Historical

The Strangler Vine

The Strangler Vine and The Infidel Stain by M.J. Carter In the tradition of Holmes and Watson, Jeremiah Blake, a cynical ex-employee of the British East India Company and William […]

American in Paris Mysteries

American In Paris Mysteries, Colleen Cambridge There is a sub-genre of mystery novels that feature real-life historical figures as crime solvers. Some of these efforts seem a bit of a […]

The Country Club Murders

The Country Club Murder Mysteries by Julie Mulhern In the first of these novels, set in Kansas City 1975, artist, and unhappy wife Ellison Russell stumbles over a body during […]

Vengeance

Vengeance by Benjamin Black (Book 5) Another atmospheric, literary mystery from Benjamin Black, a/k/a John Banville, the Man Booker Prize-winning Irish novelist. Dour pathologist Quirke and his colleague Detective Inspector […]

A Death in the Small Hours

A Death in the Small Hours by Charles Finch (Book 6) In Finch’s latest novel featuring Victorian gentleman sleuth and Member of Parliament Charles Lenox, Lenox retreats to rural Somerset […]

Dr. Quirke Novels

Dr. Quirke Novels by Benjamin Black Another new to me is the series by Booker Award-winning novelist John Banville writing under the pen name Benjamin Black.  I’m not a huge […]

Detective Joe Sandilands

Detective Joe Sandilands Novels by Barbara Cleverly While in NYC I ran across the 8th novel in the Detective Joe Sandilands series by Barbara Cleverly (Strange Images of Death-yummy!)  How […]

A Death in Diamonds

A Death in Diamonds by S.J. Bennett That exalted amateur sleuth Queen Elizabeth II returns in S.J. Bennett’s novel, A Death in Diamonds. Unlike Bennett’s earlier novels, which feature an […]

The Coffee Trader

The Coffee Trader by David Liss The Coffee Trader is an “historical financial thriller” which sounds impossibly dull, but is not.   The novel takes place in 1659 Amsterdam, a bustling […]

Dissolution

Dissolution by C.J. Sansom My cousin Harriet introduced me to the Matthew Shardlake Tudor mysteries.  If you liked Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy, you’ll enjoy these as well. Unlike many […]

People of the Book

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks Geraldine Books, the author of March and Year of Wonders, has written another inspired work of historical fiction. People of the Book is […]

Home by Nightfall

Home by Nightfall by Charles Finch With the impenetrable fog and stifling conventions, Victorian London is an irresistible setting for murder mysteries, and the Charles Lenox series by Charles Finch […]

Girl Waits With Gun

Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart Inspired by true events,  Girl Waits With Gun is the first work of fiction from Amy Stewart, author of six nonfiction works including […]