The best historical mysteries that make you wish you had a time machine

I tell anyone who will listen that I am not a fan of anything paranormal, but this series has me hooked. I think Summoning the Winds is the first book I ever read about witches (Hamlet doesn't count), and I loved it. In a nutshell, the series takes the notion of witch trials and turns it on its head with tales of real witches in colonial Connecticut of the 1660s (where, in my time machine, I would view the events in this story from a safe distance).  

Yarrow Pickering, the main character and an eighteen-year-old orphan, is spunky and smart. She’s also a witch. She uses her abilities for good and, like her mother, is skilled at creating herbal remedies for illnesses and injuries suffered by the people in the village of Milthorpe. When she attempts to help a young girl who has become ill, the girl’s father becomes vexed and responds to Yarrow’s ministering by making accusations against Yarrow and others in the village, including an old woman who has refused to sell him a plot of land he desires.  

The early American witch trials are beginning, and Yarrow is up against formidable foes when she tries to respond to the rumors that are swirling around Milthorpe. But she has a quick wit and a keen understanding of human nature, and both serve her well when danger threatens her and her sister, Tansy. The story delves into the murky world of spells and hexes, and the author describes sorcery in a way that makes it both believable and understandable.  

The research, the pacing, the writing, the twists and turns—all of it is masterful. I firmly believe this book has not gotten enough attention, and I’ve made it my personal mission to tell more people about it.   

This first-in-series book takes place in 1868 in the American West, a place I would visit in my time machine (I wouldn’t stay because I’m not a fan of dust and dirt and there was plenty of that in the early American West, but that’s on me).  

Abigail (Abi) MacKay is a Pinkerton detective who has to do her job twice as well as any man to prove she deserves the position. Nat Quinn and Jake Conroy are leaders of the payroll train-robbing gang known as The Innocents. Nat and Jake are supposed to be the sworn enemies of the Pinkertons, but as luck would have it, Abi and the two men are forced to team up after the men save her life and she promises to help them find the person who murdered a friend of theirs.  

But once their collaboration is over, what’s going to happen? Abi is falling for Nat—is the feeling mutual, or is Nat just trying to learn more about Pinkerton methods? Is she going to be able to do her job and turn Nat and Jake over to the authorities? 

I couldn't put this book down. It had everything I love in a story: mystery, suspense, romantic tension, a quick pace, and well-drawn characters. Abi’s charming rogue of a quarry is confounding, intelligent, caring, and annoying.

This first-in-series book is set in Regency London, a place I would love to see via time machine (but only to visit—not to live there—because I like my creature comforts way too much).  

The two main characters, Charlotte Sloane and the Earl of Wrexford, are from different sides of the tracks, so to speak, but there is some evidence that Charlotte may have experienced affluence at one time. Charlotte and Wrexford team up to solve a murder for which Wrexford stands accused. Their witty dialogue, disparate strengths, and willingness to overlook the other’s shortcomings make this a great read. 

And the cover is gorgeous, isn’t it? 

I picked up this book because I loved the cover (who says we don’t choose books by their covers?) and shortly thereafter found myself completely immersed in a 17th-century English Restoration mystery. I would visit that era in my time machine provided it’s fully stocked with soap and hand sanitizer (this time period being the one during which the Great Plague took place). 

Main character Lucy Campion is a chambermaid in the home of a London magistrate. Her days are filled with the drudgery of servant duties—that is, until a murder claims the life of a servant in the household and someone Lucy holds dear is accused of the crime. Knowing that person can’t possibly be the killer, Lucy sets out to find out whodunit. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so I’ll stop there. 

I learned more about 1660s England reading this book than I ever did in history class. The author holds a doctorate in British history, so she knows her stuff.  

I know I keep beating the same drum, but just try to take a look at that cover and tell me the story doesn’t look intriguing (and yes, I do see the similarities between this cover and that of The Murder on Black Swan Lane). 

Like any self-respecting English mystery, this one begins with a main character discovering he’s received a bequest of an English estate and its accompanying title. This particular main character is Jason Redmond, a Captain and doctor in the Union Army during the American Civil War. At the end of the war, he returns home to find his sweetheart has married his best friend during his absence. When he receives news of the bequest, having no one to marry and still experiencing haunting memories of the tragedies he witnessed during the war, he heads to England to dispose of the estate (at least, that’s his plan, and we all know what happens to the best-laid plans). He takes along his young companion Micah, a boy he befriended during the war. 

Immediately after arriving at the estate, Redmond finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery that requires him to partner up with the local constable, Daniel Haze, a man fighting his own demons. The two make a solid team, with each man bringing certain talents and strengths to the investigation. It’s a confounding mystery and one strewn with plenty of red herrings to keep readers guessing. 

I would definitely set my time machine dials to mid-nineteenth-century England, especially if I could visit estates like the ones in the book. They’re genteel on the surface, but so much goes on underneath.