After several careers in book retailing (Waldenbooks), publishing (Crown Publishers), direct marketing (American Express Travel Related Services), and video/television/public television (WNET, ABC, Kultur, Winstar) she traded in her pumps for a yellow legal pad and a stack of pencils and started writing.

A small item in the New York Times about a mummified body found in a nearby town piqued her interest and subsequent research led to her first book, the Agatha and Anthony-nominated, Pushing Up Daisies, the first title in the Dirty Business mystery series. Published by St Martin/Minotaur Books, the adventures of gardener/amateur sleuth Paula Holliday continued in The Big Dirt Nap (aka Corpse Flower), Dead Head and Slugfest.

Rosemary’s most recent  book, The Bitches of Brooklyn  was inspired by the classic film Letter to Three Wives. It’s the story of five friends…or are they? Questions arise when four of them receive a note that the missing woman has run off with one of their men.

A master gardener, Rosemary is a long-time volunteer at The Philadelphia Flower Show where she has exhibited in competitive classes winning an honorable mention, an herb society award, two third place ribbons and two second place ribbons. (Hopefully there is a blue ribbon in her future!) And her idea of a good time is visiting gardens at home and around the world. Some of the amazing gardens she’s visited are Longwood Gardens, Winterthur, Filoli, Lotusland, the Vatican Gardens, Villa D’Este, Boboli Gardens, Sissinghurst, Great Dixter, Kew…and the list goes on.

When she’s not writing or gardening, Rosemary finds time for kayaking and hiking; at last count she’s visited over 70 national parks, monuments, and recreation areas, but her favorites are Yosemite, Glacier and Canyonlands.

Something else that’s near and dear to her heart is Habitat for Humanity. Habitat’s goal is to improve substandard housing for people all over the world. If you are not familiar with them, please visit the Habitat for Humanity site.  As of this writing, Rosemary has been on numerous Habitat builds, including China, Tanzania, Trinidad, El Salvador, Charleston, SC, Kalispell, Montana, Mexico, and two trips to post-Katrina New Orleans. She encourages everyone to support this amazing organization, both financially and through volunteering. Inspired by her activities with them, Rosemary and her husband – and through the generosity of many friends – have built a library in Mvumi , Tanzania.

Rosemary is a Connecticut Master Gardener and is the former president of Mystery Writers of America’s New York Chapter  and past president of Sisters in Crime, New England