Introductions Re-Boot!

[Natalie]

Thank you S.K. I'm looking forward to it.

[D.G.]

I feel like Anne Perry is making money out of her crime, that's why I can't read anything by her anymore. And the crime was so horrendous.

Her and her friend planned to kill the friend's mother - so it was premeditated - and they bashed her over the head with rock until they kill her. The reason? One of them was moving away (it seems they were having an affair) and they thought by killing the friend's mother, they could be together. And they were 15 years old and AP was supposedly very bright so they did know what they were doing.

If this had happened today, she would have been tried as an adult and never come out of jail but back then, lesbianism was considered a mental illness, so they were only in jail for 5 years.

[Donna]

Hello everyone. I love history, historical fiction, and historical mysteries. One of my greatest reading pleasures is finding a historical mystery series and digging in from first to last. Two recent favorites are Glynis Tryon (starting with Seneca Falls Inheritance) and the Flavia de Luce mysteries (starting with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.)

I'm finding lots of good books here to add to my tbr list!

[Lauren]

Hey Donna! Welcome to the group.
You're in the right place for recommendations :0)

[Natalie]

FYI
Free book today only
The Crown in the Feather by N Gemini Sasson
13th century Scotland book 1 of Bruce Trilogy
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google and Apple

[Natalie]

Correction on title The Crown in the Heather.

[Lauren]

Thanks Natalie. I'm going to start a deals and freebies thread. Would you mind reposting the details there once its up?

[Natalie]

Sure.

[Michelle]

D.G. wrote: "I feel like Anne Perry is making money out of her crime, that's why I can't read anything by her anymore. And the crime was so horrendous.

Her and her friend planned to kill the friend's mother - ..."
Wow...what a story

[Merle]

Donna wrote: "Hello everyone. I love history, historical fiction, and historical mysteries. One of my greatest reading pleasures is finding a historical mystery series and digging in from first to last. Two r..."

I greatly enjoyed the Seneca Falls books with Glynis Tryon and the later ones with her niece. I seem to have an affinity for the American Historical.

[Natalie]

Hi Merle
Those were a good series that I enjoyed also.

[Susan]

I have just really started to read historical mysteries. So I just have one favorite author. I do enjoy Charles Todd.
I can not wait to explore and find new authors to read. Like stories that around the eras of the world wars.

[Meghan]

Susan wrote: "I have just really started to read historical mysteries. So I just have one favorite author. I do enjoy Charles Todd.
I can not wait to explore and find new authors to read. Like stories that..."

Welcome! Which Charles Todd series are you reading?

[Lauren]

Welcome to the group Susan.

I plan on reading my first Charles Todd next month .

Hope you enjoy the group :0)

[Rhonda]

Susan wrote: "I have just really started to read historical mysteries. So I just have one favorite author. I do enjoy Charles Todd.
I can not wait to explore and find new authors to read. Like stories that..."

Rhonda wrote: You would probably like the Jacqueline Winspear series starting with Maisie Dobbs. Another one is Mr Churchills Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal. There are so many to choose from.

[Marsha]

Susan wrote: "I have just really started to read historical mysteries. So I just have one favorite author. I do enjoy Charles Todd.
I can not wait to explore and find new authors to read. Like stories that..."

[Marsha]

Susan, I am new to the group as well, but not to historical mysteries. Charles Todd is a favorite as well. I just finished the first book in a new to me series...by Rennie Airth set at the end of WE1. I will be reading more. There is an excellent series by James Benn set during WE2 that is very well written.
Marsha

[Michell]

I have found a love of the british historical mystery genre. Some of my favorites are:

Rhys Bowen
Charles Finch
C.S. Harris
Anne Perry
Charles Todd
Susan Elia MacNeal
Jeanne Dams
Bruce Alexander
Susan Wittig Albert and Bill Albert
Will Thomas
Edward Martson

I am anxious to read all posts to get recommendations for other authors to read.

[Lauren]

Welcome to the group, Michell.
If you are looking for a specific recommendation, feel free to post a requisition in the recommendations folder. Hope you find some good ones!

[Irene]

hi, I'm Irene.

I read mostly fiction about the Ancient Roman and Greek world as I have a related online book discussion group: http://romanhistorybooks.typepad.com

We do love mysteries set in that era and there are many of them.

[Irene]

Shomeret wrote: "I like anything that sounds interesting or original. If I've read a great deal in that period before and the protagonist sounds run of the mill, I probably won't be reading it.

My top ten mysteri..."

I have to admit that Ellis Peters was new to me until recently (I gave up watching the TV series at the time) and now have read all of them and gave them 5 stars!

[Irene]

Irene wrote: "hi, I'm Irene.

I read mostly fiction about the Ancient Roman and Greek world as I have a related online book discussion group: http://romanhistorybooks.typepad.com

We do love mysteries set in tha..."

Steven Saylor (Gordianus the Finder, end of the Republic)
Lindsey Davis (Falco series, Flavia Albia series - Flavian emporers)
Ruth Downie (Ancient Britain)
John Maddox Roberts (end of the Republic)
David Wishart (Early 1st century AD)
Gary Corby (Ancient Athens)
Albert Bell (Pliny the Younger)
Bruce Macbain (Pliny the Younger)
Jane Finnis (Ancient Britain)
Rosemary Rowe (Ancient Britain)
Robert Colton (Pompeii)

[Lauren]

Irene wrote: "hi, I'm Irene.

I read mostly fiction about the Ancient Roman and Greek world as I have a related online book discussion group: http://romanhistorybooks.typepad.com

We do love mysteries set in tha..."

Welcome to the group, Irene!

Your group looks good. I'll add it to our list on Historical Mysteries around the WWW thread :0)

Hope you have a good time with us and find new and entertaining books to read.

[Dawn]

Happy Ides of March everyone,

I'm Dawn. I am the mother of seven year old triplets and a manager at a large company. I love historical mysteries, especially set in the Middle Ages or earlier. I started as a young teen reading Agatha Christie and have never lost my passion for a good mystery about a long ago period. Given my favorite time periods, I tend to read about a lot of monks and nuns such as Brother Cadfael, Sister Fidelma, and Priscilla Royal's Prioress Eleanor series. Of course, I also like many other series which span from Ancient Rome to modern day United States. I keep looking for new series to love when I know I can never finish all the series I already love!

Thank you for giving me another source to feed my addiction!

[Mark]

Hello and welcome Dawn

[Lauren]

Welcome to the group, Dawn! No worries, we are here to feed your addiction :0)

[Kelly]

Hello all! I'm Kelly, and I am a mystery lover, but read very eclectically. I am not reading any historical mysteries currently, but recently got introduced to Tasha Alexander and adore Laurie R. King.

[Lauren]

Welcome Kelly. Glad you've joined us and feel free to ask for recommendations :0)

[J.J.]

Hey folks, it's great to see the variety of historical mysteries that people enjoy--from BC to WWII. As a writer, I'm the author of a historical mystery series featuring Dorothy Parker as the sleuth set in Roaring 20s Manhattan (Murder Your Darlings). As a mystery reader, I'm a big fan of Agatha Christie (particularly her Hercule Poirot books) and Arthur Conan Doyle, but as a historical mystery reader, I enjoy Matthew Pearl and Louis Bayard--I wouldn't mind a few suggestions for similar authors. Cheers!

[Lauren]

Welcome to the group, J.J. I've also enjoyed Matthew Pearl's books but Bayard is new to be. I'll have to check him out.

Feel free to ask for recommendations for authors and books in the recommendations section. Hope you enjoy the group!

[Marsha]

I read THE BLACK TOWER by Bayard last year and enjoyed his writing very much.

[Michelle]

Thanks for the new recommendations, guys! I'm struggling to keep up!

[M.]

Been lurking for some time, but have loved hearing about your favorite mysteries. Like many of you---the Brother Cadfael mysteries were my introduction to the idea you could use mysteries to provide insight historical periods of the past. And I have just finished Priscilla Royal's 11th book in her medieval series Satan's Lullaby. A new author I love is Anna Castle who has just put out the second in her Elizabethan series featuring Francis Bacon as the sleuth. The first book is called Murder by Misrule, the second Murder by Disputation.

Because my own Victorian San Francisco Mystery series is set in the Victorian era (based on my dissertation work of 30 years ago on working women in the Far Western US) I don't actually read a lot of work set in that era--it is just too close to home for me :) but have really enjoyed the books set in the post Edwardian era and afterwards. Laurie King's Russel and Holmes series is perhaps my favorite, but I have also enjoyed the US settings of Donis Casey (her fun Alafair Tucker series set in WWI era Oklahoma) and M. Ruth Myer's Depression era Maggie Sullivan private detective series.

I like the idea that you are going to feature a different author each month--will get me out of my writing chair and into reading, which is always a good thing.

[Lauren]

Hey M.
Glad you've come out of lurkdom. Lots of new authors to look into.
Hope you enjoy the group!

[[deleted user]]

Love Alafair and Maggie. Also can't recommend Barbara Hambly's Free Man of Color series highly enough.

[Lauren]

Maggie wrote: "Love Alafair and Maggie. Also can't recommend Barbara Hambly's Free Man of Color series highly enough."

Welcome to the group, Maggie :0)

[Tracey]

Yay! I just discovered this group. I love historical mysteries and it's run by Lauren. Double bonus.

I am currently making my way through the Gaslight Mysteries series by Victoria Thompson, Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen and Phryne Fisher by Kerry Greenwood (although I have tired of this one and am giving it a break). I have also started the Beatrix Potter series by Susan Wittig Albert and the Matthew Bartholomew series by Susanna Gregory.

I'm looking forward to joining in the discussions.

[Michell]

Hello Tracey

I love the series Her Royal Spyness and the Beatrix Potter series. If you find you enjoy Susan Wittig Albert you might also try the series written by her under the name of Robin Page. They are historical mysteries written in the victorian and edwardian period. Fantastic in my opinion!!!

[Tracey]

Thanks Michell! Might give those a go.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

I find I have an almost unlimited appetite for some series, and for others, I have a "read only X in a row and then something else" rule, because otherwise I get sick of them. It's currently 2 for the Miss Fishers.

[Lauren]

Hey Tracey!
So glad you've joined us. I've got all of those authors on my TBR and 2015 is shaping into the year of historical mysteries for me so I'm sure I'll get to them :0)

[Merle]

M. wrote: "Been lurking for some time, but have loved hearing about your favorite mysteries. Like many of you---the Brother Cadfael mysteries were my introduction to the idea you could use mysteries to provid..."

Hi there, M, are you going to remain anonymous, or can we guess who you might be? I think I have an idea but will maintain your privacy if you prefer.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life)]

Thanks Tracey for the invite to this group! It's awesome to see Lauren as moderator for this group. I'm Kris and I enjoy reading mysteries.

For historical mysteries I am currently reading Maisie Dobbs (by Jacqueline Winspear), Lady Emily Ashton (by Tasha Alexander), Lady Julia (by Deanna Raybourn), Bess Crawford (by Charles Todd), Flavia de Luce (by Alan Bradley), Phryne Fisher (by Kerry Greenwood), Detective Murdoch and D.I. Tyler (by Maureen Jennings), Maggie Hope (Susan Elia MacNeal), Drew Farthering (Julianne Deering)and The Highland Gazette (by A.D. Scott). I have a lot more on my tbr list that would take me days to list, lol. I also enjoy mysteries written by authors from the 1920-1960s like Patricia Wentworth, Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, Patricia Highsmith and Dorothy L. Sayers.

I can't wait to discuss books with everyone here.

[Lauren]

Hiya Kris *waves*

So glad you've joined us :0)

I know quite a few of the series you mention and I know I'm going to be spending a good portion of my Sunday to investigating the others :0)

[Kris (My Novelesque Life)]

*waves back*

Lol, I will probably be doing the same with your lists on here.

[Tracey]

Kris wrote: "Thanks Tracey for the invite to this group! It's awesome to see Lauren as moderator for this group. I'm Kris and I enjoy reading mysteries.

For historical mysteries I am currently reading Maisi..."

Yay! You joined Kris. As you said in another group we enjoy a lot of the same historical mystery series so I'm looking forward to discussing them with you!

[Kris (My Novelesque Life)]

Same here, Tracey!

[Michell]

D.G. wrote: "I feel like Anne Perry is making money out of her crime, that's why I can't read anything by her anymore. And the crime was so horrendous.

Her and her friend planned to kill the friend's mother - ..."

It is a weird deal that Anne Perry murder mystery writer actually committed a murder. No one really knows if a person has truly repented but what I have read is that she did pay her debt according to the law serving her time in an Australian prison which they say is quite awful. And she did find a religion where she found forgiveness. I still find her books a great read and do often wonder as I read her lines about how the characters feel if she is able to pull from personal experience.

[S.K.]

I too have always enjoyed Anne Perry's work.

Right now I am reading Murder as a Fine Art. Very suspenseful (and gruesome) beginning. The author bases the novel on the Ratcliffe Highway murders of 1811, though this story is set in the Victorian era.

[JoAnn]

Hi, everyone. I migrated here after coming to a dead-end funk while reading eye-witness accounts of life (actually, mostly death) during the Colonial period in the Americas. I decided to "reboot" my own reading experience by reclaiming the joy I experienced while reading Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. So, here I am, ready to remember that reading should be joyful, with a dollop of mystery.