Source: Publisher
Description: 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.
Inspired by a true story in Sayers’ own life, New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict brings to life the lengths to which five talented women writers will go to be taken seriously in the male-dominated world of letters as they unpuzzle a mystery torn from the pages of their own novels.
Genre: Mystery - Historical
Why I Picked This Book: I like this author and how can I resist a book that involves Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and other classic mystery authors solving a real life mystery?
My Impression: As soon as I finished this book I immediately ordered The Scarlet Pimpernel, the first Campion book from Margery Allingham, and went through my Sayers and Marsh collections to see what I was missing. The concept of this one was interesting. Even though Sayers is a founding member of the detective club some of the other members are resistant to having too many women writers join. Dorothy decides to prove their case with the help of her friend Agatha Christie and with three other women writers in tow. I've read a decent amount of Ngaio Marsh's books and have heard of Margery Allingham's but while I had heard of The Scarlet Pimpernel I was unaware of it's author or really anything about her or the book itself.
I enjoyed this read. My focus has always been on Christie so I enjoyed getting to "know" Sayers a bit better. I do wish we had seen more from the other characters perspectives but it did make me more interested in them so I will take that as a win. While there is a mystery this felt more like a book about the women and Sayers herself with the mystery solving being a subplot. I was really interested to see there was some truth in the story of the investigation so I'm looking forward to doing some digging and learning more about it.
There is a bit of repetitiveness here that slowed the plot and I suspect would have made it a bit of a slow read. I did really enjoy the audio - especially Ngaio's accent - and I think it allowed me to enjoy the story more that I would have if I had the actual book. This is my 2nd book by this author and will not be my last. I like how she makes the past come alive - and includes a detailed author's note to let you know what is real and what is fiction. I'm looking forward to reading more from her.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely! I already own several other books by this author and am looking forward to reading them.
Would I Recommend this Book? Yes though it does seem like one that the audio is better for.
Would I Recommend this Book? Yes though it does seem like one that the audio is better for.
I haven't read this one yet, but appreciate your thoughts here. I'll think about listening to it on audio.
ReplyDeleteSounds really good, glad you enjoyed Ngaio's accent. Narrators rarely capture an NZ accent to my satisfaction!
ReplyDeleteI have this one on hold at the library and since I've pushed it back I'm probably first in line when I get to it.
ReplyDeleteAnne - Books of My Heart
This really does look good. I'll have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteGood to know that the audio version might be the way to go with this one. It is one I want to read.
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