Here are 4 books that Sarah Gilchrist Mysteries fans have personally recommended once you finish the Sarah Gilchrist Mysteries series.
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Most stories about murder in the Victorian era are set in London. Not all the best mysteries, however, take place there as I have discovered as a long-time reviewer for City Book Review. Some are; some are not. In my own writing, the setting must complement and even amplify the murderous doings being depicted. With this in mind, let me take you on a deadly country-wide tour of mystery, with each of our five stops brightened or darkened by one of my favorite murder stories. Each of them engaged me, mystified me, and, above all, entertained me.
I must confess to a special interest in this mystery. It is set in Wales, and I am Welsh by birth. From a series of accidental deaths to an old collage created by a local master military tailor, this recent publication (2023) mesmerized me from start to finish. I could not put it down.
What fascinated me was how the settings, whether the town center with its breweries, tanneries, and museum, the site of the Art Treasures Exhibition, or the menacing waters of the Irish Sea, the location of the story’s nail-biting climax, brought this well-researched, page-turner to life before my eyes. I could feel the time and place of this intriguing detective story deep in my Welsh roots.
He only sought the truth. But some truths are best left buried.
Wrexham, 1876. Meet Alfred Neobard Palmer, an unlikely hero. "It was a death which had brought him here. Death by snake venom, of all things." Palmer - and his more courageous sweetheart, young Ettie Francis. A series of accidental deaths which increasingly seem - well, more than simply accidental. Deaths luring Palmer and Ettie, slowly but surely, towards a terrifying climax through the treacherous waters of the North Wales coast. But can those deaths truly be linked to the huge coverlet on display at Wrexham's magnificent Art Treasures…
Most stories about murder in the Victorian era are set in London. Not all the best mysteries, however, take place there as I have discovered as a long-time reviewer for City Book Review. Some are; some are not. In my own writing, the setting must complement and even amplify the murderous doings being depicted. With this in mind, let me take you on a deadly country-wide tour of mystery, with each of our five stops brightened or darkened by one of my favorite murder stories. Each of them engaged me, mystified me, and, above all, entertained me.
This last tale brings the tour back to London, albeit with side trips to Yorkshire. I was attracted to this enthralling mystery not only by the twisty plot but also by the way the author cleverly sets scenes with just a few words. It was enough for me to know time and place while leaving room for my imagination to have its say.
I easily pictured the library or drawing room of Somerville Hall; Harrogate’s rat-infested police station; the derelict building housing Russell’s Book Shop; Verrey’s Restaurant, Regent Street; the London General Mourning Warehouse; and the list continues. I was drawn into every scene with the story’s heroine.
Lucy Lawrence stared down at her husband, his once handsome face now a twisted mask of death. She shivered and pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders. His life had held so many secrets, and now his sins were hers to bear…England, 1886. In the flickering gaslights of Victorian London, 28-year-old Lucy Lawrence's future hangs in the balance. Her husband's murder has left her reputation in tatters, and the theft of her mother's priceless heirloom pearls has only added to her woes. But when the handsome investigator Phineas Stone enters her life, Lucy finds herself drawn into a web of…
Ever since I read the work of Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, and Georgette Heyer at an impressionable age, nineteenth-century England has fascinated me. My mother, a lifelong reader, is responsible for sparking this obsession. She never cared that I wanted to read “grown-up books” or later tried to discourage me from majoring in English. After college, I went on to teach British literature to high school students and to write two mystery series, one set during the Regency period, the other taking place half a century later. This new Victorian series introduces a bored spinster who finds her purpose in life as a detective.
Every so often, I meet a charming, humane fictional character who seems like someone I would very much like to have a long conversation with. The gentlemanly amateur detective Charles Lenox is just such a man. And, in fact, he does seem to spend an awful lot of time having tea with his friends in this novel, set in 1865 London.
But that doesn’t stop Mr. Lenox from using his impressive wits to solve the murder of a housemaid, who is dead in an apparent suicide. I love this series by author Charles Finch and eagerly await each new installment.
Most stories about murder in the Victorian era are set in London. Not all the best mysteries, however, take place there as I have discovered as a long-time reviewer for City Book Review. Some are; some are not. In my own writing, the setting must complement and even amplify the murderous doings being depicted. With this in mind, let me take you on a deadly country-wide tour of mystery, with each of our five stops brightened or darkened by one of my favorite murder stories. Each of them engaged me, mystified me, and, above all, entertained me.
Our next stop is Essex for a classic English village mystery. I knew from the moment I read the opening scene—the grisly discovery of a young man entombed in the crypt of the usually murder-free parish church—that I was going to love the story. And I did.
I was delighted to see how the tranquility of the pastoral scenes—the thatched-roof cottages, the earthy smell of horses in the stable, the square, Norman-style church tower overlooking the village green—carried through the story and beautifully counterpointed the skullduggery at the heart of the mystery.
The quaint village atmosphere heightens the tension in this well-constructed first installment of what promises to be an exciting new mystery series.
When the body of a young man is found stuffed into the tomb of a medieval knight, Parish Constable Daniel Haze is tasked with investigating his first solo murder case. Suspicion instantly falls on the only stranger to arrive in the village of Birch Hill just before the crime took place, but the American captain proves to be an unexpected asset. A former soldier and a skilled surgeon, Jason Redmond is not only willing to assist Haze with the investigation but will risk his own safety to apprehend the killer.With no suspects, no motive, and few leads to follow, Redmond…
