Authors Biogs 2

Finnis, Jane.
Jane Finnis has been fascinated by the past ever since as a child she walked the straight Roman roads of East Yorkshire. After reading history at London University, she lived in London and was for some years a freelance broadcaster for BBC Radio, where her work ranged from reporting on current affairs to writing and narrating historical documentaries. She also did some computer programming, and in the 1980s changed careers yet again, to become a shopkeeper, when she moved with her husband Richard back to the north of England, and for a while they ran a craft shop in the Yorkshire Dales. Now she is settled near the Yorkshire coast, and writes mysteries set in 1st-century Roman Britain. She also does occasional freelance broadcasting, (using her married name of Jane Copsey,) and enjoys travelling with her husband, spending time in her garden, playing the guitar, and “messing about with computers.”
"People think I have an odd mixture of interests," Jane says. "But being fascinated by the ancient world doesn't have to cut you off from the modern one. Actually I think the Romans would have loved computers. If they'd managed to invent them, we'd probably all be speaking Latin to this day!"

Graves Myers, Beverle.
Bev fell in love with opera at age nine, during a marionette production of Rigoletto. A fascination with the mysteries of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers wasn't far behind. After studying history at the University of Louisville, Bev earned a degree in medicine and went on to a career in public psychiatry. A longing to return to her early dreams led to a mid-life career switch. Bev now lives in Louisville, Kentucky where she combines mystery, history and opera in writing The Baroque Mysteries, a series of historical novels with an 18th-century opera singer as amateur sleuth.

Jecks, Michael.
Born in 1960 in Surrey, he holidayed often in the West Country. Originally he trained as an Actuary, changed career to become a computer salesman for thirteen years until he became unemployed. With the support of his family, he decided to try to write the novel, which soon became THE LAST TEMPLAR. It was finished in March 1994, and Headline bought it, commissioning two more in the series. Michael and his wife now live in his beloved Devon with their daughter, new baby son and Bernese Mountain Dog.

Joh Rowland, Laura.
Granddaughter of Chinese and Korean immigrants, grew up in Michigan and graduated with a B.S. in microbiology and a Master of Public Health at the State University. She currently lives in New Orleans with her husband. She has worked as a chemist, microbiologist, sanitary inspector and quality engineer.

Knight, Bernard.
Writing since before 1963, when his first crime novel was published. Since then, he has written about thirty books, including contemporary crime fiction, historical novels about Wales, biography, non-fiction popular works on forensic medicine, twelve medico-legal textbooks and the current highly-acclaimed CROWNER JOHN series of 12th century historical mysteries for Simon & Schuster UK Ltd. Also many scripts for radio and television dramas and documentaries, including the well-known forensic series THE EXPERT starring Marius Goring, back in the '70s