HOW IT ALL BEGAN
HISTORICAL FICTION
 historical fiction books that are series starters - new, completed, or ongoing
 
A Rip Through Time

by Kelley Armstrong
 
A modern-day homicide detective finds herself in Victorian Scotland -- in an unfamiliar body -- with a killer on the loose. In 1869 housemaid Catriona Thomson was strangled and left for dead in an alley.  Exactly 150 years later, Mallory hears a woman in distress in the same alley, and wakes up in Catriona's battered but still alive body.  Can she solve the case when her reality is so completely changed?
 
available in alternate format(s)
Her Royal Spyness
 
by Rhys Bowen
 
Her ridiculously long name is Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, daughter to the Duke of Atholt and Rannoch. And she is flat broke. As the thirty-fourth in line for the throne, she has been taught only a few things, among them, the perfect curtsey.  But not how to make a living.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

by Alan Bradley
 
It is the summer of 1950 -- and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events.
 
 available in alternate format(s)
The Fabulous Clipjoint

by Fredric Brown
 
 In the rough edges of 1940s Chicago, the discovery of a corpse in an alleyway isn't always enough to cause a big stir -- especially when the victim is killed in the midst of a night-long bender, caught between barrooms in what appears to be a mugging gone awry.
 
available in alternate format(s)
Scarlet

by Genevieve Cogman
 
The first book in a rollicking historical fantasy series that reinvents the French Revolution with vampires as the aristocrats.  This is a lively retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel.
An Extraordinary Union

by Alyssa Cole
 
 As the Civil War rages between the states, a courageous pair of spies plunge fearlessly into a maelstrom of ignorance, deceit, and danger, combining their unique skills to alter the course of history and break the chains of the past . . .
 
available in alternate format(s)
Murder in the Park

by Jeanne M. Dams
 
June, 1925. Having been widowed in the Great War, Elizabeth Fairchild lives a quiet life at the home of her wealthy parents in genteel Oak Park village, Illinois. Although she does her best to avoid emotional entanglements, determined never to be hurt again, Elizabeth forms a close friendship with gentle Mr Anthony, who owns the local antiques store. 
 
available in alternate format(s)
Because I Could Not Stop for Death

by Amanda Flower
 
January 1855 Willa Noble knew it was bad luck when it was pouring rain on the day of her ever-important job interview. When she arrived late, disheveled with her skirts sodden and filthy, she'd lost all hope of being hired for the position. As the housekeeper politely told her they'd be in touch, Willa started toward the door of the stately home only to be called back by the soft but strong voice of Emily Dickinson.
 
available in alternate format(s)
River of Teeth

by Sarah Gailey
 
 In the early 20th Century, the United States government concocted a plan to import hippopotamuses into the marshlands of Louisiana to be bred and slaughtered as an alternative meat source. This is true. Other true things about hippos: they are savage, they are fast, and their jaws can snap a man in two. This was a terrible plan. 
Essex Dogs

by Dan Jones
 
July 1346. Ten men land on the beaches of Normandy. They call themselves the Essex Dogs: an unruly platoon of archers and men-at-arms led by a battle-scarred captain whose best days are behind him. The fight for the throne of the largest kingdom in Western Europe has begun.
 
 available in alternate format(s)
The Philosopher's Flight

by Tom Miller
 
 Eighteen-year-old Robert Weekes is a practitioner of empirical philosophy -- an arcane, female-dominated branch of science used to summon the wind, shape clouds of smoke, heal the injured, and even fly. Though he dreams of fighting in the Great War as the first male in the elite US Sigilry Corps Rescue and Evacuation Service, he is resigned to mixing batches of philosophical chemicals and keeping the books for the family business in rural Montana..
 
available in alternate format(s)
The Right Sort of Man

by Allison Montclair
 
In a London slowly recovering from World War II, two very different women join forces to launch a business venture in the heart of Mayfair -- The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. Miss Iris Sparks, quick-witted and impulsive, and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, practical and widowed with a young son, are determined to achieve some independence and do some good in a rapidly changing world.
 
available in alternate format(s)
Ithaca

by Claire North
 
 Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door.
 
 available in alternate format(s)
The House on Vesper Sands

by Paraic O'Donnell
 
 London, 1893: high up in a house on a dark, snowy night, a lone seamstress stands by a window. So why does the seamstress jump from the window? Why is a cryptic message stitched into her skin? And how is she connected to a rash of missing girls, all of whom seem to have disappeared under similar circumstances?
 
available in alternate format(s)
Dear Mrs. Bird

by A. J . Pearce
 
Emmeline Lake (is) trying to stay cheerful, despite the German planes making their nightly raids. Emmy dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent, and when she spots a job advertisement in the newspaper she seizes her chance; but after a rather unfortunate misunderstanding, she finds herself typing letters for the formidable Henrietta Bird, renowned advice columnist of Woman's Friend magazine.
 
 available in alternate format(s)
Murder on the Red River

by Marcie R. Rendon
 
Cash, nee Renee Blackbear, 19, already has a lot of miles on her. Taken away from the rez as a child, she's been in and out of more foster homes than she can remember; she's been smoking and drinking since she was 11; and she doesn't mind the fact that her latest lover, farmer Jim Jenson, is married.
 
 available in alternate format(s)
Fortune Favors the Dead
 
by Stephen Spotswood
 
 New York, 1942: Willowjean "Will" Parker is a scrappy circus runaway whose knife-throwing skills have just saved the life of private investigator, Lillian Pentecost. Lillian's multiple sclerosis means she can't keep up with her old case load alone, so she wants to hire Will to be her right-hand woman.
 
available in alternate format(s)
Front Page Murder

by Joyce St. Anthony
 
Irene Ingram has written for her father's newspaper, the Progress Herald, ever since she could grasp a pencil. Now she's editor in chief, which doesn't sit well with the men in the newsroom. But proving her journalistic bona fides is the least of Irene's worries when crime reporter Moe Bauer, on the heels of a hot tip, turns up dead at the foot of his cellar stairs.
 
available in alternate format(s)
Some Danger Involved

by Will Thomas
 
When the eccentric and enigmatic Cyrus Barker takes on the recent murder case of a young scholar in London's Jewish ghetto, he realizes that he must hire an assistant, and out of all who answer an ad for a position with "some danger involved," he chooses downtrodden Llewelyn, a gutsy young man with a murky past.
 
 available in alternate format(s)
A Peculiar Combination

by Ashley Weaver
 
Electra McDonnell and her family earn their living outside the law. Breaking into the homes of the rich and picking the locks on their safes may not be condoned by British law enforcement, but with World War II in full swing, Uncle Mick's locksmith business just can't pay the bills anymore.
 
 
available in alternate format(s)
Look for these other Series Starters lists:
 
How it All Began: Romance and Rom-Com

How it All Began:  Mysteries and Thrillers

How it All Began: Fantasy / Sci Fi / Paranormal
 
Maybe this list isn't your jam.  Check out the RPL Readers page for more suggestions. 
 
Or, if you'd prefer a hand-cafted book suggestion list, try The Bookologist service.  You will need an RPL library card to access.  Don't have one?  Find out how to get one here.
 
Richmond Public Library
101 East Franklin Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
(804) 646-7223
https://rvalibrary.org/
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