Mary Lydon Simonsen

I have been a fan of Jane Austen since I was in high school in the 1960s and always wanted to write an Austen re-imagining. That happened in 2008 with the publication of my first novel, Searching for Pemberley, for Sourcebooks. Three other books for Sourcebooks followed: The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy, A Wife for Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Darcy's Bite. In 2012, I started to self-publish my Austen stories. They include the time-travel novels, Another Place in Time and Becoming Elizabeth Darcy, historical romances, When They Fall in Love and Darcy on the Hudson, and a paranormal story, Mr. Darcy's Bite, as well as several traditional Austenesque novels and novellas.

Also in 2012, I spread my wings and published my first mystery, a novella, Three's A Crowd, introducing the character of Detective Patrick Shea of London's Metropolitan Police. Three's A Crowd is the prequel to A Killing in Kensington and A Death in Hampden.

After retiring from a career as a legal secretary in Dallas, I had a second career as a special education assistant in the Howard County, Maryland and Peoria, Arizona school districts. I enjoyed both careers, but I'm really enjoying being an author more than anything I have ever done.

The fourth novel in the Patrick Shea mystery series, Dying to Write, will be released this spring.