Readers of historical fiction will love Marie Benedict’s new novel, “The Queens of Crime.” The story is narrated by the character, Dorothy Sayers, who was a real life English mystery novelist from 1923-1973. Other characters, include detective mystery novelist, Agatha Christie and several other female crime novelists of the time.
“The Queens of Crime” is an actual nickname that refers to 5 accomplished women who wrote mystery/crime novels during the 1930’s and beyond. The women want to prove that they are worthy of belonging to the ‘Detection Club’ – a group of British crime writers, mostly male, who meet to discuss and collaborate on novels. When a young nurse is murdered, and then condemned in the press as being ‘loose moraled’ and ‘a drug dealer,’ the Queens decide to investigate the case – and in doing so, show the male dominated club that they are capable and worthy of respect. Dorothy, Agatha and friends also become determined to find justice for the young nurse and her family.
I really liked the interactions between Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie and friends. They built a great friendship, but there were often tinges of jealousy and misunderstandings between the women. I loved following the women as they worked to solve the mystery of the young nurse’s murder. There were some twists and turns to “The Queens of Crime” and the action was well-paced. I have read several classic Agatha Christie novels, but now I want to read some written by Dorothy Sayers also!
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