Historical Mystery

The historical mystery or historical whodunit is a subgenre of two literary genres, historical fiction and mystery fiction. These works are set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the central plot involves the solving of a mystery or crime (usually murder). Though works combining these genres have existed since at least the early 1900s, many credit Ellis Peters's Cadfael Chronicles (1977-1994) for popularizing what would become known as the historical mystery. ...more

The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives
Daughter of Egypt
The Dreadfuls
A Ghastly Catastrophe (Veronica Speedwell, #10)
Ruby Falls
The Star from Calcutta (Perveen Mistry, #5)
A Love Most Daring (Bow Street #3)
Heiress of Nowhere
A Day of Judgment (Inspector Ian Rutledge #25)
The Harvey Girl
Who Killed The Earl of Moran? (Casebook of Barnaby Adair #13)
Never Spar with a Viscount (Secret Society of Governess Spies, #3)
The Fourth Princess
The Heir of Whitestone
Enola Holmes and the Clanging Coffin (Enola Holmes #10)
When the Wolves Are Silent (Sebastian St. Cyr, #21)
The Last Secret of Lily Adams
The Murder at World's End (Stockingham & Pike, #1)
The Sicilian Inheritance
Last Twilight in Paris
A Ghastly Catastrophe (Veronica Speedwell, #10)
Homecoming
The Heir of Whitestone
Woman on Fire
The Lost Heiress: A Novel
The Predicament
The Missing Pages
Precipice
The Lost Masterpiece
The Museum Detective
Chicago May by Harry DuffinThe Name of the Rose by Umberto EcoSpoils of Victory by John A. ConnellMistress of the Art of Death by Ariana FranklinCrocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
Best Historical Crime Fiction
197 books — 74 voters
The Name of the Rose by Umberto EcoThe Alienist by Caleb CarrThe Historian by Elizabeth KostovaThe Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz ZafónMistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
Best Historical Mystery
2,252 books — 4,735 voters

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-GarciaThe Woman in Black by Susan         HillJamaica Inn by Daphne du MaurierThe Little Stranger by Sarah WatersSecrets of Rose Briar Hall by Kelsey James
Gothic Historical Fiction
294 books — 154 voters

What Angels Fear (Sebastian St. Cyr, #1)
A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell, #1)
Silent in the Grave (Lady Julia Grey, #1)
Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody, #1)
Maisie Dobbs (Maisie Dobbs, #1)
And Only to Deceive (Lady Emily, #1)
The Anatomist's Wife (Lady Darby Mystery, #1)
A Study in Scarlet Women (Lady Sherlock, #1)
Silent in the Sanctuary (Lady Julia Grey, #2)
Mistress of the Art of Death (Mistress of the Art of Death, #1)
Her Royal Spyness (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries, #1)
Murder on Astor Place (Gaslight Mystery, #1)
The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, #1)
Murder on Black Swan Lane (Wrexford & Sloane, #1)
When Gods Die (Sebastian St. Cyr, #2)

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Time travelers, gather ’round!   If you’re in the market for a temporary reprieve from our current era of history—perfectly...
Umberto Eco
Quizá la tarea del que ama a los hombres consista en lograr que éstos se rían de la verdad, lograr que la verdad ría, porque la única verdad consiste en aprender a liberarnos de la insana pasión por la verdad.
Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose

Meanwhile, Mabel waited outside the Prince of Wales Hotel on Lord Street. She'd perched her bony bottom on the pointed-top wall that ran alongside it, opposite the barbershop. She could smell the sweet, crisp freshness that came with springtime as the sun had finally managed to fight its way through the cloud cover. Unfortunately, though, it seemed that no matter where in this town she went, memories of her father haunted her. As she sat on the wall, her feet turned inwards and, with a dull numb ...more
Ida O'Flynn, The Distressing Case of a Young Married Woman

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