Here are 44 books that Royal Spyness Mysteries fans have personally recommended once you finish the Royal Spyness Mysteries series.
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I’ve always been drawn to stories where women defy expectations and carve out power in a world that seeks to silence them. As a writer of historical mysteries, I love exploring unconventional heroines—women who take risks, uncover secrets, and refuse to conform. The best mysteries blend atmosphere, intelligence, and a touch of rebellion, and I seek out books that do just that. Whether it’s a detective disguising her true identity or a woman outwitting society’s constraints, these stories inspire me. My book was born from this passion, and I hope readers who love fiercely independent heroines and richly layered mysteries will enjoy this list as much as I do.
This book transported me to 1930s Singapore, a setting so vivid and immersive that I could almost feel the humidity and smell the frangipani trees. I was completely captivated by Su Lin, a young woman who is determined to carve her own path despite the barriers in her way.
The mystery was gripping, but what really made me love this book was Su Lin’s intelligence, resilience, and charm. Her story stayed with me long after I turned the last page.
First in a delightfully charming crime series set in 1930s Singapore, introducing amateur sleuth Su Lin, a local girl stepping in as governess for the Acting Governor of Singapore.
1936 in the Crown Colony of Singapore, and the British abdication crisis and rising Japanese threat seem very far away. When the Irish nanny looking after Acting Governor Palin's daughter dies suddenly - and in mysterious circumstances - mission school-educated local girl Su Lin - an aspiring journalist trying to escape an arranged marriage - is invited to take her place.
But then another murder at the residence occurs and it…
Bad things happen to good people every day, and it seems unfair. I’ve lost friends to cancer, heart disease, and accidents, and I always wonder why it had to be someone who was decent and good and kind. At the same time, other people get away with all sorts of crimes, including murder. I can’t change the way the world works. So, in my own books and the books I like to read, the good guys might have some tough times, but in the end, they win. And the bad guys get what they deserve.
I love quirky characters like Nick Fox, a witty and sexy-as-sin thief and con artist. I lap up the sparks that fly when Kate O’Hare, an attractive, dedicated FBI agent, gets paired up with Fox, the criminal she’s determined to catch.
The stage is set for a dash of romance, which is, of course, taboo, and I’m always wondering how long Kate will hold out. I’ve read this book twice and will probably read it again, just for the fun.
I used to hate history, until I made the startling discovery that history wasn’t about dates and wars—the stuff we had to memorize in high school—but about people. And what can be more absorbing than people? When I started my first historical series, set in the very early 20th century in my hometown of South Bend, Indiana, I delved into the local newspaper and learned that the people of the time and their problems were very much like today’s. That pulled me in, and never let go. Now, researching the 1920s, I’m meeting people who might live next door. It’s so much fun!
I dearly loved the Robin Paige books and was so sorry when Susan and Bill Albert (the authors behind the pseudonym) stopped writing them.
These books were always entertaining and always provided me with a place where I wanted to live for a while with people I wanted to know.
Real people were always creeping into the story, in this case Messrs. Rolls and Royce, in a fictional account of their first meeting. So redolent of the time, late 1800s, and the place, coziest England.
A little witchcraft, a balloon race, an automobile race featuring a steamer, an electric, and a gasoline-powered auto—what could be more atmospheric, more fun, or more conducive of a fascinating murder?
Newlyweds Charles and Kate Sheridan have moved into Kate's ancestral Georgian home Bishop's Keep, where Kate plans to devote herself to her writing and Charles to the responsibilities of the landed gentry. He agrees to host an automobile exhibition and balloon race at Bishop's Keep attended by Europe's foremost investors and inventors, among them the young Mr. Charles Rolls and Henry Royce.
But speed, competition, and money prove to be more explosive than gasoline - and for one automobile builder, more deadly....
I used to hate history, until I made the startling discovery that history wasn’t about dates and wars—the stuff we had to memorize in high school—but about people. And what can be more absorbing than people? When I started my first historical series, set in the very early 20th century in my hometown of South Bend, Indiana, I delved into the local newspaper and learned that the people of the time and their problems were very much like today’s. That pulled me in, and never let go. Now, researching the 1920s, I’m meeting people who might live next door. It’s so much fun!
Again, I love this series featuring Daisy Dalrymple, and this is my favorite book of the series.
Set in the 1920s and essentially in England, this one takes Daisy to New York and then to Oregon—by plane! (No easy matter in 1923.)
The action is non-stop, the characters get themselves into the funniest predicaments, and the introduction of real people like Bessie Coleman helps to make the story real as today’s newspaper.
In late 1923, the newly married Daisy Dalrymple and her husband Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, come to America for a honeymoon visit. In the midst of a pleasure trip, however, both work in a bit of business - Alec travels to Washington, D. C. to consult with the U.S. government, Daisy to New York to meet with her American magazine editor.
While in New York, Daisy stays at the famed Chelsea Hotel, which is not only close to the Flatiron Building offices of Abroad magazine, where she'll be meeting with her editor, but home to many…
I used to hate history, until I made the startling discovery that history wasn’t about dates and wars—the stuff we had to memorize in high school—but about people. And what can be more absorbing than people? When I started my first historical series, set in the very early 20th century in my hometown of South Bend, Indiana, I delved into the local newspaper and learned that the people of the time and their problems were very much like today’s. That pulled me in, and never let go. Now, researching the 1920s, I’m meeting people who might live next door. It’s so much fun!
I love all of Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael books for so many reasons.
One is the crisp excellence of writing, one is her illuminating description of her medieval setting, one is her endearing protagonist, one is her exceptional plotting. This particular title has a most intriguing plot and a thoroughly satisfying resolution.
I chose the book (which I have reread many times) with a satisfied smile. And finally, the books are set in the England I so love, even if her setting is 11 centuries ago.
In the year of our Lord 1141, August comes in golden as a lion, and two monks ride into the Benedictine abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul bringing with them disturbing news of war- and a mystery. The strangers tell how the strife between the Empress Maud and King Stephen has destroyed the town of Winchester and their priory. Now Brother Humilis, who is handsome, gaunt and very ill, and Brother Fidelis, youthful, comely- and mute- must seek refuge at Shrewsbury.
From the moment he meets them, Brother Cadfael senses that they are bound by something deeper than their…
Enchanted by mysteries of the cozy, comic, or traditional sort, I was delighted to realize that they replay the holy grail myth. Here the Waste Land is the community paralyzed by the crime that cannot be undone, murder, the sleuth is the Grail Knight, and the Grail Cup is the restorative magic of the solution. Cozy or comic or traditional sleuths find the murderer by asking the right questions, so re-storying or restoring the fertility of the realm. Comedy is used for rebirth in the face of tragedy. I began to write cozies-with-an-edge, emphasizing women heroes who need each other as they face issues of today’s wasteland in climate change.
For sheer delight, I give you mysteries featuring not-very-competent bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum, because they use comedyto portray as well as endurea world of endemic violence. Serious stuff like organized crime is made visible and bearable to the reader by foregrounding Stephanie’s chaos-strewn friendships with walking disasters like ex ‘ho Lula. The great comic creation, Grandma Mazur (aged 70, looks 90) also drags our beloved sleuth into peril that is hilarious as well as life-threatening. This time Grandma becomes a holy terror in online gaming, a change from geriatric sex-crazed boyfriends, falling into coffin caskets, or shooting the dinner chicken. Evanovich collides the crime caper with darker textures of urban suffering. Read for comedy as a survival skill with plenty of sex, death, and doughnuts.
Personal vendettas. Hidden treasure. A monkey named Carl. Stephanie Plum is as fearless as ever in the fourteenth hilarious novel in Janet Evanovich's bestselling Stephanie Plum series. Fearless Fourteen is not to be missed by fans of Harlan Coben and JD Robb.
Raves for Evanovich's bestselling series: 'A laugh a minute against a background of dastardly crime with a ditzy heroine and two - yes TWO - of the hottest heroes ever created' (Woman's Weekly); 'A laugh-out-loud page-turner' (Heat).
Stephanie's desperate enough for a bit of extra cash that she's agreed to help run security…
Enchanted by mysteries of the cozy, comic, or traditional sort, I was delighted to realize that they replay the holy grail myth. Here the Waste Land is the community paralyzed by the crime that cannot be undone, murder, the sleuth is the Grail Knight, and the Grail Cup is the restorative magic of the solution. Cozy or comic or traditional sleuths find the murderer by asking the right questions, so re-storying or restoring the fertility of the realm. Comedy is used for rebirth in the face of tragedy. I began to write cozies-with-an-edge, emphasizing women heroes who need each other as they face issues of today’s wasteland in climate change.
I love comic worlds that make unlikely families from the impoverished, slightly crazy, and the unlucky. Here is a study of friendship, affection, suspects, and oddballs washed up at the well-named Last Ditch Motel. Scottish therapist Lexy Campbell is stranded in small-town California by a faithless husband. She won’t desert her one client accused of murder by exploding toilet. Flummoxed America and California, this fish-out-of-water hooks up with Kathi, the allergic laundry operator, and her wife, Noleen, the Motel receptionist who hates people. Add perfectionist gay Todd trying to get Lexy into California grooming while too phobic to live with his beloved, stir in single mother Della, tiny Diego, and nerd Devin. Lexy’s car crash detecting needs them all. Last Ditch is a surefire series. I pre-order every one.
Lexy Campbell fights to prove the innocence of a client she's been providing marriage guidance to after she is accused of murdering her husband.
It's the Fourth of July in California and Lexy Campbell is headed home to Scotland. But first she must deliver her final dose of marriage guidance to the elderly Bombarros. They don't turn up for the session, but the cops do. Turns out Mr Bombarro is in the morgue and Mrs Bombarro is in the jail, arrested for murder.
Certain of the old lady's innocence, Lexy decides to stay and clear her name. But after her…
Enchanted by mysteries of the cozy, comic, or traditional sort, I was delighted to realize that they replay the holy grail myth. Here the Waste Land is the community paralyzed by the crime that cannot be undone, murder, the sleuth is the Grail Knight, and the Grail Cup is the restorative magic of the solution. Cozy or comic or traditional sleuths find the murderer by asking the right questions, so re-storying or restoring the fertility of the realm. Comedy is used for rebirth in the face of tragedy. I began to write cozies-with-an-edge, emphasizing women heroes who need each other as they face issues of today’s wasteland in climate change.
Embrace this beloved comic novel with seventy-five-year-old showgirl twins, Dora and Nora Chance. Dora recalls their bawdy existence of struggle and romance hours before partying with the toff side of the family, Shakespearean actor dynasty, the Hazards. The Chances grab life and joy from the wrong side of the tracks. Possibly fathered by actor, Sir Melchior, or his twin brother, the Chance twins struggled to make a living in the illegitimate theater of song and dance. Despite male lovers, their lives are shaped by women, like Hollywood starlet Delia, and the Lady A, both unfortunate wives of their putative father. Disabled and thrown out by cruel daughters, Lady A pops up as Wheelchair when taken in by the warm-hearted Chances. The kindness of women is what matters here.
In Brixton, Nora and Dora Chance - twin chorus girls born and bred south of the river - are celebrating their 75th birthday. Over the river in Chelsea, their father and greatest actor of his generation Melchior Hazard turns 100 on the same day. As does his twin brother Peregrine. If, in fact, he's still alive. And if, in truth, Melchior is their real father after all...
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Wise Children is adapted for the stage from Angela Carter's last novel about a theatrical family living in South London. It centres around twin chorus girls, Nora and Dora Chance, whose lives…
I write whodunits because I love a good mystery and a good puzzle. I like giving clues out to the reader, sometimes red herrings, sometimes not. Three of my mysteries are set in a fictional little town in the Canadian prairies. I like showing the readers rural life with humour and mystery. Two of my mysteries are set in foreign countries I have visited. One takes place in Egypt. The other takes place on a bus tour of the Nordic countries and ends up in Moscow. I like the challenge of showing the readers the sights and the feel of the country without making the book a travel log.
Move over, Miss Marple. Agatha Raisin is on the job. The story takes place in a quaint English country village. Agatha, the protagonist, is a bull in a tea shop. I like that Agatha is not perfect. Perfect is boring. In this story, she lets her jealousy get in the way and becomes the prime suspect. M.C. Beaton is a master at descriptions; in a few words, you can see the character and the surroundings. ‘If you want to write, you must read.’ A great piece of advice. I learned a lot from M. C. Beaton.
A therapist had moved into the village of Carsely and Agatha Raisin hates her. Not only was this therapist, Jill Davent, romancing Agatha's ex-husband, but she had dug up details of Agatha's slum background. Added to that, Jill was counselling a woman called Gwen Simple from Winter Parva and Agatha firmly believed Gwen to have assisted her son in some grisly murders, although has no proof she had done so. A resentment is different from a dislike and needs to be shared, so as the friendship between James and Jill grows stronger, the more Agatha does to try to find…
I write whodunits because I love a good mystery and a good puzzle. I like giving clues out to the reader, sometimes red herrings, sometimes not. Three of my mysteries are set in a fictional little town in the Canadian prairies. I like showing the readers rural life with humour and mystery. Two of my mysteries are set in foreign countries I have visited. One takes place in Egypt. The other takes place on a bus tour of the Nordic countries and ends up in Moscow. I like the challenge of showing the readers the sights and the feel of the country without making the book a travel log.
Yvonne Rediger’s The Wrong Words is set on beautiful Vancouver Island on the west coast of Canada. The Wrong Words is a page-turning cozy mystery with all the proper investigative procedures. Adam Norcross, the main protagonist, is a man with a mysterious past. I liked how he and the female cop Bethany Leith worked together. Sometimes the male lead overpowers the female lead. But not in this story. And I didn’t guess whodunit; when that happens, that is the best.
Adam Norcross is not in a good place. He recently buried his mother and now he needs something more than a power struggle between him and his mother’s cat to distract him from his grief. That something comes in the form of an assignment from his boss, Walter Shapiro, who is not a patient man. Not surprising since he reports directly to the prime minister. Shapiro interrupts Norcross’ bereavement leave to give him an assignment. Norcross’ task is to find out how the country’s most eminent climate scientist ended up dead off the highway in a mountain ravine. Was it…
