|
|
|
|
Historical Fiction May 2026 |
|
|
|
| The Moonshine Women by Michelle Collins AndersonMissouri Ozarks, 1920s: Every batch of Strong family moonshine has its own special flavor, thanks to the secret ingredients that matriarch Lidy Strong adds to the barrels of fermenting corn mash. Whether a bucketful of golden peaches, a ripe melon or juicy, jewel-toned berries, that extra “something something” is what makes the Strong “shine” so prized—and allows the family to survive after crop prices plummeted in the wake of the Great War.
The move: The moonshine business is unforgiving, especially with Prohibition agents turning up in every creek and holler. When tragedy strikes, it falls to the three Strong sisters to keep the still running, the family together, and hope burning on the horizon by moving to Hot Springs, Arkansas. |
|
|
|
Red Clay
by Charles B. Fancher
Alabama, 1943: A frail old white woman shows up in Red Clay, at the home of a Black former slave, on the morning following his funeral. His family hardly knows what to expect after she utters the words “… a lifetime ago, my family owned yours.” Adelaide Parker has a story to tell—one of ambition, betrayal, violence, and redemption—that shaped both the fate of her family and that of the late Felix H. Parker.
Gaps in her knowledge: Adelaide has come to Red Clay seeking answers from a family with whom she shares a name and a history that neither knows in full. Human frailties are pushed to their limits as secrets are exposed and the line between good and evil becomes ever more difficult to discern. Red Clay is a tale that deftly lays bare the ugliness of slavery, the uncertainty of the final months of the Civil War, the optimism of Reconstruction, and the pain and frustration of Jim Crow.
Based on the author's ancestors.
|
|
|
Historical Fiction Mysteries
|
|
|
|
A Bitter Wind
by James R. Benn
England, 1944: Captain Billy Boyle travels to southeast England to visit his girlfriend, Diana Seaton, for a brief holiday respite. Diana is engaged in classified work at RAF Hawkinge, including Operation Corona, which recruits German-speaking Women's Auxiliary Air Force members - many of them Jewish refugees from the Kindertransport rescue - to countermand German orders and direct night fighters away from Allied bombers.
A scenic Christmas walk: Along the White Cliffs of Dover, Billy and Diana stumble upon the dead body of a US Air Force officer. In the dead man's pocket are papers with highly confidential information about radio interception operations - information worth killing over. As Billy digs into the secret world of codebreakers and radio jammers stationed at Hawkinge, another body turns up. Now Billy must find out what connects these two men-and who was so hell-bent on silencing them.
|
|
|
|
Bog Queen
by Anna North
England, 2018: When a body is found in a bog in northwest England, Agnes, an American forensic anthropologist, is called to investigate. But this body is not like any she has ever seen: Although its bones prove it was buried more than two thousand years ago, it is almost completely preserved.
Iron Age woman: Agnes, drawn into this mystery from the distant past, must contend with peat-cutters who want to profit from the bog and activists who demand that the land be left undisturbed. Then there is the moss itself: a complex repository of artifacts and remains with its own dark stories to tell. As Agnes faces the deep history of what she has unearthed, she is also forced to question what she thought she knew about her talent, her self-reliance, and her place in the world.
|
|
|
|
The Case of the Murdered Muckraker
by Rob Osler
Chicago, 1898: In the midst of the Progressive Era, twenty-one-year-old junior detective Harriet Morrow is determined to prove she's more than a lucky hire as the Prescott Agency's first woman operative. But her latest challenge, a murder case steeped in scandal, could become a deadly setback. Harriet must somehow blend in as an 'unremarkable' young woman on a quest to infiltrate the immigrant community at the center of the grisly crime.
Twists and turns: A muckraker is found murdered in a southside tenement building after obtaining evidence of a powerful politician's corruption. Harriet must gain the trust of the tenement's women residents to gather clues. The undercover mission reveals that an innocent mother might have been framed for the crime, and exposes ties to another violent death.
|
|
|
|
The Devil's Bible: A Cotton Malone Novel
by Steve Berry
Sweden, Present: Former Justice Department operative, Cotton Malone, is called to Sweden when the younger sister of King Wilhelm I is kidnapped. The ransom demand? Hand over an 800-year-old book, the Codex Gigas (aka The Devil's Bible) - the largest illuminated medieval manuscript in the world. Claimed as war loot from Bohemia in 1648, it's been kept in Stockholm for nearly 400 years. Now the Czech Republic wants the codex back, and Sweden has agreed to return it.
Roadblocks: Forces - likely Russia - are at work to stop that deal from happening. They are also top of the list for possible kidnappers. It's up to Cotton and Cassiopeia Vitt to locate the king's sister, secure the codex, and thwart the Russians. Yet nothing is as it seems. Trusted allies become hostile enemies. Long-standing enemies suddenly shift into partners...
|
|
|
|
Eleanor and the Cold War
by Ellen Yardley
New York City and Washington, DC, 1951: Kay Thompson, secretary to Eleanor Roosevelt, is a young woman of conviction navigating the post-World War II period. But can she expose the dark truth about a transatlantic murder mystery unfolding before her eyes? Previously fired for speaking out against workplace injustices, twenty-five-year-old Kay Thompson finds her true calling once appointed to support Eleanor Roosevelt (known as ER by her inner circle), a champion of human rights. Kay fully embraces her new role as the former First Lady's right hand--typing up daily columns and juggling a blur of political meetings, ribbon cuttings, and charitable dinners.
A dead body is discovered on a train: Stunning Susie Taylor had star quality, and judging from her photos, it's clear why she left Sweden with plans to make it big on Broadway. But when ER enlists Kay's help on a discreet investigation about Susie's sudden disappearance, the two suspect the up-and-comer was concealing secrets about her real identity and motives--all leading to her murder at Washington's Union Station.
|
|
|
|
The Fourth Daughter
by Lyn Liao Butler
New York, Present: Chef Liv Kuo's star is on the rise--until a traumatic incident leaves her emotionally unable to venture outside her Manhattan apartment. But an unexpected reason to break free comes from Ah-Ma, Liv's beloved grandmother in Taiwan. Ah-Ma needs Liv's help in finding her fourth daughter, taken from her when the girl was an infant.
Taiwan: After all these years, it seems impossible. It's also a mystery--Ah-Ma's fourth daughter is an aunt Liv never even knew existed. After landing in Taiwan, Liv hears the heartbreaking story of her grandmother's plight in a country once under martial law, of choices made for her, and of the hopeful search for a lost girl that has endured for more than sixty years. Like the enriching food and traditions that bind Liv and Ah-Ma, their journey for answers brings them together. And it's a quest that turns up both a precious old cookbook and a tale of fatal betrayal that shakes everything Liv believed about her family--revelations that could also give her the courage to face the trauma she left behind.
|
|
|
|
The Ivory City
by Emily Bain Murphy
Missouri, 1904: Cousins Grace and Lillie have been best friends since birth, despite Grace's vastly inferior social status - which resulted when her mother married for love instead of wealth. When Lillie invites Grace to the biggest event of the century, the legendary World's Fair, also known as The Ivory City, Grace hopes her fortunes might be about to change.
At the Fair: When a member of their party is brutally killed at the fair, suspicion falls on Lillie's brother Oliver. Grace must prove Oliver's innocence before her beloved cousins' family is ruined forever. Along the way, she'll discover that the city's wealthy elite - including Oliver's handsome but irritable friend Theodore - aren't quite who they appear to be. And amidst the glitz, glamor, and magic of the Ivory City lurks a danger that just may claim her life.
|
|
|
|
Perspective(s)
by Laurent Binet
Florence, 1557: Jacopo da Pontormo is discovered lying on the floor of a church, stabbed through the heart. Above him are the frescoes he labored over for more than a decade, masterpieces all, rivaling the works of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. When guards search his quarters, they find an obscene painting of Venus and Cupid, with the face of Venus replaced by that of Maria de’ Medici, the Duke of Florence’s oldest daughter. The city erupts in chaos.
Who could have committed the murder and lèse-majesté? Giorgio Vasari, the great art historian, is picked to lead the investigation. Letters start to fly back and forth - between Maria and her aunt Catherine de’ Medici, the queen of France; between Catherine and the scheming Piero Strozzi; and between Vasari and Michelangelo - carrying news of political plots and speculations about the identity of Pontormo’s killer. The truth, when it comes to light, is as shocking as the bold new artworks that have made Florence the red-hot center of European art and intrigue.
|
|
|
|
Vanished in the Crowd: A Molly Murphy Mystery
by Rhys Bowen
New York, 1909: New York is busier than ever as two million visitors come to the city to witness the Hudson-Fulton celebration, marking the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson's discovery of the Hudson River. Across the city, parades, exhibitions, carnivals, and a marvelous display of the wonders of the latest invention - electricity - make for two straight weeks of celebrations.
Retired detective Molly Murphy Sullivan: Molly is secretly dealing with financial troubles and is too proud to ask her friends for a loan. Sid and Gus are hosting fellow Vassar graduates to take part in one of the parades. When one of the women, a brilliant scientist, doesn't show up, her friends hire her. It seems nobody knows where the scientist is, including her husband. Is she trying to run away from her life or is it something more sinister? Why have the Vassar women really come to New York City? When the parade turns deadly, only Molly has the tools to find out the truth.
|
|
Contact your librarian for more great books! |
|
|
Longwood Public Library800 Middle Country RoadMiddle Island, New York 11953
(631) 924-6400
longwoodlibrary.org |
|
|
|