OVERVIEW
This is my first eARC/eBOOK of 2025! This historical fiction mystery book was a great first ARC to start the year!
Two women Founding Members of the Detection Club in London persuaded three other women mystery writers to join. These five writers also form a subgroup called the Queens of Crime. The writers initially decided to solve the murder of a young English nurse in France, as a lark, but then the "detective work" becomes more real and they want to find the murderer for the victim.
This was my fourth book by Marie Benedict and it was another really good one! The Queens of Crime could become a series - I would love it!
OVERALL REVIEW: 4.5 stars
Writing: 4.5 stars
Marie always writes lovely prose, descriptive language, and a twist. I loved how the author wrote about post-WWI London, a time rarely written about at all in historical fiction novels.
Character development: 4.5 stars
The main characters are Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy. Apparently, all five were real-life mystery writers (I only knew of Agatha Christie).
The secondary characters are May (the victim), Celia (the victim's friend), Mac (Dorothy's husband and a newspaper journalist), and Ivy (Dorothy's cousin).
The tertiary characters are French residents, French police, Boulogne, and the suspects.
Again, many characters in the storyline were not developed fully. They, however, were necessary for the detailed storyline.
Storyline: 4.5 stars
The Queens of Crime decides to try and solve the murder of May in Boulougne-sur-Mer, France after playing a "closed room" game at their first meeting. The writers travel to the crime scene, retrace May and Celia's footsteps, and then discover many clues the French police missed or chose to ignore. It gets more mysterious and interesting as the murderer becomes known.
The "detective work" takes place in March/April 1931 with the ending set in December 1931. The five mystery writers solved this crime without resources other than their wit and puzzle-solving skill sets which the police were unable to do so. It shows that women need to be involved in crimes involving women.
The main locations were London, England, Boulougne-sur-Mer, France, and other locales in England.
Memorable/Informative: 4.5 stars
It was awesome that these five mystery writers joined the Detection Club and formed the Queens of Crime. I love women empowerment stories especially historical characters that I knew nothing about.
Unfortunately, I do not know how closely this novel varies from the real-life facts that it is fictionalized on. There wasn't an Author's Note so there were no source materials. With most historical fiction, there is a thorough explanation to wrap up the story in a nice bow.
Book cover: 5.0 stars
Lovely!!
Book title: 5.0 stars
Great choice!
STRONG recommend
BOOK INFORMATION
NetGalley ARC (eARC/ebook)
The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict
320 pages
St. Martin's Press
FUTURE release date of 2/11/2025
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
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