The best historical mysteries with famous people as the amateur sleuths

Why am I passionate about this?

My mother was an avid reader of Agatha Christie, and she gave me my first Nancy Drew book when I was nine, so I’ve loved mysteries all my life—not the ‘true crime’ kind, more the ‘cozy village’ kind, where the focus is on the characters and how they solve the mystery because of who they are and how they understand the people around them. After I wrote an historical novel about John Singer Sargent and his friends, I couldn’t stop thinking about them, even hearing their voices continuing to talk—I missed them! So naturally, I decided I’d turn John and his friend Violet into detectives and write mysteries. 


I wrote...

The Spoils of Avalon

By Mary F. Burns,

Book cover of The Spoils of Avalon

What is my book about?

The death of a humble clergyman in 1877 leads amateur sleuths Violet Paget and John Singer Sargent into a medieval world of saints and kings as they follow a trail of relics lost since the destruction of Glastonbury Abbey in 1539. Written in alternating chapters between the two eras, The Spoils of Avalon is a magical mystery that bridges the gap between two widely different worlds—the industrialized, Darwinian Victorian Age and the agricultural, faith-infused life of a medieval abbey on the brink of violent change at the hand of Henry VIII. 

First in a series featuring two life-long friends as a different kind of detecting team: the brilliant and brittle Violet Paget (aka Vernon Lee), and the talented, genial portrait painter John Singer Sargent. 

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance

Mary F. Burns Why did I love this book?

This is the first book in a series that is as witty, complex, charming, and dark as Oscar Wilde himself. (“I can resist everything but temptation.”) The author is steeped in Wilde and his world, quotes him extensively (but appropriately) and also delivers a great mystery set in the fascinating era of Victorian decline and fin de siècle artistic fervor. Arthur Conan Doyle, in a great turnabout, plays “Watson” to Wilde’s “Sherlock” in all the mysteries. A later book in the series takes on Jack the Ripper, with some surprising suspects!

By Gyles Brandreth,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Lovers of historical mysteries will relish this chilling Victorian tale based on real events and cloaked in authenticity. The first in a series of fiendishly clever historical murder mysteries, it casts British literature’s most fascinating and controversial figure as the lead sleuth.

A young artist’s model has been murdered, and legendary wit Oscar Wilde enlists his friends Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Sherard to help him investigate. But when they arrive at the scene of the crime they find no sign of the gruesome killing—save one small spatter of blood, high on the wall. Set in London, Paris, Oxford, and…


Book cover of Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor

Mary F. Burns Why did I love this book?

As someone who re-reads all major Austen works every year or so, I am so grateful for Stephanie Barron’s creation of Jane as an amateur sleuth who can’t seem to visit a country house or a London mansion without coming across a murdered peer or a suspicious “suicide”! True to the actual Jane’s acquaintances, life events, and characters (she meets “Mr. Darcy” and other people who will show up in her novels), this fictional Jane sounds like the books she writes but with even more humor, acerbity, and sarcasm. 14 books and counting! Never gets stale!

By Stephanie Barron,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For everyone who loves Jane Austen...a marvelously entertaining new series that turns the incomparable author into an extraordinary sleuth!

On a visit to the estate of her friend, the young and beautiful Isobel Payne, Countess of Scargrave, Jane bears witness to a tragedy. Isobel's husband—a gentleman of mature years—is felled by a mysterious and agonizing ailment. The Earl's death seems a cruel blow of fate for the newly married Isobel. Yet the bereaved widow soon finds that it's only the beginning of her misfortune...as she receives a sinister missive accusing her and the Earl's nephew of adultery—and murder. Desperately afraid…


Book cover of The Vanished Bride

Mary F. Burns Why did I love this book?

Talk about feisty women who advance against tremendous odds! Despite the stultifyingly constrained life of “almost-poor” women in early Victorian England, out in the moor country, the three Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne) slip around the rules, their father, and manage their wayward but beloved brother—all while being determined to become writers—and solve the occasional murder that happens in their neighborhood. Great period details and fascinating information about these three remarkable sisters, along with a great mystery read. This is the first book in the series.

By Bella Ellis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Vanished Bride as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Before they became legendary writers, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, and Anne Brontë were detectors in this charming historical mystery...
 
Yorkshire, 1845. A young wife and mother has gone missing from her home, leaving behind two small children and a large pool of blood. Just a few miles away, a humble parson’s daughters—the Brontë sisters—learn of the crime. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë are horrified and intrigued by the mysterious disappearance.
 
These three creative, energetic, and resourceful women quickly realize that they have all the skills required to make for excellent “lady detectors.” Not yet published novelists, they have well-honed imaginations…


Book cover of A Study in Scarlet Women

Mary F. Burns Why did I love this book?

Charlotte Holmes of the Lady Sherlock series is—next to Benedict Cumberbatch—the most wonderful, interesting, fascinating new version of Sherlock Holmes to show up so far this century. I’m not going to argue that Sherlock isn’t ‘real’—he’s more real than most people! Sherry Thomas has taken the extension of the Sherlock legend/motif/fanfiction to a greater height than previous authors, and I guarantee you will delight in Charlotte, her quirks and foibles, her keen mind, and her insatiable lust for pastries. Watson becomes “Mrs. Watson” and is a down-to-earth wonder as a sidekick for Miss Charlotte. Great additional cast of characters as well. To be savored and enjoyed over and over! This is the first in the series.

By Sherry Thomas,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked A Study in Scarlet Women as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

USA Today bestselling author Sherry Thomas turns the story of the renowned Sherlock Holmes upside down in the first novel in this Victorian mystery series....
 
With her inquisitive mind, Charlotte Holmes has never felt comfortable with the demureness expected of the fairer sex in upper class society. But even she never thought that she would become a social pariah, an outcast fending for herself on the mean streets of London.
 
When the city is struck by a trio of unexpected deaths and suspicion falls on her sister and her father, Charlotte is desperate to find the true culprits and clear…


Book cover of The Pale Blue Eye

Mary F. Burns Why did I love this book?

This book is a haunting and haunted story of the young Edgar Allen Poe when he was a cadet at West Point in 1830. Already a published poet at that point, young Edgar is a moody and very unlikely candidate for the army, but his inclination for the darker side of human life comes in handy when a cadet is found hanging—with his heart cut out—and Edgar is chosen to help the big city detective who comes on campus to solve the murder. I just learned this was made into a movie! I loved the book, read it years ago, and have never forgotten it—now I’ve got to go get the movie.

By Louis Bayard,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Pale Blue Eye as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

**Soon to be a major Netflix film starring Christian Bale and Gillian Anderson**

April 19th, 1831. In two or three hours I'll be dead.

So begins the chilling last testament of Gus Landor, a retired New York City police constable, whose numerous talents include code-breaking, riot control and the 'gloveless interrogation'. A young cadet has been found hanged at a military academy on the shores of the Hudson River. Before his body could be buried, however, it was stolen and his heart brutally carved out.

Fearing a scandal, the top brass at West Point have summoned Landor to help catch…


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The Woman at the Wheel

By Penny Haw,

Book cover of The Woman at the Wheel

Penny Haw Author Of The Invincible Miss Cust

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

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Penny's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Inspiring historical fiction based on the real life of Bertha Benz, whose husband built the first prototype automobile, which eventually evolved into the Mercedes-Benz marque.

"Unfortunately, only a girl again."

From a young age, Cäcilie Bertha Ringer is fascinated by her father's work as a master builder in Pforzheim, Germany. But those five words, which he wrote next to her name in the family Bible, haunt Bertha.

Years later, Bertha meets Carl Benz and falls in love—with him and his extraordinary dream of building a horseless carriage. Bertha has such faith in him that she invests her dowry in his plans, a dicey move since they alone believe in the machine. When Carl's partners threaten to withdraw their support, he's ready to cut ties. Bertha knows the decision would ruin everything. Ignoring the cynics, she takes matters into her own hands, secretly planning a scheme that will either hasten the family's passage to absolute derision or prove their genius. What Bertha doesn't know is that Carl is on the cusp of making a deal with their nemesis. She's not only risking her marriage and their life's work, but is also up against the patriarchy, Carl's own self-doubt, and the clock.

Like so many other women, Bertha lived largely in her husband's shadow, but her contributions are now celebrated in this inspiring story of perseverance, resilience, and love.

The Woman at the Wheel

By Penny Haw,

What is this book about?

Inspiring historical fiction based on the real life of Bertha Benz, whose husband built the first prototype automobile, which eventually evolved into the Mercedes-Benz marque.

"Unfortunately, only a girl again."

From a young age, Cacilie Bertha Ringer is fascinated by her father's work as a master builder in Pforzheim, Germany. But those five words, which he wrote next to her name in the family Bible, haunt Bertha.

Years later, Bertha meets Carl Benz and falls in love-with him and his extraordinary dream of building a horseless carriage. Bertha has such faith in him that she invests her dowry in his…


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