Apr 10, 2025

Queens Of Crime.

 

 
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London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a Secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second-class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. They call themselves the Queens of Crime. Their plan? Solve an actual murder, that of a young woman found strangled in a park in France who may have connections leading to the highest levels of the British establishment. 

 
May Daniels, a young English nurse on an excursion to France with her friend, seemed to vanish into thin air as they prepared to board a ferry home. Months later, her body is found in the nearby woods. The murder has all the hallmarks of a locked room mystery for which these authors are famous: how did her killer manage to sneak her body out of a crowded train station without anyone noticing? If, as the police believe, the cause of death is manual strangulation, why is there is an extraordinary amount of blood at the crime scene? What is the meaning of a heartbreaking secret letter seeming to implicate an unnamed paramour? Determined to solve the highly publicized murder, the Queens of Crime embark on their own investigation, discovering they’re stronger together. But soon the killer targets Dorothy Sayers herself, threatening to expose a dark secret in her past that she would do anything to keep hidden. 

 

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I became a fan of Marie Benedict after reading Carnegie’s Maid in 2020. Since then, I have read several more of her books. I’ve been anticipating Queens Of Crime since I learned she was writing a new novel. My favorite genres are historical fiction and mystery, so I was excited to get started on this book. I like the experience of the "Queens" and that it featured Agatha Christie as one of the characters, who happens to be my favorite mystery author. I was only familiar with Christie, so I wasn't unaware of Dorothy and the others until I began reading the book and enjoyed learning something new. I know it was fictional, but I adored the concept, especially the mystery. I enjoyed reading a book that featured Christie as a character rather than one written by her. 


However, Queens Of Crime didn't meet my expectations. It was not like her earlier novel, which I had read. This novel began strong and drew me in; however, it appeared to slow down in the middle of the book, and I felt there were unnecessary details. The only character development we saw in the novel was Dorthy's and possibly Agatha's. Dorothy has changed dramatically since the story starts by finding out the truth. I liked how the novel showed five powerful women determined to find the truth regardless of what others told them. 


The mystery surrounding May Daniels' disappearance was my favorite aspect of the story. I admired the five women's determination to discover what happened and why. It was fascinating how the five friends analyzed the clues, conducting interviews and imagining what the characters in their books would be like. The mystery was intriguing and kept me on the edge of my seat. I even found myself, along with Dorothy, Agatha, Ngaio, Margery, and Emma, attempting to figure out what had happened. I recommend this book, especially if you love historical fiction and mystery.

1 comments:

Marg said...

Wow, this sounds like a great idea for a book!

Thanks for sharing your review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

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