This folder is for books such as Dissolution by C.J Sansom or The American Boy by Andrew Taylor - or other mysteries set in the past.

Oooh what a lovely folder this one is - thanks Fiona.

:O)

Okay Bettie... fill'er up!! I love these books but have been so fossilized! I need some new things to read!!

Have you tried Karen Maitland, Hayes? Or those mixed author mysteries such asThe Tainted Relic An Historical Mystery, which is a fun and light-read series.

You might want to have a look into some of these authors too:

Jecks Michael
Bernard Knight
Ellis Peters
Umberto Eco
Steven Saylor

When Susanna sees this section, she will fill it up with recommendations(especially the Roman crime series) as she is a connoisuer.

:O)

Thanks! *Yum, Yum!*

The Anatomy of Deception by Lawrence Goldstone

psst, titch... when are you going to start using the add book thingy so we can have links to your books... ; )

PS book looks good, thanks

I can recommend the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear and the Didius Falco series by Lindsey Davis

Psst, Hayes, I still need to do the adding lol. I am scared to see how many books I have read or even got lol.

I promise to add my list this weekend ok.

The Anatomy of Deception looks good indeed, and now it's added on the side of this page for reference.

ETA - The Alienist is good too.

Titch... I meant in the posts, so they show up in gold, instead of bold, (and I'm a poet and don't know it!!) That way we can see what book you're talking about right away... it's "add book/author" right above the comment box... if you click on it while you're typing a message, a little window thingy pops up and you can put links to authors and books in your comments

Ok thanks Hayes. I only ever add the link to where the book is, ie Amazon or Fantastic Fiction.

Mistress of the Art of Death, by Ariana Franklin I liked OK - and my mother (also a mystery fiend) liked it more than I do. I believe it has two sequels, The Serpent's Tale and Grave Goods, which I haven't read (though I have The Serpent's Tale).

The Dante Club A Novel is fun. So is Medicus A Novel of the Roman Empire.

Definitely recommend both The Alienist and Maisie Dobbs.

But I think C.J. Sansom's Matthew Shardlake novels are the best historical mysteries I've ever read.

I really want to read some historical crime...

I have read The American Boy by Andrew Taylor which is set in the Victorian era - and so good too. He writes most things set in the recent past then really historical though.

I have got tor read Dissolution.

I belong to a face-to-face historical mystery group and here are some of the authors we have read.

Cora Harrison- Medieval Ireland

Charles Todd -Inspector Ian Rutledge series in post WWI England

Rebecca Pawel- Sargent Tejada - 1940s Spain

Suzanne Arruda - Jade Del Cameron mysteries - 1920s Africa

Susanna Gregory - Matthew Barthalomew mysteries - 14th century Cabmridge

Colin Cotterill - Dr. Siri mysteries - 1970s Laos

Candace Robb - Owen Archer series - 14th century England

Will Thomas - Cyrus Barker series - Victorian England

wow, great list.

My goodness Donna - this genre is not exactly lacking great picks, now is it.

My husband isn't a reader, but we have found that he loves historical crime. He's loved Caleb Carr and C.J. Sansom, so I'll have to get him to check out some of these others. I'll check them out too! Thanks for the recs guys!

Hey Fiona and Kandice, after just finishing and loving the 3rd Matthew Pearl book, The Last Dickens A Novel, I was wondering if we should start a literary mystery/thriller thread, or do you want to just include them in this thread? I love all of Pearl's literary mysteries, but I think I might love The Last Dickens the most.

No no feel free to create any topics you wish. I just left these topics open so people could create lists (as you wonderful people have been doing) and other discussion.

I just started Billy Boyle A World War II Mystery by James Benn. So far I am enjoying it. Has anyone else read this?

No, I haven't, Donna. Is this one recent?

I think it was published in 2006 and the paperback version just came out.

I like Rhys Bowen's new Her Royal Spyness series set in 1932 in London. Lot's of real historical people intertwined in the stories. Bit light on the mystery part, but goes down easy. Bowen's prose is smooth as silk.

I read Steven Saylor, but I love Lindsey Davis' Marcus Didus Falco series - kind of Spenser in a toga. John Maddox Roberts' SPQR is entertaining too. Read under Vesuvius earlier this year.

Read a lot of Ellis Peters years ago. Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series has its ups and downs but is overall pretty good.

I just bought Charles Finch's A Beautiful Blue Death set in Victorian England but it's on a big TBR pile. Like Will Thomas. He has quite a few of his Baker and Llewelyn books out.

Hard to find are the books by Sheri Cobb South, but this Regency England series has good reviews. I have both of the John Pickett books on the TBR - which grows daily.

I finished Billy Boyle A World War II Mystery and really enjoyed it. Not a really heavy mystery but not exactly a light read either. The plot had plenty of twists and turns and as the first in the series sets up several of interesting characters that are sure to reappear in later books.

This particular book had to do with the role of Norway in WW II and I really did not know much about that so that added to my interest.

I just finished The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey, and now I'm obsessed with Richard III and his innocence in the matter of the princes in the tower. I've ordered 3 non-fiction books and 1 fiction book about it from Amazon to continue my reading on it. I, also, joined a group on goodreads called Richard III. As if I didn't have a long enough reading list already.

I am now reading In the Woods by Tana French, and I think it's going to live up to its hype.

Donna wrote: "I finished Billy Boyle A World War II Mystery and really enjoyed it. Not a really heavy mystery but not exactly a light read either. The plot had plenty of twists and turns and as th..."


Good to hear, Donna. I still have this one in my TBR pile. It's been there forever.

Historical crime fiction is a relatively new sub-genre for me but I picked up a new one recently - it's called The Consequences of Sin and is set in Edwardian England and features a young suffragette as the heroine. I've only just started reading it but it seems to be very promising. I initially bought it because the author is a fellow Aussie (although she was born in England and now lives in the US).

Sounds interesting, Bernadette. I may have to look for that one.

I recently finished The Watcher in the Pine by Rebecca Pawel which is the third book in this series set in Spain during Franco and the start of WW II. I am really enjoying this series. Since I don't know much about Spanish history I am learning a good bit and enjoying the mysteries too.

I just finished Death on the Nevskii Prospekt by David Dickinson which is set in Tsarist Russia at the beginning of the Russian Revolution. This is one of the later titles in the series so I think I missed a bit of character development but I did enjoy the mystery and especially the descriptions of Russia and Russians during this time.

I highly recommend the Sir John Fielding series by Bruce Alexander. The first book in the series is Blind Justice. Sir John Fielding is the creator of the Bow Street Runners Police and a blind justice sitting on the bench. The books are a wonderful picture of London. I do recommend reading the books in order as the characters do age and develop relationships that continue from book to book. Blind Justice

Bettie wrote: "You might want to have a look into some of these authors too: Jecks Michael, Bernard Knight, Ellis Peters, Umberto Eco and Steven Saylor"

I really like Ellis Peters who, unfortunately is no longer with us. Steven Saylor is great, too, very historically accurate. I am not a fan of Umberto Eco, too obscure for me.

Somebody else mentioned Lindsey Davis who writes Roman based stories in the manner of Robert Parker and his ilk.

I'd like to recommend Arturo Perez-Reverte and his Captain Altariste Books. Some of his other titles dip into history ala Dan Brown. Perez-Reverte is a better writer than Brown in my opinion.

Bernard Cornwell has written a couple of historical mysteries. I particularly liked Gallows Thief.

The finest series of WW II historical spy stories which are, of course, also mysteries is Alan Furst. His literary skills are top-notch and his stories are densely plotted masterpieces.

I mustn't forget Rennie Airth's River of Darkness Takes place in Post WW I England. Very well done.

I've added some books to my already overcrowded TBR list from this discussion. Thanks, all.

I just finished Murder on the Eiffel Tower by Claude Izner. It was a good start to a new series with a wonderful setting during the Exposition of 1889 in Paris and the opening of the Eiffel Tower. As with some first books the plotting was a bit weak but the main characters have promise and I would probably give the next book a chance.

Bettie wrote: "You might want to have a look into some of these authors too:

Jecks Michael
Bernard Knight
Ellis Peters
Umberto Eco
[author:Steven S..."

Susanna is the one who often fills up my shelves!

Donna wrote: "I belong to a face-to-face historical mystery group and here are some of the authors we have read.

Cora Harrison- Medieval Ireland

Charles Todd -Inspector Ian Rut..."

Charles Todd has good, fast stories.

(by the way I am catching up here)