David Bowra was born in London England and graduated from University College Cardiff. After college he became a chartered accountant and then moved to Vancouver where he’s lived since the late 1970’s.
He spent over forty years handling troubled businesses in Canada and the US. These have been numerous and varied, from airlines to hothouses, ski hills to condo developments.
He’s written several business articles that were published in professional journals but writing crime fiction was always his passion. A regular visitor to crime writing festivals in Harrogate UK and Canada, he loves reading and listening to great writers like John Harvey, Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, and Peter Robinson.
He’s come across some larger-than-life characters during his work, like the Chinese hotel owner who came at him with an axe. The real estate developer who used his business to buy a very expensive engagement ring for his girlfriend, even though he was married. That individual is now in a US federal penitentiary, awaiting trial for fraud. And the hothouse operator who raced his car against a train to an unmanned railway crossing in order to scare his passengers.
His experiences, the people he’s met and the knowledge he’s gained over the years help make the characters and their troubles more believable. The scenes of Vancouver and beautiful British Columbia provide a wonderful setting for the novel.
Banking on Murder, published by Iguana Books of Toronto in August 2021, is his first crime thriller, and was loosely based on one of his early files. Long Way Back, a sequel to Banking on Murder, was published in April 2023.
He’s been married to Daphne for forty years, they have two sons Chris and Gareth, both accountants, and five grandchildren, Ryan, Lauren, Zachary, Jason and Jack, all of whom he adores. He loves hiking the north shore mountains, playing tennis, and reading.