I’ve always loved reading mysteries and thrillers, but I’ve found lately that I’m really enjoying historical mysteries. I think a lot of the contemporary mysteries I’ve been reading have been relying heavily on the “shock” factor to hook readers. The problem is, you can only read so many books about serial killers eviscerating people before you start to get desensitized to the gore and horror.
Also, I’m finding fewer mysteries that rely on good old fashioned sleuthing–the kind where the reader can try and solve the mystery along with the protagonist–than I am mysteries that rely on some device or conceit to keep the story going. I don’t mind a heroine who can speak to the dead, I’d just prefer one who has especially sharp deductive reasoning skills.
Here’s a list of some of the historical mysteries currently gracing my e-reader:
The Phryne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood
Phryne is a detective in 1920’s Melbourne. I reviewed book one, and we’ve been squeeing for weeks about the television series, too.
She’s a fabulous heroine with fabulous clothes. She’s unapologetic about her sexuality and her independence, and the series is tremendous fun.
The first book in the series, A Test of Wills, introduces us to Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard.
Rutledge is suffering from PTSD or shell shock from his experiences in WWI which causes him to periodically hallucinate visits from a fallen comrade. The series also has a romance subplot over time.
Charles Todd (actually a mother-son writing team) also writes this series starring a WWI nurse, Bess Crawford.
The first book, A Duty to the Dead, involves a sunken ship and a dying solider.
This series is set in New York in the early 1900’s. Ziele is a detective who leaves New York for a small town north of the city after the tragic death of his fiancee.
Instead of getting away from grisly crimes, Ziele finds himself solving a brutal murder in In the Shadow of Gotham. Ziele also employs the “novel” forensic techniques of the time, like fingerprinting.
Set in the late 1880’s, the series follows the amateur sleuth Lady Julia Grey.
When Lady Julia’s husband is killed in the first book, Silent in the Grave, she takes it upon herself to solve his murder. This series is much loved by mystery readers and romance fans, too, and Raybourn has recently published a stand alone historical mystery, Night of a Thousand Stars as well.
This series follows a female Victorian undertaker named Violet Morgan.
The mystery is slow to build up in the first book, but the details about Victorian life and especially funerary rituals are fascinating (jewelry made of the deceased’s hair? ew). Also Violet is terribly good at her job–competence porn ahoy!
Molly Murphy is a plucky, Irish immigrant heroine and sleuth. Her first mystery, in Murphy’s Law, involves a murder on Ellis Island and gives the reader a tour of New York at the turn of the century.
Bowen also writes a series about Lady Victoria Georgianna Charlotte Eugenie, thirty-fourth in line to the throne. Georgie isn’t living the high life though–she’s broke– and this series follows her through a series of jobs and murders.
Those are just a few of the historical mysteries that I enjoy, and there are plenty more out there tempting my debit card.
Do you enjoy thrills and chills from the past? What are your favorite historical mysteries?
@Lillian, thanks for that Rebecca Pawel rec!
iirc, Cara Elliott said on a blog post recently that her publisher was not interested in publishing more Lady Arianna mysteries. I too would have loved to see more!
Re: Patricia Wentworth, I spent many years amassing a collection of her books, mostly from secondhand bookstores because none of them were in print, but now many are available as e-books. I recommend trying “The Case is Closed”, “Wicked Uncle”, “The Alington Inheritance”, “The Ivory Dagger”, “Dead or Alive” and especially “Nothing Venture” which is my absolute favorite and has the strongest romance.
@JaniceG I loved Wolf Hall! Masterpiece theater is adapting it this year too…
Deanna Raybourn also has a series set in the 1920’s of which City of Jasmine is the first book. The heroine is an aviatrix on an around the world trip when she discovers that her deceased husband may not be as late as previously believed. It’s been waving from my tbr pile for a couple months now. If only the GBPL would stop providing fodder from my reserve list.
@Elyse – Tried Wolf Hall twice: once way before it won the Booker and once after but her attempt to breathe life into the characters never really worked for me.
@DonnaMarie – When I read City of Jasmine, it reminded me so much of some of Mary Stewart’s work hat I actually wrote to Raybourn and she confirmed it. (“I was hoping another fan of hers would catch the tribute”)
All the love for Tasha Alexander, Deanna Raybourn, and Alan Bradley. Flavia is a singularly adorable creation.
I also enjoyed the Mistress of the Art of Death series, by Ariana Franklin, but I don’t suggest starting them if you can’t stand not knowing what happens to the characters. Unfortunately, Franklin died a couple of years ago. The series was left unfinished.
I’ve just finished the third Tasha Alexander Lady Emily book – which I’m really enjoying – and the first Deanna Raybourn – which I loved and am trying to resist ordering the next couple (book buying budget/massive to-read pile…). I second a lot of the recommendations here – like Dandy Gilver and the Catherine Lloyd Kurland series. I also love the Peter Wimsey books – and think that the four involving Peter and Harriet are really quite romantic too – I’ve written my thoughts about them on my blog – https://verityreadsbooks.wordpress.com/2014/05/30/series-i-love-lord-peter-wimsey/. Audible (certainly in the UK anyway) also have them as audiobooks and radio plays which are also charming.
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned yet The Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne series – the first is Sweet Poison – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/599203.Sweet_Poison?from_search=true – which features an aristocratic detective, a communist, spies, murders, the Spanish Civil War etc – and is also really good. Do read it in order though…
If you like your golden age crime/detection novels – Ngaio Marsh’s Inspector Alleyn series and Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion (fun fact, Albert started as a Peter Wimsey spoof but grew into much more) are definitely worth a look – although I don’t know how easy to get hold of they are in the states.
I also enjoyed the first in Susan Elia MacNeal’s Maggie Hope series – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10161216-mr-churchill-s-secretary?from_search=true- Mr Churchill’s Secretary – which was recommended by Lauren Willig (of Pink Carnation Fame) – but haven’t read any of the rest of the series as the books were too expensive and my reading pile too high – I’d be interested to hear from anyone who’s read more of them if they continue to be worth a look.
PS I’m so excited about the Wolf Hall adaptation – which starts this week on the BBC over here – I’d watch Mark Rylance in *anything* he’s that good and the rest of the cast is great too.
The first Lady Julia story has possibly the best opening line in the whole entire world:
“To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband’s dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.”
I started reading the Mary Russell/Sherlock books, but was weirded out by the fact that she’s 15 and he’s 50s, and they’re going to get married in later books? Seems too May-December. Or possibly even March-December.
Corina, there’s a lovely adaptation of one of the Mrs Bradley Mysteries, starring Diana Rudd on Netflix. I am all 🙁 that there are not more episodes.
Also, I don’t think I saw Kate Ross mentioned? Julian Kestral, Regency dandy.
@Celia – there were 5 Mrs Bradley’s done I think – certainly we had a series of them in the UK (our series being much shorter than US ones!) – I don’t know if you can get them on DVD over your way – but you can here.
Historical mysteries were my main reads for a long time and I still love them. I can’t believe no one has mentioned my hands-down, all-time, absolutely fav historical mystery series, Peter Tremayne’s Sister Fidelma series. She’s a lawyer/investigator nun in medieval Ireland. It’s such a different setting, and Tremayne teaches as much as entertains.
A fun series is Alan Gordon’s Fool’s Guild, 13th century, especially for Shakespeare fans.
I guess I have a thing for medieval religious mysteries, another good one not mentioned is Alys Clare’s Hawykenlye series.
For something completely different, try Susan Wittig Albert’s Beatrix Potter mysteries. It’s talking animals and village life in Victorian England’s Lake District, with the whimsy of a Potter tale. Very cozy and charming.
They were mentioned before, but Kate Ross’ Julian Kestrel series is utterly marvelous. I almost cried when I discovered the author had died at a young age.
Bruce Alexander write lovely series about Sir John Fielding, the blind magistrate of Bow Street (a real person). My grandmother loved this series perhaps even more than I did. (This is another author who died before finishing his final book.)
Peter Tremayne (Peter Berresford Ellis) wrote another series my grandmother and I both loved, about Sister Fidelma, who is a nun and lawyer in 17th century Ireland. Except that in Ireland at that time nuns were really the equivalent of priests. The author was an historian, so history is good.
Those who like the Sister Fidelma mysteries might enjoy a little-known series also related to Celtic law featuring a female judge in Ireland although in a slightly later period (1500s) by Cora Harrison (first book is My Lady Judge).
@MOB – I also like another series by Susan Wittig Albert that is roughly centered around a gardening club in a small town in Texas during the Depression (first book is The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree).
Oh, yes the Julian Kestrel books are extraordinary. Well worth reading the four books even though some of the open questions will never be resolved. (No cliffhangers, but some of the recurring characters, particularly Kestrel, have secrets that were slowly being revealed.)
I’m late reding this, and so my favourites have been mentioned. I would add some series which are not strictly speaking crime stories, but which each involve the solving of one or more mysteries. They are all set around the time of the Napoleonic Wars and Regency, and involve spies. They all also focus on relationships. Looking at them, it’s interesting that despite those superficial similarities they are all very different.
They are:
The Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig: set in the early 1800s with spies involved in Napoleon’s doings in France and England, with another present-day story running alongside. Great fun, accurate historically, lots of engaging characters.
Charles and Mélanie Fraser series by Tracy Grant: again set in and around the Napoleonic wars, in Britain and in Europe. Charles is a diplomat and spy solving lots of different questions and mysteries with the aid of his wife. Very strong on historic detail and complex relationships, with wonderful twists!
Joanna Bourne’s historical novels starting with The Spymaster’s Lady: lots of spies! Beautifully written, very complex plotting, hugely enjoyable.
Nita Abrams The Couriers series: more spies and relationships.
I’ve just remembered an historical mystery series which I don’t think has already been mentioned: The Agency series by Y.S. Lee. The first book is A Spy in the House, set in 1850s London. The main character is unusual: “Rescued from the gallows in 1850s London, young orphan (and thief) Mary Quinn is surprised to be offered a singular education, instruction in fine manners — and an unusual vocation. Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls is a cover for an all-female investigative unit called The Agency…”
And another series of historical romances with mystery: Julia Ross St George Brothers trilogy, with Night of Sin as the first book. Unfortunately Julia Ross wrote very few books, and I think it’s fair to say that they’re all quite complex and convoluted. Very lush, too! They’re Georgian.
I mentioned earlier in this thread that some of my favorites are the Flavia de Luce books, and just realized that the first one, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, is on sale at Amazon for $2.24. I bought it for my dad for Christmas and it was $5.99 then, so this isn’t the normal price. And no, I am not being compensated for my endorsement. ; )
Great recommendations! My list has doubled. I also love M. Louisa Locke’s Victorian San Francisco series. The first book is called Maids of Misfortune and I think it’s free. The heroine, Annie, is a widowed young woman who owns a boarding house, but to make ends meet she also leads a secret double life as a clairvoyant who offers financial advice. She was trained by her smart and successful father, but nobody else wants to openly take financial advice from a woman. Annie ends up investigating a crime, and there’s a little romance in there, along with all kinds of historical tidbits about life in late 1800s San Fran. Really great series!
Late to the party, but. . . I like Ruth Downie’s Medicus series. Set in (mostly) Roman Britain, Ruso, a doctor with the Roman Legion’s and Tilla, a British native, are the main characters. Stories are character based, create a believable historic atmosphere, include a romantic subplot, and are thoughtful and sometimes funny explorations of human nature. I also loved Ariana Franklin’s Mistress of the Art of Death series. Adelia has been trained in medicine at Salerno and, at the behest of Henry II uses her forensic skills to investigate. Great writing and characters, but explicit violence and a horrible never-to-be-resolved cliffhanger in the 5th book due to the author’s death.
Nicola Upson has a series in which Josephine Tey/Elizabeth McIntosh herself is the main character; the first is An Expert in Murder.
The Daisy Dalrymple mysteries by Carola Dunn are set in Britain in the 1920s. The first is Death at Wentwater Court.
Another series that I loved is the Chronicles of Isaac of Girona by Caroline Roe. These are set in NE Spain in the 14th century. The first book, Remedy for Treason, came out in 1998. Isaac is a blind Jewish physician. The books show the interactions of Christians, Muslims and Jews, upper, middle and lower classes, and involve all of them in complex mysteries.
Kay
Thanks for all book recommendations! Have already read the first in the Gil Cunningham series and Lady of Ashes and recommend them. Another historical series worth mentioning is the Angela Marchmont series by Clara Benson, written in the 20s/30s. They were never published during the author’s lifetime, but are being released now. Nice cozy English country house settings.
I love historical mysteries, & some of my favorites have already been mentioned, so I’ll just mention the ones I haven’t seen yet on this thread (note: some of them are out of print):
Amanda Matetsky’s Paige Turner series – 1st is Murderers Prefer Blondes – set in the ’50s, follows the adventures of a war widow working at a mystery stories magazine.
Boris Akunin’s Erast Fandorin series – 1st is The Winter Queen – set in Russia 1870s, looove the writing style of this one.
Sara Poole’s The Borgias series – 1st is Poison – very dark series but well worth a read.
Nick Drake’s Egypt trilogy – follows the Akhenaten/Tutankhamun era of Ancient Egypt.
Annette Meyers Olivia Brown duo – set in the 20s – the author also writes another historical mystery series with her husband, but I haven’t started that series yet.
I. J. Parker’s Sugawara Akitada series – 1st is Rashomon Gate – set in medieval Japan – I enjoy this series a lot.
Gilbert Adair’s Evadne Mount trilogy – 1st is The Act of Robert Murgatroyd – just started this one recently, but loving the humor so far.
Alice Duncan’s Daisy Gumm Majesty series – 1st is Strong Spirits – set in the late 20s/early 30s – she also writes another historical mystery series & romances.
Troy Soos – writes two historical series that I enjoy – a baseball series set in the very early 20th century (& you don’t need to understand or follow baseball to enjoy this series, cause I don’t!) & another series set in NY in the 1890s.
Sandra Scoppettone’s Faye Quick duo set in ’40s NY about a secretary for a PI agency running the place while the boys are off to war.
Here’s part 2, if you will, since the size of my first post was starting to scare me:
Dianne Day’s Fremont Jones series – 1st is The Strange Files of Fremont Jones – follows a typist in early 20th century CA.
Paula Paul’s Dr. Alexandra Gladstone trilogy – 1st is Symptoms of Death – this author has also written for Harlequin.
J. J. Murphy’s Algonquin Round Table series – 1st is Murder Your Darlings – follows Dorothy Parker & other famous authors of the 20s & 30s – reads like a screwball comedy (so much fun!)
Steven Saylor’s Gordianus the Finder series 1st is Roman Blood – very meaty & easy to get lost in.
Cynthia Peale’s Beacon Hill trilogy – 1st is The Death of Colonel Mann – follows a brother & sister & their roommate (who’s interested in the sister) set in 1880s Boston.
David Liss writes several great historical mysteries – he wrote a few standalones & a series set in 18th century London.
P. C. Doherty (& his many pen names) writes lots of different historical series set in times varying from ancient Egypt & Greece to the Templars & beyond – his backlist will keep you busy for quite a while!
Carole Nelson Douglas writes in several genres, from urban fantasy to cozies to romance, & she writes a series that follows Irene Adler (from the Sherlock Holmes canon) – the 1st one is Good Night, Mr. Holmes.
Lauren Haney’s Ancient Egyptian series – 1st one is Flesh of the God – follows Lt. Bak & his case-solving.
Lynda S. Robinson’s Lord Meren series – another Ancient Egyptian series – 1st one is Murder in the Place of Anubis – another romance writer too!
I didn’t go through all the comments to see if it was already mentioned but Tasha Alexander’s Lady Emily series is really good. I like The Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig too.
A late addition but Roberta Gellis’ medieval mystery series Magdalene La Batarde about a madam/whoremistress should be on any list of historical mysteries.