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Mysteries-Historical The historical mystery or historical whodunit is a subgenre of two literary genres: historical fiction and mystery fiction. These works are set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the centeral plot involves the solving of a mystery or crime (usually murder). Though works combining these genres have existed since at least the early 1900's, the Cadfael Chronicles by Ellis Peters popularized what would become known as the historical mystery. Click on the link in each series to find titles in publication order.
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Susanne AlleynFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Aristide Ravel series.Set in post-revolutionary France, Aristide is a young freelance undercover police agent and investigator who understands that the cost of failure is a date with Madame Guillotine. But, success could also mean a date with the executioner's blade.
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Stephanie BarronFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Jane Austen series.These historical mysteries feature English author Jane Austen playing amateur sleuth. The books are presented as lost diaries that have been "edited."
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Carrie BebrisFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Mr. and Mrs. Darcy series.In this series, the now-married Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, become entangled in intrigue with other Austen characters.
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James BennFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Billy Boyle World War II series.Billy, an Irish-American cop from Boston, slowly grows into the role of secret investigator for Eisenhower during the Second World War. The novels, told in the first person, are Whodunits, spy stories, and thrillers all in one.
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Rhys BowenFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Molly Murphy series.An independent and clever young woman (with a secret), Molly has a knack for solving mysteries. The Irish immigrant becomes known as the "lady detective" in 1900s New York City.
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Emily BrightwellFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Mrs. Jeffries series (Victorian murder mysteries)Everyone is awed by Inspector Witherspoon's Scotland Yard successes, but what they don't know is that his secret weapon is his housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries. She keeps his house, keeps him on his toes, and helps solve his cases.
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Frances BrodyFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Kate Shackleton series.Set in 1920s Yorkshire, this series features Kate Shackleton, a young First World War widow who has developed a reputation for finding people.
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Fiona BuckleyFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Ursula Blanchard series.Ursula is a Lady-in-Waiting and undercover spy in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. She uses her considerable skills and wit to uncover mysteries and thwart various plots against the Queen and her realm.
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Barbara CleverlyFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Detective Joe Sandilands series.Joe Sandilands is a World War I veteran and hero who entered police work as a natural progression from military intelligence service. He is tall and good-looking, except for a battle scar over one eyebrow that pulls his face into a permanently quizzical expression. Unlike many protagonists in this genre, Sandilands doesn't have any significant vices or idiosyncrasies; in fact, he's quiet likable. These crime thrillers are set in and around India during the period of the British Raj.
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Max Allan CollinsFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Nathan Heller series.Set in 1930's prohibition Chicago, Heller leaves a corrupt Chicago police force to become a private investigator who interacts with "historical" mobsters.
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Gary CorbyFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Athenian Mysteries series.Set in pre-500 A.D. Athens, the novels feature historical figures as recurring characters, notably Socrates, Pericles, and the priestess Diotima of Mantinea. The series hero is a fictional detective/agent named Nicolaos (Nico), the ambitious son of a minor sculptor. The heroine is Diotima.
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Colin CotterillFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Dr. Siri Paiboun series.The monarchy in Laos has been deposed, and the Communists have taken over. Most of the educated class has fled, but Dr. Siri Paiboun, a Paris-trained doctor, remains. And so this 72-year-old physician is appointed state coroner, despite having no training, equipment, experience, or even inclination for the job. He tackles both government indifference and nasty killers in this series.
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Lindsey DavisFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Marcus Didius Falco series.Set in 70s A.D. Rome under Vespasian’s rule, Falco is a private informer who travels all over the Roman Empire. While investigating crime, he manages to get himself, his best friend, and his girlfriend (the daughter of a senator) in and out of scrapes.
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P.C. DohertyFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Hugh Corbett series.Set during the Medieval reign of Edward I of England, Corbett is a legal advisor and clerk of the King’s Bench. His investigations into plots and undercover dealings that threaten the Court land him in trouble. The novels often revolve around true incidents that occurred during the period.
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Carola DunnFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Daisy Dalrymple series.The Honourable Daisy Dalrymple has taken a job as a journalist to ensure her independence -- an unusual step for the daughter of a viscount in 1922. Her investigations often take her abroad in this series of well-drawn characters, snappy dialogue, and interesting plot twists.
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Christopher FowlerFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Bryant and May series.Two detectives, Arthur Bryant and John May, are members of the fictional Peculiar Crimes Unit. The series is set primarily in London, with stories taking place in various years between World War II and the present through the use of flashbacks. While there is a progressive narrative, many of the books focus on major criminal incidents in the detectives' shared past. Interwoven are factual layers of London's history, structures, and society.
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Kerry GreenwoodFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Phryne Fisher series.Glamorous, terribly fashionable, and handy with a pistol, the Honourable Phryne Fisher, often referred to as “Miss Fisher,” is the main character in a series of detective novels. Phryne is a twenty-eight-year-old wealthy aristocrat who lives in Melbourne in the late 1920s. With support from her maid, Dot, and other able assistants, she solves all manner of crimes. The capable Miss Fisher can fly a plane, drive her own car, and sometimes even wears trousers. Displaying bohemian panache, she also manages to maintain class and style. These popular stories have been shown on PBS’s Mystery series.
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Karen HarperFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Elizabeth I series.This series has the Queen herself involved in investigations, thwarting plots, and uncovering sinister members of her own Court.
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Tessa HarrisFind HInsdale materials here.
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Thomas Silkstone series.Set in eighteenth-century England, the brilliant anatomist Dr. Thomas Silkstone is a pioneering forensic detective.
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Cora HarrisonFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Burren Mysteries series.Irish historical mysteries that tell the history of Ireland through the Iron Age, Brehon Law, and Monastic, Viking, and Elizabethan ages. The series heroine is Mara, the brehon of the kingdom of the Burren, who serves as both an investigating magistrate and a law school professor.
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Anna Lee HuberFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Lady Darby Mystery series.Lady Kiera Darby is recently widowed and living at her sister’s estate. When someone in the house is murdered, she becomes an amateur detective with an unlikely partner. The series is set in Scotland in the 1830s.
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J. Sydney JonesFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Viennese Mystery series.Karl Werthen is a lawyer and private inquiry agent in the late 19th, early 20th-century Vienna. He often teams up with criminologist Inspector Hans Gross in these historical thriller novels.
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Philip KerrFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Bernie Gunther series.Bernie is sardonic, tough-talking, and cynical, but he does have a rough sense of humor and a rougher sense of right and wrong. Partly that's because he is a true Berliner. These historical thrillers are set in Germany and elsewhere during the 1930’s, the Second World War, and the Cold War.
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Chris NicksonFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Richard Nottingham series.Nottingham is the Constable of the City of Leeds in the 1730’s. While the series has its share of murders, it’s also about the people in the city, relationships, and life in 18th-century England, where there is one law for the rich, and a much more brutal one for the rest of society.
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Elizabeth PetersFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Amelia Peabody series.Amelia, a Victorian Egyptologist, starts out as a confirmed spinster, suffragist, and scholar. She later marries and produces a second generation of archeologists. Besides uncovering and solving mysteries, many of the books are set in real places and have historical people appearing in the plots.
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Ellis PetersFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Cadfael series.Brother Cadfael, a Benedictine monk in medieval Shrewsbury, leads a quiet life as the monastery's herbalist. However, because of his skill and knowledge of the outside world as a former Crusader, he is drawn into the political and social intrigue inside and outside the monastery. The series is set during the turbulent years of the struggle for the English throne between King Stephen and Empress Maud, both descendants of William the Conqueror.
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Elliott Roosevelt Find Hinsdale materials here.
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Eleanor Roosevelt series.The First Lady, because of her position and her worldwide travels, finds herself embroiled in murders no matter where she goes. Eleanor becomes a wonderful Miss Marple-like sleuth. The novels are populated by the renowned historical figures she encounters.
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Laura Joh RowlandFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Sano Ichiro series.This historical mystery series features Ichiro, the seventeenth-century Senior Police Commander and later Chamberlain to the Shogun in the district of Edo (present-day Tokyo). Ichiro is a samurai with an intellectual background that often puts him at odds with his colleagues.
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Kate SedleyFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Roger the Chapman series.A former monk, young Roger the Chapman (or peddler), earns his living selling lace and silk throughout the English countryside. His real passion, though, is solving puzzles, so he uses his keen wit and intelligence to solve mysteries along his travels. The series is set during the tumultuous years of the War of Roses, the fight for the throne between the royal houses of York and Lancaster.
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Frank TallisFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Liebermann Papers series.Set in turn-of-the-century Vienna, this series not only provides a glimpse of Austrian politics, society, music, literature, and the customs of the time, but also gives a keen insight into the early development of Freudian psychoanalysis. Max Liebermann is a psychoanalytic detective who is assisted in his investigations by his friend, Detective Oskar Rheinhardt.
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Victoria ThompsonFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Gaslight Mystery series.Set in turn-of-the-century New York City, Sarah Brandt, a midwife, and Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy find themselves involved in solving murders in every corner of the city, from tenements to elegant mansions.
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Charles Todd (Charles & Caroline a mother/son writing team) Find Hinsdale materials here.
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Ian Rutledge series.Still broken and suffering from the ravages of his service in the Great War, Scotland Yard Inspector Rutledge’s thoughts are haunted by the ghost of a soldier, Hamish MacLeod, who taunts him as he works on his cases. These are good psychological suspense novels.
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Charles Todd (Charles & Caroline a mother writing team) Find Hinsdale materials here.
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Bess Crawford series.Set in World War I, Bess Crawford is a resourceful British army nurse who becomes involved with murder investigations while she serves in both Britain and France. Her strength comes from her upbringing as the daughter of a career Army officer posted to India. In living amongst other cultures she develops a sense of duty and compassion to serve from an early age.
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Jacqueline WinspearFind Hinsdale materials here.
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Maisie Dobbs series.Maisie is a psychologist/investigator in post-World War I London. Her beginnings are working class, but good fortune brings her into contact with the upper class where she consequently receives an education. She serves as a nurse during the war and then returns to London to work with her mentor, accomplished detective Dr. Maurice Blanche. When Blanche retires, Maisie opens up her own detective agency.
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