Sharon Kay Penman (1945) is an American author of historical novels set in medieval Europe. She is best known for her Welsh Princes trilogy and Plantagenet series. Penman has also written a number of historical mysteries, the first of which, The Queen's Man, was a finalist in 1996 for the Best First Mystery Edgar Award. Her first book The Sunne in Splendour about King Richard III of England and the Wars of the Roses had to be completely re-written when the manuscript was stolen.
