Historical

S.J. Bennett: Death on the Royal Yacht

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Her Majesty the Queen Investigates #6

To read this book, I had to violate one of my “rules” – no circuses, no ships, no fairs (state or world).  This is one of my favorite series, however, so I was forced to make an exception. Along with Allison Montclair, Bennett writes one of the smartest, most tightly plotted series around.  If you love the golden age schematic but welcome an update, these are the books for you.  Set on the Royal Yacht in 1966, we follow the Queen’s tour of the Caribbean. As always the central character is the Queen’s personal assistant, Joan McGraw, but also as always, when a dead body crops up, it’s the united efforts of the Queen and Joan that solve the crime. read more

Katherine Reay: The Undercover Bookshop

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This thoroughly enjoyable read is set in postwar Britain, and follows young Gemma Brown as she attempts to make a life for herself in the small Cotswolds village of Great Rollright.  In London, Gemma had been lonely in her boarding-house, and wanting to find a sense of community she couldn’t find in the big city, so she answers an advertisement for a shop clerk in Great Rollright simply because the job offers the perk of a bedsit. She settles into her new life pretty quickly, getting to know the villagers when they shop in the store, and developing friendships at the pub each night. read more

Mariah Fredericks: Murder on 34th Street

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What Fredricks has put under the tree for her readers this year is an instant Christmas classic, the kind of book you might reach for every December – but only if your taste runs to a few murder victims in Santa’s bag.  Set in 1932, main character Grace Verlander is in charge of much of the big Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade, an event as big in 1932 as it is today.  Her biggest headache is that someone has threatened Santa Claus, and she must do everything she can to keep the big fellow safe despite the chaos of the parade. read more

Andrea Penrose: Murder on Threadneedle Street

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Wrexford & Sloane #10

Murder on Threadneedle Street is book 10 in Andrea Penrose’s wonderful Wrexford and Sloane Regency mystery series.  The protagonists are the Earl of Wrexford, a chemist with a special expertise in metallurgy, and his wife Charlotte, formerly Sloane, an artist and political cartoonist who uses the pseudonym A.J. Quill.  It is an attraction of opposites between the two.  He solves crimes by using logic and the scientific method, while she uses intuition and an artist’s eye for details.  Over the course of the series, they have each come to respect, and occasionally use, the other’s method. read more

Dianne Freeman: A Christmas Guide to Family and Murder

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Countess of Harleigh #9

A Christmas Guide to Family and Murder is the ninth book in Dianne Freeman’s delightful series set at the turn of the 20th century, about Frances, the American-born Countess of Harleigh, and her second husband, George Hazelton, a younger son of an earl and a secret agent for the British government.  The two of them solve crimes together, usually among the upper classes in London, even though the two books before this one have taken them to Paris.  This novel introduces a new setting: a country estate in Norfolk.  Frances is looking forward to spending Christmas of 1900 in London when she and George receive an invitation from Fiona, George’s sister and Frances’ best friend, to join her and her husband, Robert, at their estate, Hadley Grange.  Rose, Frances’ nine-year-old daughter by her first husband, is excited about spending Christmas in Norfolk, as are the two most recent additions to the family: Lissette, George’s fifteen-year-old cousin and ward, and her half-sister Christine, a young woman in her early twenties.  Frances’ aunt Hetty joins them as well, after indicating that things are not going smoothly between her and her suitor Gilliam, a theater manager. read more

Tasha Alexander: Murder on the Sacred River

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Lady Emily #20

Murder on the Sacred River is the twentieth novel in Tasha Alexander’s series about Lady Emily Hargreaves, an unconventional English noblewoman in the late 19th-early 20th century, and her handsome husband Colin, a secret agent for the British government.  Long-time readers of the series will know that Emily and Colin have traveled all over the world, and that each book—at least, the ones that don’t take place in England—has a different setting.  This one takes place in India in 1908.  The beginning of the book finds Emily and Colin staying with a group of British tourists at the Ahilya Fort in Maheshwar.  This fort was built in the 18th century by the maharani Ahilya (full name: Ahilyabai Holkar), a ruling queen who was, and still is, revered for improving the lot of the common people of her kingdom, especially women.  As usual with Alexander, Emily’s adventures are intertwined with a plot set in the more distant past, and in this book it’s the story of Ahilya, and how she came to rule her kingdom. read more

Kate Westbury: The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies

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Debut

Set in Oxford in 1951, this delightful first novel features an opposites attract type couple, Ginevra Bishop and Simon Braithwaite.  Bishop, Gin to her friends, is a well connected redhead familiar with the upper crust boys who have joined her at Oxford.  Simon Braithwaite, on the other hand, is a clever working-class veteran damaged by the war who has come to the campus in order to escape his ghosts (what we would now recognize as PTSD).

At that time, the after effects of the war remained inescapable, with both the student body and the faculty staffed with war veterans, all of them struggling with their own nightmare memories. As the book opens, Gin, searching for a study spot in the crowded Bodleian library, asks her favorite librarian, Tolliver, for a tip, and ends up next to a hostile and inhospitable Simon. Meeting cute, the two glare at one another over the top of their research tomes, and so far, so cozy.  It’s only when Simon and Gin discover the body of sweet old Tolliver at the moment he’s drawing his final breath that things take a slightly darker turn.  It’s murder, and the pair are soon recruited by British intelligence. read more

Alyssa Maxwell: Murder at Rosecliff

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Gilded Newport #14

It’s August 1903 and Tessie Oelrichs is hosting a White Ball at Rosecliff, her Newport, RI mansion. A stunning all-white theme, excellent music and food, and the cream of New York society give reporter Ethan Merriman plenty to write about. Things take a turn for the worse when a stranger named Solomon Wheeler appears, defying the all-white dress code and making a scene by claiming to be Tessie’s first husband – with alleged proof. Tessie insists that he’s lying and it’s not too surprising that his dead body is discovered in the garden fountain before the night is over. What is surprising is that reporter Ethan Merriman is found apparently holding Wheeler under the water. read more

Anastasia Hastings: Of Devotion and Death

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Dear Miss Hermoine #3

Of Devotion and Death, the third in Anatasia Hasting’s Dear Miss Hermione series set in 1880s London, finds main character Violet on the precipice of a big decision. She has been invited by her almost beau, Eli, for a scandalous Christmas in Venice. Violet is normally very levelheaded but Eli sends her into an emotional tailspin every time she sees him – and rarely do they get along when they are in the same room. Still, there is something irresistible enough about him to Violet that she hasn’t told her beloved sister, Sephora, or loyal retainer, Bunty, about the real reason she’s going to Venice. They all assume it’s about solving a mystery. read more

Jennifer Ashley: Murder in Blackfriars

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Below Stairs #9

There are quite a few historical mysteries set in Victorian London, but what makes this series so memorable is that the main character, Kat Holloway, is not of the nobility, connected to nobility or even someone who aspires to nobility, but simply a humble cook. For a mystery reader, encountering the working-class side of the city makes the series more relatable and the stakes the characters deal with a bit more resonant. The other reason I loved this one is simply that Jennifer Ashley, with over 60 novels to her credit, is a truly polished storyteller with an unerring instinct for what makes a narrative move and connect with the reader. read more