An early fan of Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances, Rebecca Jenkins began collecting diaries and journals from Georgian England as a child.

As a teenager she took a job as a dresser at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. Sewing the buckle on a spangled shoe as the Fairy Godmother made her entrance in Cinderella, Rebecca discovered a fascination with the theatre that eventually led to her account of the youth of nineteenth century actress, Fanny Kemble - The Reluctant Celebrity published in 2005. (The companion volume covering Mrs.Kemble’s mature years is a future project.)

After studying history at Oxford University, Rebecca Jenkins spent several years working alongside her father, the Rt. Revd. David Jenkins (Bishop of Durham 1984-94) during the turbulence of the 1980s. Her ringside view of Thatcherism at its height developed Rebecca’s interest in the media and in personal accounts of historical events. These two interests, along with her study of the history of Anglo-American relations, contributed to her book, The First London Olympics: 1908 - which was long-listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year prize in 2008.

Rebecca Jenkins lives in Teesdale in the North East of England where the landscape and history provide the inspiration for her Regency detective, F R Jarrett. She is presently completing the second Jarrett mystery. The sequel to The Duke’s Agent will be published by Quercus in 2010.

In Spring 2009 she was appointed Royal Literary Fund Fellow and Writer in Residence at York St John University, to serve from September that year.

Rebecca Jenkins is a member of the Society of Authors and the Crime Writers’ Association.