher. In 1981, she wrote one of the first six books with which Bantam launched the Sweet Dreams series. In the 1990s Quin-Harkin began writing

s for adults under the name Rhys Bowen. She has written three series under this name: one featuring British aristocrat Lady Georgiana ("Georgie") in 1930s England; one featuring Irish immigrant Molly Murphy working as a private detective in early 1900s New York City; and one featuring a Welsh police constable named Evan Evans. She is also author of

the Boyfriend Club ''The Boyfriend Club'' is a series of novels by Janet Quin-Harkin about the school and home adventures of four American girls, all aged around fourteen, attending Alta Mesa High School in Arizona - Ginger Hartman (the tomboy A tomboy is a ...

series for young adults featuring four freshmen girls in Alta Mesa High School (Arizona): Roni, Ginger, Justine, and Karen.

Personal life

Quin-Harkin graduated from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

in 1963. She moved to the United States when she married John Quin-Harkin. She is the parent of four children. She now divides her time between

Marin County, California Marin County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat a ...

, and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Works as Janet Quin-Harkin

* ''Peter Penny's Dance'' (

Dial Press The Dial Press is a publishing house founded in 1923 by Lincoln MacVeagh. The Dial Press shared a building with ''The Dial'' and Scofield Thayer worked with both. The first imprint was issued in 1924. Authors included Elizabeth Bowen, W. R. Bur ...

, 1976), picture book illustrated by Anita Lobel * ''Benjamin's Balloon'' (

Parents Magazine ''Parents'' was an American monthly magazine founded in 1926 that featured scientific information on child development geared to help parents in raising their children. Subscribers were notified of the magazine’s dissolution via a postcard mail ...

, 1978), p.b. ill. Robert Censoni * ''Septimus Bean and his Amazing Machine'' (Parents, 1979), p.b. illus. Art Cumings * ''Magic Growing Powder'' (Parents, 1980), p.b. ill. Art Cumings * ''Ten-boy summer'' (

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin Jr., Sidney B. K ...

, 1982), Sweet Dreams Romance * ''Helpful Hattie'' (

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Harcourt () was an American publishing firm with a long history of publishing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. It was known at different stages in its history as Harcourt Brace, & Co. and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. From 1919 to 1 ...

, 1983), 58 pp., ill. Susanna Natti * ''Wanted—date for Saturday night'' (1985) * ''My Best Enemy'' (Bantam, 1987), Sweet Dreams Romance * ''The boy next door'' (Bantam, 1995), Love Stories 4 * ''Who do you love?'' (Bantam, 1996), Love Stories 13 * ''Torn apart'' (Bantam, 1999), Love Stories 18 * ''Love potion'' ( Avon Flare, 1999), Enchanted Hearts 4,

Works as Rhys Bowen

Constable Evan Evans series

# ''Evans Above'' (1997) # ''Evan Help Us'' (1998) # ''Evanly Choirs'' (1999) # ''Evan and Elle'' (2000) # ''Evan Can Wait'' (2001) # ''Evans to Betsy'' (2002) # ''Evan Only Knows'' (2003) # ''Evan's Gate'' (2004) # ''Evan Blessed'' (2005) # ''Evanly Bodies'' (2006)

Lady Georgiana "Georgie" series

# ''Her Royal Spyness'' (2007) # ''A Royal Pain'' (2008) # ''Royal Flush'' (2009) # ''Royal Blood'' (2010) # ''Naughty in Nice'' (2011) # ''The Twelve Clues of Christmas'' (2012) # ''Heirs and Graces'' (2013) # ''Queen of Hearts ''(2014) # '' Malice at the Palace'' (2015) # '' Crowned and Dangerous'' (2016) # '' On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service'' (2017) # '' Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding'' (2018) # ''Love and Death Among the Cheetahs'' (2019) # ''The Last Mrs. Summers'' (2020) # ''God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen'' (2021) # ''Peril in Paris'' (2022) # ''The Proof of The Pudding'' (November 2023)

Lady Georgiana short stories

* ''Masked Ball at Broxley Manor'' (2012)

Molly Murphy series

# ''Murphy's Law'' (2001) # ''Death of Riley'' (2002) # '' For the Love of Mike'' (2003) # ''In Like Flynn'' (2005) # ''Oh Danny Boy'' (2006) # ''In Dublin's Fair City'' (2007) # ''Tell Me, Pretty Maiden'' (2008) # ''In a Gilded Cage'' (2009) # ''The Last Illusion'' (2010) # ''Bless the Bride'' (2011) # ''Hush Now, Don't You Cry'' (2012) # ''The Family Way'' (2013) # ''City of Darkness and Light'' (2014) # ''The Edge of Dreams'' (2015) # ''Away in a Manger'' (2015) # ''Time of Fog and Fire'' (2016) # ''The Ghost of Christmas Past'' (2017) # ''Wild Irish Rose'', co-author Clare Broyles (2022) # ''All That is Hidden'', co-author Clare Broyles (2023) # ''In Sunshine or in Shadow'', co-author Clare Broyles (March 2024)

Molly Murphy short stories

* "The Amersham Rubies" (2011) * "The Face in the Mirror" (2013) * "Through the Window" (2014)

Stand-alone novels

* ''Above the Bay of Angels'' (2020)

World War I novels

* ''The Victory Garden'' (2019)

World War II novels

* ''In Farleigh Field'' (2017) * ''The Tuscan Child'' (2018) * ''The Venice Sketchbook'' (2021) * ''Where the Sky Begins'' (2022) * ''The Paris Assignment'' (August 2023) * ''The Rose Arbor'' (2024)

Anthologies and collections

Honors

* 2000 "The Seal of the Confessional" – finalist, Agatha and

Anthony Award The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America. Categori ...

s * 2001 ''Murphy's Law'' –

Agatha Award The Agatha Awards, named for Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short ...

for Best Novel * 2002 ''Death of Riley'' – finalist, Agatha Award for Best Novel * 2004 "Doppelganger" – finalist, Anthony Award for best short story * 2007 "Oh Danny Boy" – Macavity Award Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Novel * 2008 "Please Watch Your Step" – Macavity Award for best short story * 2009 "A Royal Pain – Macavity Award Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Novel * 2011 ''Naughty in Nice'' – Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel * 2017 ''In Farleigh Field'' – Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel, Left Coast Crime Lefty Award (Bruce Alexander Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery), Macavity Award Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Novel

References

External links

*
Interview by Claire E. White
''The Internet Writing Journal'' (writerswrite.com/journal), 2001 *
Rhys Bowen
(pseudonym) at LC Authorities, with 39 records, an
Bowen at WorldCat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quin-Harkin, Janet English children's writers English mystery writers Living people Anthony Award winners Macavity Award winners Agatha Award winners 1941 births Writers from Bath, Somerset Writers from San Francisco Alumni of the University of London English women mystery writers Writers of historical mysteries 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English women writers