I like mysteries.
The detectives can be police or amateurs, the crimes ranging in importance from mysterious happenings to piles of mangled corpses. I don’t care for thrillers, per se, nor necessarily cozies, but I will read them classic, I will read them hardboiled, I will read them intellectual, I will read them comic–and above all I will read them historical.
What I like about mysteries is the character of the detective or detectives (they have to be an interesting person to read about) and the milieu of the crime (it has to be endemic to its location–a crime that could only have happened here, and under these circumstances).
For instance, on a whim I picked up River of Darkness by Rennie Airth, a first book about Inspector John Madden that I am already regretting there are only three of. It’s set in post-WWI England, and Madden is still recovering from his time in the trenches. So, it appears, is the murderer he is hunting. And there are all kinds of brilliant details about the war, and the crime, and the state of law enforcement of the time. Madden is a great protagonist, and the crime is well situated in its historical niche.
My tolerance for mediocre mysteries is high: I read, for instance, more than half of the at-times delightfully campy Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. I’ve also tried Elizabeth George, Charles Finch, and Wilkie Collins, but none was really for me.
On the other hand, I quite enjoyed Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce mysteries, Christopher Fowler’s Bryant and May mysteries (which are always solved via arcane local knowledge), Jasper Fforde’s nursery crime books, Jo Walton’s alternate history “small change” series, and Christie, Sayers, Doyle, Poe and the rest of the classic troupe.
The problem is, such gems are hard to find, and I want more. More!
So recommend me your engaging historical mysteries, please, with attention to good characterization, tight plotting, and detailed, engaging settings.
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