Annie Rose Charlotte Key was born on 9th November 1859 in Kensington, London.With a privileged background—her father was an admiral, her mother a Lady, Rose began her creative life as a painter before a stab at writing local history settled her into popular fiction.Her works were solidly written and often described as having a ‘certain graceful facility’.Her marriage to Philip Augustus Champion de Crespigny in 1878 resulted in a family of 4 children and a name of status.Rose was a leading member of the Ridley Art Club, the Lyceum Club in Piccadilly, and of the British College of Psychic Science. Victorian society had a particular fascination with spiritualism and in ‘The Moving Finger’ Rose uses the theme as a background to introduce her popular occult detective Norton Vyse into her series of short stories. Rose Champion de Crespigny died on 10th February 1935. She was 75.