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Anyone a Historical Mystery fan?

50K views 480 replies 41 participants last post by  stansmithattorney 
#1 ·
I did do a search, but it might be my search fu is broken as I can't find a specific thread for HM.

Besides historical romance, historical mysteries are my other love. I got hooked on a few, but I always look for more.

My favorite must be CS Harris St. Cyr series. I know I am not alone in that and its probably a tough one to ask for more series in that quality.
I do also really love Ashley Gardners Captain Lacey series. On both of them I now have to pace myself as I only have 3 books left before I am caught up. Then what.  :eek:

I started the Victoria Thompson series, although its set a bit later than I like in time period. I think the reason I love the CS Harris series so much is because the investigating is done around regency time and there are no modern things like electricity and all that. Its the same for me when I read HR. I just don't want to be to modern. But I did like the first Thompson, Murder in Astor Place. Not as much as the others, but its early yet.

I already started the Amelia Peabody one and its a bit tougher for me to get into the characters to be honest. Although I do love the setting in Egypt.

Course I love the Lady Grey series by Deanna Raybourn.

Another I am also totally loving and awaiting the next in series is Anna Lee Hubers series. Wonderful.

Also exited about Sherry Thomas new series with A Study in Sherlock women is the first. Will be a loooooooooooooooong time for the next though. It was really really good though.

For standalone I read a couple of Simone St. James that I liked, they are on the gothic side, also set a bit more modern.

I read a Tracy Grant, but didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I should. Same with the Anne Perry Thomas Pitt where I read the first one.

And now I am panicking that I am running out of the good historical mysteries. Series especially, although I am not opposed to standalones of course if they are good.

Can we clone CS Harris?  ;D Every single one of those books has been a 5 star read for me. I am going to pout the day I am caught up with that series.

Allright, lets have it. What HM did you like, or wanted to like, or are wanting to read, have heard of.

I feel like needing a thread also for mysteries that are not cozy. Or maybe not as I always get confused at what cozy is or isn't.
 
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#2 ·
Atunah said:
I did do a search, but it might be my search fu is broken as I can't find a specific thread for HM.

Besides historical romance, historical mysteries are my other love. I got hooked on a few, but I always look for more.

My favorite must be CS Harris St. Cyr series. I know I am not alone in that and its probably a tough one to ask for more series in that quality.
I do also really love Ashley Gardners Captain Lacey series. On both of them I now have to pace myself as I only have 3 books left before I am caught up. Then what. :eek:

I started the Victoria Thompson series, although its set a bit later than I like in time period. I think the reason I love the CS Harris series so much is because the investigating is done around regency time and there are no modern things like electricity and all that. Its the same for me when I read HR. I just don't want to be to modern. But I did like the first Thompson, Murder in Astor Place. Not as much as the others, but its early yet.

I already started the Amelia Peabody one and its a bit tougher for me to get into the characters to be honest. Although I do love the setting in Egypt.

Course I love the Lady Grey series by Deanna Raybourn.

Another I am also totally loving and awaiting the next in series is Anna Lee Hubers series. Wonderful.

Also exited about Sherry Thomas new series with A Study in Sherlock women is the first. Will be a loooooooooooooooong time for the next though. It was really really good though.

For standalone I read a couple of Simone St. James that I liked, they are on the gothic side, also set a bit more modern.

I read a Tracy Grant, but didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I should. Same with the Anne Perry Thomas Pitt where I read the first one.

And now I am panicking that I am running out of the good historical mysteries. Series especially, although I am not opposed to standalones of course if they are good.

Can we clone CS Harris? ;D Every single one of those books has been a 5 star read for me. I am going to pout the day I am caught up with that series.

Allright, lets have it. What HM did you like, or wanted to like, or are wanting to read, have heard of.

I feel like needing a thread also for mysteries that are not cozy. Or maybe not as I always get confused at what cozy is or isn't.
Amelia Peabody is cozy (Elizabeth Peters) although not your standard cozy. I guess it would be historical, adventure cozy as opposed to a lot of the cozy stuff out there that is "career" cozy--focused on tea shops, hobbies and so on. I don't read a lot of the hobby cozies myself, but I love Amelia Peabody.

It's not in the right time period, but you might like No Game for a Dame (pulp fiction historical) M. Ruth Myers. It's perma free so you can't go wrong even if you don't like it. I don't care much for the cover and I think the first two were better than the third, but it might be a new genre for you to try.

Look into Rhys Bowen her royal spyness mysteries. They were a little cozier than I like (I'm not a big historical reader) but you might like them!
 
#3 ·
I enjoy the Royal Spyness mysteries too. I've been reading a lot of Golden Age mysteries lately--Agatha Christie, Patricia Wentworth, and Dorothy L. Sayers.

Have you tried Stephanie Barron's series about Jane Austen? I'm not a big fan of historical figures as sleuths but Barron's series does work for me. I recently read Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas and enjoyed it.

The Darkness Knows by Cheryl Honigford is another historical mystery you might want to check out, but it is 1930s Chicago, so maybe not your favorite time period, Atunah. :)
 
#4 ·
I know we both also like the Tasha Alexander Lady Emily historical mysteries, Atunah. Are you all caught up on those through the library?

I keep seeing this author in the also-boughts of the books that have already been mentioned, but haven't tried her yet. Anyone read this author?

 
#5 ·
Tasha Alexander slipped my mind. I need to continue that one also. See, this is why this year I want to read series books closer together. Not so much binge-ing, but more like reading a few in a row, 2-4 and then not wait 2 years or more for the next. Or I can't remember anything.

Thanks for all the recs guys. Yeah, 1930's is like my least favorite time period. Or 20's. In all genres really. 30's is too close to WWII which I will not read stuff set in that time. But I'll keep an open mind on it. One never knows.

I never heard of that book you listed. Looks like there are 4 books so far.
 
#6 ·
IMO there isn't anything to compare to the Harris series, Atunah, and I follow several other historical mystery series and do like them, but....

I enjoyed both the Captain Lacey and Victoria Thompson series through quite a few books, but they lost their appeal for me for reasons I mentioned in another thread. At a guess people who love Regency won't have my problem with them.

Also in another thread I mentioned Sheri Cobb South's John Pickett mysteries. I think out of what I've read to date I might put them #2 behind Harris. It's a limited series, six out so far and supposedly one more to come, Regency England as I remember.

It's been quite a while since I read Kate Ross's Julian Kestral mysteries, but I liked them a lot. There are only four, and it's my understanding the author died so there won't be more, also Regency period as I remember. Three set in England and the fourth in Italy.

P.B. Ryan wrote the Nell Sweeney series. This is another limited one, six on my Kindle. Set in Boston 1869, so pre-electricity.  :)

When I say limited series, I mean that there's a romance in addition to the mysteries, and when the couple gets their romance straightened out, the series ends.
 
#10 ·
Miss Fisher mysteries by Kerry Greenwood are delightful, and well researched. The series takes place in the 1920s in Australia and it is a madcap adventurous fun - but not without more serious factors. I also liked the TV series. Warning - there is a plenty of sex, although not of an explicit kind (well, mostly).



From the same time period but situated in England, there is Daisy Dalrymple investigating all sorts of crime in old English houses (including the Tower of London). I love the characters and the setting, although the investigation part tends to be a bit slow. Definitely a cozy kind of books.



I am just reading Anne Perry's Monk series but it is too early to decide whether I'd like them or not.
 
#11 ·
Since we've moved our historical time periods into eras with electricity now and then  ;), Charles Todd (who I understand is actually a husband/wife writing team) has two WWI series. Bess Crawford is a battlefield nurse. Ian Rutledge is a Scotland Yard inspector who fought in the war, was hospitalized with battle fatigue, and is trying to function while hiding this shameful secret (in those days the general consensus was that those who suffered battle fatigue were cowards). I started with the Inspector Rutledge stories, thinking I'd like them better, but when I moved on to the Bess Crawford ones, preferred those, although I like them both. Neither has a romantic thread, although I saw what may be signs of one coming in the last Inspector Rutledge book.
 
#13 ·
As I was carousing more HM, I came across Lucinda Brant. I own the first 2 in the Alec Halsey series and I didn't own the 3rd yet, which sells at 5.99. Then I saw that she just put out a box set of all 3 for 99 cents. So I snapped that up for the 3rd.


This author gets great reviews among my goodreads reading buddies and she also writes historical romances set in georgian time. One of my favorite time periods. ;D. These HM are also set in that time, 1760's.

I am now looking to see if its just going to be 3, or if more are being worked on.
 
#14 ·
I don't know about historical mystery, to be specific, but I came across a historical fiction work by Dan Simmons some time ago, called The Terror. The whole premise is about the real, lost two ships of the 1800s that sought passage through the arctic and were never heard from again. Now, there's not much mystery to this, but there is definitely an element of horror and suspense. Summed up, the book is about these two ships, trapped in ice North of Canada, while some monstrous thing roams the ice outside, ready to attack any Sailors who dare leave the ships.

Now, this isn't what I'd consider to be traditional 'mystery' novel, but if you're looking for some historical based fiction that deals with facts of history which we don't know (Lost ships, what happened to them, etc.), then you might enjoy this one. There's no detective work or Sherlock type thought, but simply pure survival in a hostile environment.
I only bring it up in this thread because I enjoyed it for many of the same reasons that I enjoy mystery fiction. Typically, I like mystery novels because I find myself trying to outdo the protagonist and trying to figure out the answer before they do, but another factor that I enjoy in this genre is the idea of not knowing. In other words, this is my perfect mix of thriller meets mystery.
When faced with a situation that I don't understand and have to deal with it or die, I get much the same enjoyment that I do from deciphering a criminal case file. You get the best of both worlds: trying to solve the puzzle and knowing that your life depends on it at the same time.

I don't think you'd be disappointment if you checked this one out.
 
#15 ·
Surprised no one has mentioned Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series. Basically they're historical detective novels set in Nazi Germany.

I'd also recommend the Charlie Berlin books by Geoffrey McGeachin. All are set in post war Melbourne and have a delightfully noir flavour. Sort of like an Australian Raymond Chandler.
 
#18 ·
Have you read Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier? I mean, you probably have, but I hadn't read it until last year. Probably the best book I've read in the last few years. I found another book by her at the library - Jamaica Inn. It wasn't quite as remarkable as Rebecca, but it was still a very good mystery. The writing is a little old fashioned of course, but not dry, IMO.
 
#20 ·
Wisteria Clematis said:
The boxed set of all three of Lucinda Brant's 'Alec Halsey' mysteries is on sale right now for 99 cents. Sorry, not sure how to create a link from my iPad (am traveling right now).
That's a good deal! Adding the link, so kboards can get credit for possible purchases.



* Just noticed that Atunah posted this sale on 1/21. I had missed that, good to see that it's still on sale!
 
#24 ·
I am reading "A perilous Undertaking" right now. Not very far in yet, I did like the first. Both characters are a bit eccentric.

Has anyone ever read a series by Joan Smith, the Berkeley Brigade? Don't think I have come across it before. This is the first which is 99 cents


The early ones were first published I think in the mid 90's and they are all now out with Belgrave House, hence the horrible covers. All their regency stuff has these bad covers. These are mysteries though. The first couple don't get super great reviews, but later ones do and there are 12 books out now.
I suppose I can just try the first, but wondering if anyone has read those.
 
#25 ·
Atunah said:
I am reading "A perilous Undertaking" right now. Not very far in yet, I did like the first. Both characters are a bit eccentric.

Has anyone ever read a series by Joan Smith, the Berkeley Brigade? Don't think I have come across it before. This is the first which is 99 cents


The early ones were first published I think in the mid 90's and they are all now out with Belgrave House, hence the horrible covers. All their regency stuff has these bad covers. These are mysteries though. The first couple don't get super great reviews, but later ones do and there are 12 books out now.
I suppose I can just try the first, but wondering if anyone has read those.
New to me. For 99 cents, though, it might be worth a try . . . . . reviews are a bit mixed though mostly positive.
 
#26 ·
Ann in Arlington said:
New to me. For 99 cents, though, it might be worth a try . . . . . reviews are a bit mixed though mostly positive.
That is what I am thinking. That is a very prolific author and after checking, I found I read one of her traditional regencies and I loved it. And that one was from 1977, so she's been writing for a long time.
I am just itching to find more HM series with lots of books out already. Cause once I get started on them and I like them, I read them pretty fast. ;D
 
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