Bowen's mystery novels feature Joanne Kilbourn, a widowed mother, political analyst and university professor who finds herself occasionally involved in criminal investigations in various parts of Saskatchewan.[2] Many have been adapted as Canadian television movies by Shaftesbury Films.
Several of her plays have been produced,[3] including Dancing in Poppies, an adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, The Tree and an adaptation of Peter Pan, all premiering at the Globe Theatre in Regina. Her radio play Dr. Dolittle was broadcast on CBC Radio in 2006. She wrote The World According to Charlie D.,[4] a radio play focusing on the radio talk show host from her Joanne Kilbourn mysteries, broadcast on CBC Radio in 2007. A follow-up episode about Charlie D. aired in August 2008 as part of the WorldPlay series,[5] airing on public radio networks in six English-speaking countries. In 2010, the first of a series of mystery novellas about Charlie D.[6] was published.
Bowen was selected as the writer-in-residence for the Regina Public Library[7] from September 2013 to May 2014. She has previously served as writer in residence at the Toronto Reference Library (2009) and Calgary's Memorial Park Library (2010).
Bibliography
Novels
1919: The Love Letters of George and Adelaide (1986) Western Producer Prairie Books
Murder at the Mendel (1991, published in the US as Love and murder) Douglas & McIntyre
The Wandering Soul Murders (1992) Douglas & McIntyre
A Colder Kind of Death (1994, winner of the Arthur Ellis Award) McClelland & Stewart
A Killing Spring (1996) McClelland & Stewart
Verdict in Blood (1998) McClelland & Stewart
Burying Ariel (2000) McClelland & Stewart
The Glass Coffin (2002) McClelland & Stewart
The Last Good Day (2004) McClelland & Stewart
The Endless Knot (2006) McClelland & Stewart
The Brutal Heart (2008) McClelland & Stewart
The Nesting Dolls (2010) McClelland & Stewart
Kaleidoscope (2012) McClelland & Stewart
The Gifted (2013) McLelland & Stewart
12 Rose Street (2015) McClelland & Stewart
What's Left Behind (2016) McClelland & Stewart
The Winner's Circle (2017) McClelland & Stewart
A Darkness of the Heart (2018) McClelland & Stewart
The Unlocking Season (2020) ECW Press
An Image in the Lake (2021)
What’s Past is Prologue (2022)
The Legacy (2023)
Plays
Dancing in Poppies (1993)
Beauty and the Beast (1993)
The Tree (1994)
Peter Pan (1998 adaptation) Canadian singer/songwriter Fred Penner portrayed Captain Hook in a 2000 production also with composer/actor Derek Aasland as Peter Pan.[8][9]