The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

Does anyone have any suggestions for novels in the Historical Mystery genre? I like mysteries, but I prefer them to be set in Victorian times, or before. Thanks in advance!

Hello Alana.
In Medieval times, I suggest any of "Brother Cadfael" by Ellis Peters.
Set in emperors time China, Robert van Gulik's Judge Ti(name could be different in English) are excellent.
Tell me what you chose.

I enjoyed A Burnable Book.

Some of Jean Plaidy, Phillippa Carr and Victoria Holt write about that time frame; actually, there are many others, and yes I agree with Annie about Ellis Peters.

I enjoyed the books of Bruce Alexander and his blind protagonist which take place in 18th Century London.

He has since passed, but there were seven or eight in the series. I would recommend reading them in order. 1st in series was Blind Justice I believe.

The Gower Street Detective is a series set in Victorian time. It has quite a bit of humour as it parodies Sherlock Holmes a bit.

Another fun series is the Amelia Peabody mysteries. Again quite a bit of humour. It's set in Victorian times but usually in places like Egypt.

I've been enjoying this series Frances Doughty. Set in Victorian London.

Florence & Giles, Affinity and Fingersmith are good stand alone Victorian mysteries.

You can't go wrong with the classic Victorian mysteries: Sherlock Holmes series and books by Wilkie Collins.

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective is non-fiction but contains a real life Victorian case and contains a lot of interesting info on the Victorian detectives, etc and their influence on writers like Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens.

Other good true crime books set in the Victorian times or just before it are Mr Briggs' Hat: A Sensational Account of Britain's First Railway Murder and The Maul And The Pear Tree.

Not Victorian:

The Matthew Shardlake series is one of the best historical mystery series I've read. Set in Tudor times.

Another good non-Victorian series is the Mistress of the Art of Death series. Set in 12th century England.

Anne Perry has two series set in Victorian times - Monk starting with The Face of a Stranger and Thomas Pitt The Cater Street Hangman

The Last Kashmiri Rose is the first is the Joe Sandilands series by Barbara Cleverly set in India during the Raj.

Martin Jensen's King's Hounds series is translated from Danish and is a kind of combination of Ellis Peters's Cadfael series and Bernard Cornwell's Saxon books. Set in the time of King Canute in England.

Charles Todd and Jacqueline Winspear have series set during and immediately after the First World War.

Ann Granger's Ben Ross series is also set in Victorian England starting with A Rare Interest in Corpses.

Jean-François Parot's Nicolas le Floch series is set in pre-Revolutionary Paris.

Edward Marston's Railway Detective series is set in 1850s England.

You could try Lady Audley's Secret. It's not a historical mystery, but was a contemporary mystery when it was written in 1864. It's a bit like reading a mystery written by Jane Austen.

If you like your mysteries in Roman times you can try Lindsey Davis's Falco series or Ruth Downie's Ruso series. Paul Doherty and Steven Saylor are also options.

Boris Akunin has a series set in 1870's Russia starting with The Winter Queen.

Josephine Tey, and Nancy would be the person who could really make the best suggestions.

david seaman wrote: "I enjoyed the books of Bruce Alexander and his blind protagonist which take place in 18th Century London.

He has since passed, but there were seven or eight in the series. I would recommend readin..."

I second Bruce Alexanders series. I myself am going to pick up #6.

Wendy wrote: "david seaman wrote: "I enjoyed the books of Bruce Alexander and his blind protagonist which take place in 18th Century London.

He has since passed, but there were seven or eight in the series. I w..."

I'm on #4 Person or Persons Unknown.

What a comprehensive list you compiled. I really enjoy both of Anne Perry's series. I just finished "A Breach of Promise" - a Monk book, and found it one of the most satisfying reads in a very long time.
Wilke Collins is great writer and very noir. I also really loved the
Boris Akunin series set in 1870's Russia starting with The Winter Queen. There is much that is amusing in his books, though these are not cozy reads.

Hi, My message of a moment ago was a reply to Carolien ,
though, of course all are welcome to read it. I'm not sure if I did the correct thing so that she would get my reply.

some suggestions from one of my favorite sites:

http://stopyourekillingme.com/History...

Garden wrote: "Hi, My message of a moment ago was a reply to Carolien ,
though, of course all are welcome to read it. I'm not sure if I did the correct thing so that she would get my reply."

I got it Garden. I've just started The Winter Queen, glad to see you recommend it as well.

I think the Oliver Pötzsch books are good. Starting with The Hangman's Daughter. Definatley befor Victorian though.

I love Anna Castle's series featuring Francis Bacon. I've read the first two, Murder by Misrule and Death by Disputation, and gave them both enthusiastic reviews. If you enjoy Elizabethan times, these are great. Humorous, suspenseful, with great settings and characters.

So many recommendations!! Thank you!! I look forward to trying these!

Death by Disputation is free today on Amazon

Alana, I forgot to add Anna Katharine Green. She actually wrote her mysteries in the late 1800s and they are still quite readable - I recently read the first one The Leavenworth Case. They provide a real insight in how investigations proceeded and very good view on Victorian society in New York.

Message 30 in this thread contains a list of early female mystery writers.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Will Thomas (an historian) writes the Barker and Llewelyn series set in Victorian England and there are a number of Steampunk style mysteries set in that period as well including Lynn Viehl with her Disenchanted series (in a fictional US city that sounds like San Francisco) and P. N. Elrod has a new series Her Majesty's Psychic Service starting with The Hanged Man

You might also like Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mysteries, set in New York during the turn of the century.

I've been reading two series of historical mysteries lately, one by Ruth Downie, another by Frank Tallis. Downie's take place in Roman times and feature a "medicus" as the detective. So there's all this arcane medical practices and medicine to learn about. Tallis's take place in the beginning of the 20th century, in Vienna, and feature a detective and his psychiatrist friend. So there's a lot of early psychiatric theories and practices described, some of which is truly bizarre and fun to read about. For both series, the writing is terrific, the characters are engaging, and the plots are intricately woven.