Dorothy Fowler is a writer who lives on

Waiheke Island Waiheke Island is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland. It is the most populated island ...

, New Zealand. In 2009, she published her first novel, ''What Remains Behind'' (

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

, 2009), an archaeological

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

set in the Kaipara region of New Zealand.

Life

Fowler lives on

, a gulf island in the

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

harbour. Prior to becoming a writer, she worked in a variety of jobs including building and boatbuilding, before returning to university as an adult student to study ancient history and archaeology. While completing her Bachelor of Arts in ancient history and archaeology at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

, she needed one more paper to complete her degree, so she picked up a course in creative writing taken by acclaimed writer

Witi Ihimaera Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler (; born 7 February 1944) is a New Zealand author. Raised in the small town of Waituhi, he decided to become a writer as a teenager after being convinced that Māori people, Māori people were ignored or mischaracteri ...

, famous for writing

Whale Rider ''Whale Rider'' is a 2002 New Zealand drama film written and directed by Niki Caro. Based on the 1987 novel '' The Whale Rider'' by Witi Ihimaera, the film stars Keisha Castle-Hughes as Kahu Paikea Apirana, a twelve-year-old Māori girl whos ...

Writing

Fowler studied for a master's degree in Creative Writing, and was mentored by

, and award-winning New Zealand novelist

Emily Perkins Emily Jean Perkins (born May 4, 1977) is a Canadian actress, known for her roles as Crystal Braywood in the TV series ''Hiccups'', young Beverly Marsh in '' Stephen King's It'', and Brigitte Fitzgerald in '' Ginger Snaps''. Since the late 1980s ...

. She wrote the manuscript to her debut novel as part of her course assignment, a mystery based on an archeological dig set in Whakapirau. Fowler has described her taste in fiction as 'classic whodunnits';

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers ( ; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime novelist, playwright, translator and critic. Born in Oxford, Sayers was brought up in rural East Anglia and educated at Godolphin School in Salisbury and Somerv ...

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 story collections, particularly those revolving ...

Ngaio Marsh Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh ( ; 23 April 1895 – 18 February 1982) was a New Zealand mystery writer, writer. As a crime writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Marsh is known as one of the Detective fiction#Golden Age detective novel ...

, and she used her recent archaeological research from her first degree to form the basis of the research for her first novel.

Novels

* 2009: ''What Remains Behind''

Reviews

''"This novel contains an attractive mix of mystery, history, and archaeology... Dorothy Fowler has done well with her first book and I look forward to more."'' Ruth Gardner. '' "Fowler creates a nice sense of authenticity with the small-town setting, filled with the spider-web of shared histories, and secrets past or present, that can be prevalent in a place where everyone knows everyone (or at least presumes they do)... Overall, an enjoyable read and a promising debut from a new voice in New Zealand writing." '' Craig Sisterson, NZLawyer magazineCrime Watch website
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Dorothy Writers from Auckland Living people New Zealand mystery writers New Zealand crime fiction writers New Zealand women novelists University of Auckland alumni People from Waiheke Island Women mystery writers 21st-century New Zealand novelists 21st-century New Zealand writers 21st-century New Zealand women writers Year of birth missing (living people)