March MysteryKIT: Historical mysteries

Historical mysteries combine two popular genres of fiction – historical fiction and mysteries. For me, to count as historical fiction the story has to be set in a time before the author was born, though I do realise others have their own definitions – for example the CWA Historical Dagger includes historical mysteries set more than 35 years before the year of the award.

The CWA Historical Dagger was originally called the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger to commemorate the author who really got the genre going. Although other authors had written individual stories beforehand they were considered oddities but Ellis Peters’s Brother Cadfael stories together with Umberto Eco’s standalone The Name of the Rose and across the Atlantic Elizabeth Peters’s Amelia Peabody series ensured the genre’s popularity.

Historical mysteries can now be found set in almost any time and place and may feature fictional detectives or real people (such as Aristotle or Jane Austen) as the detective. Those who are dipping their toes into the genre for the first time may want to start with anthologies such as Mike Ashley’s Mammoth Book of Historical Whodunnits. Others may wish to consult the LT tag page for historical mysteries.

My own choices for March are Act of Mercy by Peter Tremayne (660s Ireland) and The Lions of the North by Edward Marston (1080s England), though that may change between now and then.

Should you be so inclined, please fill in the wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2024_MysteryKIT#March:_Historical

I am currently reading Der tote Rittmeister, a mystery set in 1913 on the island of Norderney. I am enjoying it very much and might just read the next one in the series in March.

I just started The Hangman’s Daughter (by Oliver Pötzsch; narrated by Grover Gardner) but expect to finish it this weekend. Set in 17th c. Germany, the protagonists seem to be the hangman himself and a village doctor, not the hangman’s daughter but maybe she shows up later in a bigger role. Anyway, a child’s dead body is discovered to have a strange marking drawn on him and very quickly the local midwife is arrested on charges of witchcraft…

I love a good historical mystery! Next month I'll definitely be reading Death Comes to Bath, which is part of the Kurland St. Mary mystery series set in Regency England...and whatever else catches my eye!

Planning to read The Midnight Hour by Elly Griffiths, which will also be my H for AlphaDog. Set in Brighton, England in the 1960s.

I am planning on reading High Midnight by Stuart Kaminsky set in 1940s Hollywood.

I have many that will fit here, so I am off to the Kindle or shelves.

Tentatively I think I will read The Second Rider (Europa International Mysteries and Crime) by Alex Beer. This is set in 1910-1920 and recommended by Birgit.

>6 DeltaQueen50: I really enjoyed Kaminsky's Soviet detective series, but it's not quite historical. I have a copy of Silver Pigs on my shelves, unread, it would fit.

If the newly released The Lantern's Dance by Laurie R. King arrives at the public library I will certainly read that.

>9 fuzzi: You hit me with this book bullet. And somehow the audiobook was available at the library. Hooray!

I had the afternoon off yesterday and finished The Hangman’s Daughter (Hangman’s Daughter #1; by Oliver Pötzsch; translated from the German by Lee Chadeayne; narrated by Grover Gardner) - A mystery set in 17th c. Bavaria -
A young boy’s dead body is discovered with a mark drawn on his body and the local midwife is quickly arrested on charges of witchcraft. The hangman, Jakob Kuisl (who also serves as an instrument of the interrogation as a torturer) believes the woman to be innocent but unless she confesses, a full-blown witch hunt in which many more women will be accused and executed will commence. Soon, two more children’s bodies are found and the pressure to convict the midwife increases even as a darker conspiracy starts to emerge.
The author has written this historical fiction based on the real-life figure of his forefather and incorporated family folklore, extensive research and his own imagination in creating a vivid if somewhat unsavory picture of life in a small town in present day Germany. The main protagonist is the executioner with a progressive town doctor and the eponymous hangman’s daughter playing secondary and tertiary roles respectively (which makes the title of the book seem odd). There are a few repetitive points made (e.g. the consequences of a full blown witch hunt) and overall the story comes across as rather prosaic (Author‘s writing style? Translator?) but an interesting look at a corner of the world rarely if ever depicted in fiction.

I might go with The Body Under The Piano, the first in a middle grade mystery series based on Agatha Christie as a child.

I'm probably going to read Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan which won the Historical Dagger in 2022.

>10 markon: which one hit?

Silver Pigs was recommended to me, but King's Russell/Holmes books are usually good.

I'm sure I'll find something that will fit this category to enjoy in March! I'll see what is available and strikes my fancy.

>11 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I read this last year and felt almost the same way as you. My comment was that it could have been edited and 100 pages shorter and that the sentences were short and choppy. I also wondered if it was due to translation. I'm not going to read the other 4 in the series, you?

I plan to pick up Sujata Massey's latest installment in the Perveen Mistry series. The Mistress of Bhatia House. I've enjoyed the first three.

>16 Tess_W: No, I don't plan on continuing the series though I might be tempted to skip to the last one published in English, The Council of Twelve. It has a different translator and might be worth taking a look. Supposedly, there's also an eighth book set during the Plague but it has not been translated from the German. My German is sketchy at best but if I were to get my hands on it, I would definitely give it the old college try!

I've started The Silver Pigs (Marcus Didius Falco #1; by Lindsey Davis; narrated by Christian Rodska). Set in 70 CE , Falco is a private informer living on the edge of poverty in Rome. In rescuing a young, pretty girl from pursuers at the Forum one hot Summer day, he becomes embroiled in a plot involving the illegal minting of silver ingots which in turn has political implications against the current Caesar, Vespasian. I read/listened to a number of the books in this series about eight years ago but it's all new-to-me because I honestly can't remember what happened in any of them! I may carry the series over into next month's prompt :-)

>19 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I'm planning reading that one as well, so I skipped over the rest of your post...

I will likely read:
Murder on Black Swan Lane / Andrea Penrose

Possibly also:
A Murder in Time / Julie McElwain

>14 fuzzi: The lantern's dance (King) - I listened to it on audio and thoroughly enjoyed it.

>22 markon: woo! I'm waiting for the library to get a copy.

I’m well into the second Marcus Didius Falco book, Shadows in Bronze (by Lindsey Davis; narrated by Simon Prebble) and have just started The Name of the Rose (by Umberto Eco; translated from the Italian by William Weaver) in print. Hopefully, I should wrap up both in the next week.

I read The Puzzle of the Paper Daughter by Kathryn Reiss. This book is part of the American Girls series and I leaned quite a bit about Chinese immigrants and their families. The book is set in the 1970's.

I had planned to read Goethes Leichen for this, but the writing was so awful that I DNFed it 50 pages in. I'll find something else soon.

I finished Catherine Lloyd's Death Comes to Bath, book #6 in the Kurland St. Mary mystery series. This installment is set in 1822, I believe. It's a strong entry in the series, but you should definitely start with book #1.

I finished listening to Shadows in Bronze (Marcus Didius Falco #2; by Lindsey Davis; narrated by Simon Prebble) last night and feel a little hungover-- not only because I stayed up later than I should have but because it unexpectedly exerted an emotional toll on me. This second book in the MDF series picks up pretty much where the first book, The Silver Pigs left off. Falco is now tracking down a number of the conspirators that pose a threat to the Emperor Vespasian and; The relationship between Falco & a senator's daughter, Helena becomes "complicated". There are quite a number of original & surprising plot twists and at times I had trouble keeping track of who was who but it does sort itself out by the end.
I decided to listen to this series as the entire 20-book run is "Free" with Audible membership and; Both Christian Rodska and Simon Prebble are A-list narrators-- though I'm not clear why there are different, non-consecutive readers.

>28 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Did you know that BBC Radio dramatisations of the first 5 books are available? https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0071prn/episodes/guide

>29 Robertgreaves: Yes! I saw them mentioned in Falco: The Official Companion (by Lindsey Davis) and quickly did a search on Audible. All five dramatizations are in one volume and Falco is played by Anton Lesser) ❤️

I finished The Queen of Bedlam by Robert R. McCammon, book 2 in the Matthew Corbett series which takes place in New York around 1701ish (not sure the exact year). Corbett is a young law clerk who gets drawn into the investigation of a serial killer known as the Masker. I think I enjoyed this one even more than the first.

I have finished Schönbrunner Finale which is set in Vienna in 1918 and paints a vivid picture of the dying days of the monarchy.

I read The Bloody Meadow by William Ryan aka The Darkening Field.
In 1937 Stalinist Russia, CID detective Alexei Korolev is “asked” by the NKVD to find out more about the suspected suicide of a young woman in Ukraine who was working on a movie production subsidized by the state. If it is in fact suicide then he can consider the trip as a holiday without mentioning his orders, if not, then he is to investigate. Making things more precarious, she was having an affair with a party director. He has no choice, however, even though he would prefer to avoid political cases at all costs. He travels to Ukraine from Moscow by air - his first flight! The coroner finds the woman was murdered, which to Korolev’s horror means he must investigate party members. While he is loyal to the party he finds himself trapped by that loyalty and his obligation to justice.

Ryan’s writing portrays not only the terrible anxiety produced by Stalin’s Communism that is in opposition to the Orthodox church, still operating in secrecy, but also the danger of antagonizing the party during a time of Stalin’s frequent purges. An excellent novel, I look forward to reading more by Ryan.

I read The Midnight Hour by Elly Griffiths, set in 1965 in Brighton, England.

I read An Invitation to Murder by Leighann Dobbs

I just realized that I can count the book I just finished for this: The Vanishing Man by Charles Finch

>33 VivienneR: I'm taking a BB for this one! Thanks for your review.

A Murder in Time / Julie McElwain
4 stars

Kendra is a profiler with the FBI. She is injured in a shoot out that involved one of her own as a traitor; someone else died. (I missed a bunch of activity, then) suddenly she wakes up in the early 19th century where a teenage girl is found murdered. For the brief time Kendra has been here, she’s been pretending to be a servant. She can tell right away this murder is the work of a serial killer and he will kill again, but how does she convince the aristocracy to believe her so she can help find the killer? They mostly tended not to think women were terribly smart at the time, and how could she know some of the things she knows?

I really liked this. I listened to the audio and except for the present day stuff (I did miss a bunch at the very beginning and had a hard time focusing at the very end when we were back in current day), the entire rest of the book was interesting and appealing to me. I liked that the current-day investigator was unable to rely on many current-day technologies, and

I read High Midnight by Stuart Kaminsky. Set in Hollywood of the 1940s and featuring Gary Cooper, this was a fun read.

April's MysteryKit is up and can be found here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/359278

Die Henkerstochter is not billed as a mystery, but since it is a pretty straightforward whodunit, I'm counting it here.

COMPLETED

Act of Mercy
Our Lady of Darkness
Hemlock At Vespers

all by Peter Tremayne from his Sister Fidelma series set in Ireland in the 660s.

Starting The Case of the Undiscovered Corpse by Charlie Cochrane, set in 1952.

I read the first book in a middle grade series featuring an imagined Agatha Christie as a twelve year old, solving a mystery with her new friend Hector Perot - The Body Under The Piano.

>43 JayneCM: I just started that one! So far I'm finding it well written. Adult worthy (not that kids aren't worthy of good writing).

COMPLETED The Case of the Undiscovered Corpse by Charlie Cochrane (1950s Britain).

Starting The Ring That Caesar Wore by Ashley Gardner (60s AD Rome)

I just finished The Satapur Moonstone by Sujata Massey, book 2 in the Perveen Mistry series which takes place in 1921 India. I am also working on An Excellent Mystery by Ellis Peters, book 11 in the Brother Cadfael series.

COMPLETED The Ring That Caesar Wore by Ashley Gardner (60s AD Rome)

My review:

On a building site, Leonidas finds a half-buried ring with an inscription which feeds Nero's paranoia about plots against him. The emperor gives Leonidas and Cassia 8 days to uncover the conspiracy - but what if it doesn't exist?

I find the author's books very readable with engaging characters and intriguing plots but her failure to do her homework, occasionally apparent in her Regency and Victorian books, becomes impossible to ignore here. At the very least she needs to understand what "patrician", "plebeian", and "equestrian" actually meant in Rome.

I tried reading Silver Pigs but never could get into it. However, the latest Laurie R. King book in the Holmes/Russell series, The Lantern's Dance, has arrived at the public library and I'm picking it up after work today. It should fit.

I read The Tale of Holly How by Susan Wittig Albert, a Beatrix Potter cozy mystery that takes place in 1905.

ETA: Oh, oops! Are we not counting nonfiction? This one is nonfiction.

Hell's Half-Acre / Susan Jonusas
3.5 stars

The Benders were a group of four people, an older couple known simply as Ma and Pa, and a younger couple. No one knows if the younger were siblings or married. They moved to a plot of land in Kansas in the 1870s and stayed for a few years. The younger woman, Kate, called herself a “spiritualist”. They sold groceries (or had a sign out to do so, anyway), and attracted travellers with food and a place to stay. Unfortunately for some of those travellers, the Benders were also serial killers. When some of the locals were suspicious when the local doctor went missing, the Benders up and ran. No one ever found them. As the locals started looking around, the bodies were piling up on the homestead. There were at least 11 people killed, mostly men, mostly travellers, but one 18 month-old baby buried with her dad (they think the baby was buried alive).

I read a shorter account of this somewhere, I’d like to say not long ago, but it may be longer than I’m thinking. This was an expanded version of the story. Only about the first 1/3 of the book told of them coming to the area until they ran. The next bit of the book followed them to the wilds of Texas, where there were a lot more outlaws and places to hide, and people to help them hide. Beyond that, no one knows where they ended up. The last bit of the book was when, 16 years later, someone thought they’d found Ma and Kate; there were trials to determine if they really were the Benders or not. There is an extensive note section at the end, as well.

I thought the start and end were the more interesting. The middle part, as the Benders made their escape, was less interesting as we focused on a few of the other criminal element who helped them along their way (one of these people talked to police while he was in jail later on, so that’s how some of this is known). Overall, I’d say this was good. Certainly a lot of research went into it.

>50 LibraryCin: I think this counts. We never specified that it had to be fiction.

>51 LadyoftheLodge: Thanks. >1 Robertgreaves: just only mentions fiction, but there are nonfiction historical mysteries, as well. :-)

>50 LibraryCin: >51 LadyoftheLodge: Yeah, I don't read much true crime so it tends to slip under my radar somewhat. But it definitely counts

>53 Robertgreaves: Thanks!

Thank you for participating. I hope you all enjoyed whenever you ended up whether with tried and trusted authors or some who were new-to-you as your guides.

>55 Robertgreaves: thank you for hosting. I didn't get the Laurie R. King read, too tired from yard work performed on a beautiful weekend.