Mixing History with Mystery

Fellow readers, there are few things I love more than crossover titles – books with footing in multiple genres. I am a huge mystery reader, and I will follow mystery plots into many other genres. Today, let’s talk about some new mysteries that are also quite good historical fiction titles.

The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart
In 1703 London, Barnaby Mayne is a preeminent collector, amassing two townhouses worth of cabinets containing birds, beetles, preserved snakes, jewels, and many other wonders of the world. Lady Cecily Kay has arrived to spend a week using Mayne’s dried plant collection to identify plants she has collected on her travels. But on her first day, during a tour of his collections, Mayne is murdered, with his assistant standing above him holding the knife. But something seems off about the situation, so Cecily dives into the competitive world of obsessive collectors to find the true killer. Library Journal called it a “glimpse into the intimate circles that will eventually spawn the great museums.”

A Trace of Deceit by Karen Odden
In 1870s London, Annabel Rowe learns her brother has been murdered, perhaps in order to steal a painting he was restoring. Estranged until recently, Annabel is distraught at the loss of a brother she was just getting to know as an adult. Realizing that Annabel has a firm knowledge of the art world that may help solve the case, Inspector Matthew Hallam enlists Annabel’s help as the investigation takes them to auction houses, restorers, and the homes of upper crust collectors. I loved learning about the art world and art restoration of that time!

Murder at the Mena House
by Erica Ruth Neubauer
In 1926, Jane Wunderly accompanies her Aunt Millie on a trip to Egypt, excited to stay in a hotel adjacent to the pyramids. When flashy flapper Anna Stainton is found murdered in her hotel room, Jane falls under suspicion, and with the help of a mysterious British man named Redvers, Jane sets out to clear her name. This has a wonderfully evocative Egyptian setting, and the narrative includes some interesting, if brief, acknowledgements of the legacy of British occupation in Egypt.

Fortune Favors the Dead
by Stephen Spotswood
In 1945 New York City, former circus performer Willowjean “Will” Parker works as an assistant to private investigator Lillian Pentecost. They take the Collins case, in which Abigail Collins was found murdered inside a locked room at the end of a party, which featured a séance. Who wanted her dead, is it connected to her husband’s suicide two years prior, and what role might the psychic Ariel Belestrade play in it all? This has a great gritty post-war New York City setting, and I enjoyed the centering of both a queer character and a character with chronic illness in this engaging mystery.

~ posted by Andrea G.