Rosemary Aitken (born 1942) is an English author, who has written a number of academic textbooks and

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

s under her own name, and a series of ''

whodunnits A ''whodunit'' (less commonly spelled as ''whodunnit''; a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer ...

'' set in

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caes ...

under the pen name of Rosemary Rowe. Her writings are similar to those of Philip Boast, Gloria Cook and

Winston Graham Winston Mawdsley Graham OBE, born Winston Grime (30 June 1908 – 10 July 2003), was an English novelist best known for the ''Poldark'' series of historical novels set in Cornwall, though he also wrote numerous other works, including contemp ...

Biography

Rosemary Aitken was born in Penzance,

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

but spent much of her early life in New Zealand where she pursued higher education, obtaining a B.A. from

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

in 1961 and an M.A. with honors from

Victoria University Victoria University may refer to: * Victoria University (Australia), a public research university in Melbourne, Australia * Victoria University, Toronto, a constituent college of the federal University of Toronto in Canada * Victoria University of ...

in 1962. Her professional career was spent teaching English Language and she has written a number of textbooks on this subject. Her first historical novel, ''The Girl from Penvarris'', was published in 1995, the first in a series set in a fictional Cornish village. Under the name Rosemary Rowe she has written a series of historical mysteries, set in and around the Roman town of

Glevum Glevum (or, more formally, Colonia Nervia Glevensium, or occasionally ''Glouvia'') was originally a Roman fort in Roman Britain that became a " colonia" of retired legionaries in AD 97. Today, it is known as Gloucester, in the English county ...

, (modern-day

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

). The detective in the stories, named Libertus, is a pavement-maker, whose expertise in mosaic patterns parallels his skill in resolving puzzling crimes. After living and lecturing in Gloucestershire for many years, Aitken returned to Cornwall in 2007. She now resides in a wooded area near Truro and the Fal. She is the mother of two adult children and has grandchildren residing in both New Zealand and Cambridgeshire.

Bibliography

Cornish Sagas

* ''The Girl from Penvarris'' (1995) * ''The Tinner's Daughter'' (1996) * ''Cornish Harvest'' (1998) * ''Stormy Waters ''(2000) * ''The Silent Shore'' (2001) * ''The Granite Cliffs'' (2002) * ''A Cornish Maid'' (2010) * ''Flowers for Miss Pengelly'' (2018) * ''The Cornish Blacksmiths Daughter'' (2022)

Libertus Roman mysteries

# ''The Germanicus Mosaic'' (1999) # ''A Pattern of Blood'' (2000) # ''Murder in the Forum'' (2001) # ''The Chariots of Calyx'' (2002) # ''The Legatus Mystery'' (2003) # ''The Ghosts of Glevum'' (2004) # ''Enemies of the Empire'' (2005) # ''A Roman Ransom'' (2006) # ''A Coin for the Ferryman'' (2007) # ''Death at Pompeia's Wedding ''(2008) # ''Requiem for a Slave ''(2010) # ''The Vestal Vanishes ''(2011) # ''A Whispering of Spies ''(2012) # ''Dark Omens ''(2013) # ''The Fateful Day ''(2014) # ''The Ides of June ''(2016) # ''The Price of Freedom '' (2018) # ''A Prisoner of Privilege '' (2019) # ''A Dreadful Destiny '' (2021)

Novels

* ''Against the Tide'' (2004) * ''The Tregenza Girls'' (2006) * ''From Penvarris with Love'' (2008) * ''Flowers for Miss Pengelly'' (2012)

Textbooks

* ''Make up Your Mind'' (1982) * ''Teaching Tenses'' (2002) * ''Writing a Novel: A Practical Guide'' (2003) * ''Teach Yourself, Creative Writing Masterclass: Writing Crime Fiction'' (2014)

References

External links

http://www.raitken.wyenet.co.uk/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aitken, Rosemary 1942 births Living people English crime fiction writers Writers of historical mysteries Women crime fiction writers Writers from Cornwall 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English non-fiction writers 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English non-fiction writers 21st-century English women writers English women novelists English women non-fiction writers British textbook writers Women textbook writers