Genre
Best Historical Mysteries Worth Your Time
1876 Moscow with Erast Fandorin. 1928 Melbourne with Phryne Fisher. 1930s royal London with Lady Georgiana Rannoch. Post-WWI England with John Madden. The best historical mysteries in print, period.
6 books on this list.
The Winter Queenby Boris Akunin
5.0“The first Erast Fandorin novel. A young clerk in 1876 Moscow investigates an apparent suicide and falls down a labyrinth.”
River Of Darknessby Rennie Airth
5.0“The first John Madden mystery. Post-WWI English countryside, a returning detective, and a serial killer whose methods come straight from the trenches.”
Murder on a Midsummer Nightby Kerry Greenwood
4.0“Murder on a Midsummer Night by Kerry Greenwood 2008 review. The seventeenth Phryne Fisher Mystery sends the Honourable Miss Fisher chasing two cases at once in summer 1929 Melbourne.”
Malice at the Palaceby Rhys Bowen
4.0“Malice at the Palace by Rhys Bowen 2015 review. The ninth Royal Spyness mystery sends Lady Georgiana Rannoch to Kensington Palace to chaperone Princess Marina before her royal wedding.”
Silksby Dick Francis
4.0“Silks by Dick Francis 2008 review. Geoffrey Mason is a barrister who rides as an amateur jockey on weekends, until his only racetrack friend turns up dead.”
When Rich Men Dieby Harold Adams
4.0“When Rich Men Die by Harold Adams 1987 review. The fifth Carl Wilcox Depression-era mystery sends the alcoholic itinerant artist back to Corden, South Dakota for a banker’s murder.”