Rhys Bowen

USA Today bestselling author

53 fiction

Rhys Bowen is a British-born author best known for historical mysteries and historical fiction. Born in Bath and educated at the University of London, she later settled in the United States. Her work combines accessible mystery plots with detailed period settings, social observation and strong female protagonists. Bowen has written more than sixty novels, received numerous Agatha, Anthony and Macavity awards, and achieved international success across several distinct series.

Her principal historical series are the Molly Murphy Mysteries, about an Irish immigrant who becomes involved in criminal investigations in early twentieth-century New York, and the lighter Royal Spyness novels, featuring impoverished aristocrat Lady Georgiana during the 1930s. Bowen has also written numerous historical stand-alone novels, including In Farleigh Field, The Tuscan Child, The Victory Garden, Above the Bay of Angels, The Venice Sketchbook, Where the Sky Begins, The Paris Assignment and Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure. These books are mainly set during the Victorian era, the First World War, the interwar years and the Second World War, often combining family secrets, romance, espionage and murder investigations with the upheavals of twentieth-century Europe.

Periods and events

Appeasement and the Road to War The Blitz Progressive Era America, 1890–1920 French Resistance German Occupation of France Rise of Fascism World War II Great Depression British Home Front during World War I Post-war Britain Victorian Era Edwardian Era Edwardian Society Italian Campaign of World War II

Historical fiction

Historical fiction series by Rhys Bowen (2 series)

Molly Murphy in Order

by Rhys Bowen 22 books 4.2

4.4

Silent as the Grave

Vanished in the Crowd

Her Royal Spyness in Order

by Rhys Bowen 20 books 4.1

The Her Royal Spyness mysteries follow Lady Georgiana Rannoch, a penniless minor royal trying to support herself in 1930s Britain. Her distant place in the succession repeatedly makes her useful to the royal family, who send her to watch unsuitable guests, prevent scandals and carry out discreet assignments.…