The best historical novels with strong women solving mysteries in 19th century Great Britain

Lady Kiera Darby has a lot to contend with. A gifted artist, she was tricked into marriage by a ruthless surgeon and anatomist. He forced her to watch him dissect bodies, then carefully draw each organ for his human anatomy textbook. When her despised husband dies, Kiera hopes to never again see a human corpse. Unfortunately, she is at her sister’s Scottish estate when a woman at the house party is found murdered in the maze, her throat cut. Kiera’s brother-in-law asks Kiera and an inquiry agent at the party to investigate the murder. Guests at the party accuse Kiera, “the unnatural woman,” of being the killer, making finding the real murderer urgent. I loved Kiera, empathized with her pain and admired her strength when danger loomed around every corner. 

The book begins with the death of Lady Julia’s husband at a dinner party at their house. Both Julia and the doctor believe he suffered a heart attack. Only an enigmatic private inquiry agent, hired by her husband, thinks Edward was murdered. When Julia discovers a threatening note to her husband, she determines to find his killer with the help of the inquiry agent. Over the course of their investigation, Julia changes from a naïve young wife to a mature woman, confident in her abilities. I loved the wonderfully eccentric characters in this book. After Edward’s death, Julia’s sister consoles her, “Don’t fret, dearest. You have always looked striking in black.” 

Rosalind Thorne’s life as a gently bred woman is upended when her father abandons the family. Finding herself penniless, Rosalind manages to use her connections and considerable skill to help wealthy society women solve their problems, for a discreet payment. In the course of helping a client who wants to become a patroness of Almack’s, the invitation-only social club, Rosalind discovers the body of an acquaintance in the ballroom. The patronesses of Almack’s want Rosalind to hush up the death, while the victim’s sister wants her to find her brother’s killer. Rosalind proves adept at putting the pieces of a very complex puzzle together, at great danger to herself. I loved Rosalind’s determination and cunning as well as the sardonic portrayal of the ton’s countless social rules, spitefulness, and hypocrisy.

Unlike my other book choices, Why Kings Confess has a male protagonist, Sebastian St. Cyr. In my opinion, a very good historical mystery series got even better when Sebastian married Hero Jarvis, the brilliant and outspoken daughter of Sebastian’s mortal enemy, Lord Jarvis, a ruthless advisor to the crown. Hero writes searing investigative articles on societal injustice and, despite being heavily pregnant, participates actively in Sebastian’s work. In this book they investigate the brutal death of a man who was part of a secret delegation sent by Napoleon to determine the possibility of peace with Britain. The author is a historian who manages to seamlessly incorporate a lot of fascinating information about Regency England.

Emily marries Philip, the Viscount Ashton, a man she hardly knows, to escape her mother. After their wedding trip, Philip, an ardent game hunter, leaves for a hunt in Africa. When Emily learns he died of a fever, she hardly grieves. As she enters her year of mourning, Emily reads Philip’s journal, astonished to learn he loved her passionately. He also collected Greek antiquities, many of which he donated to the British Museum. Emily begins to study ancient Greek literature and antiquities. (I loved learning with Emily.) When she discovers that someone—possibly Philip—either gave the British Museum forged Greek antiquities or stole the originals from the museum and substituted forgeries, Emily works to unravel this mystery and find out what really happened to her husband in Africa.