Here are 12 books that The Girl in the Green Dress fans have personally recommended if you like
The Girl in the Green Dress.
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This re-imagining of Fitzgeraldās The Great Gatsby offered sparkling prose and a challenging look at the world of prosperous Black Los Angeles in the 1940s.
In this poignant retelling of The Great Gatsby, set amongst L.A.'s Black elite, a young veteran finds his way post-war, pulled into a new world of tantalizing possibilitiesāand explosive tensions.
AN ESQUIRE BEST BOOK OF SUMMER
In 1945, Charlie Trammell steps off a cross-country train into the vibrant tapestry of Los Angeles. Lured by his cousin Marguerite's invitation to the esteemed West Adams Heights, Charlie is immediately captivated by the Black opulence of L.A.'s newly rechristened āSugar Hill.ā
Settling in at a local actress's energetic boarding house, Charlie discovers a different way of lifeāone brimming with opportunityāfrom a promising careerā¦
The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.
On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictiveā¦
Iām a born-and-raised South Sider, so I adored this charming Chicago-set murder mystery. Just the right combination of sass, social observation, and cozy crime solving.
When Savvy Summers first opened Essie's soul food cafe, she never expected her customer-favourite sweet potato pie to become the centre of a murder investigation. But when Grandy Jaspers, the 75-year-old neighborhood womaniser, drops dead at table two, she suddenly has more to worry about than just maintaining Essie's reputation for the finest soul food in the Chicagoland area.
Even as the police deem Grandy's death an accident, Savvy quickly finds herself - and her beloved cafe - in the middle of an entire city's worth of bad press. Desperate to clear her name and keep her business afloat, Savvyā¦
Iāve spent my career with my students exploring microbes in all kinds of worlds, from cosmetics on our skin to the glaciers of Antarctica. In Antarctica, I discovered bizarre bacteria that form giant red blobs; we call them the āred noseā life form. In our lab at Kenyon College, we isolated new microbes from a studentās beauty blenders. These experiences, and those of the books I list here, inspire the microbial adventures of my science fiction. If microbes could talk, how would they deal with us? Find out in my novel, Brain Plague. And I hope you enjoy all the microbial tales on this list!
This is the best novel Iāve read about bubonic plague.
Student historian Kivrin travels back in time to England of the Middle Agesāunknowingly at the start of the Black Death. The cause of Black Death was the plague bacteria, unknown to people of that time.
What makes the book memorable is its depiction of everyday life, where children who get lost in the forest must find their way home by the tolling of the village church bell. Ultimately, the bell tolls for all the plagueās victims.
The vivid characterization makes me experience people of a time so distant their minds feel alien to us, yet still deeply human.
"Ambitious, finely detailed and compulsively readable" - Locus
"It is a book that feels fundamentally true; it is a book to live in" - Washington Post
For Kivrin Engle, preparing an on-site study of one of the deadliest eras in humanity's history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing a bullet-proof backstory. For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received.
Roman mythology stampedes into the present as the Gods of Elysium wake up after two thousand years sleeping from a spell gone wrong. Hell breaks loose on Earth as demons from Hades wreck havoc in a war against the mortals that threatens to start a war between the Gods themselves.ā¦
Iām the author of the Countess of Harleigh Mystery series. Iāve been fascinated by the Gilded Age/Victorian Era/Belle Epoque since reading my first Edith Wharton novel, The Buccaneers, which followed the lives of four American heiresses of the late 19th century, who crossed the Atlantic to marry British lords. Love and marriage almost never went together in Whartonās world, but with all the loveless marriages, the social climbing, and the haves and have-nots, I find it makes an excellent setting for a mystery.
Frances lives in the Victorian Era in London, but in her hometown of New York, itās the Gilded Age. This is her background in all its glittering and horrifying glory.Ā
Crime novels fit quite naturally in this era. I love a loathsome villain and Rosemary Simpson serves up some of the worst in her Gilded Age series. She uses actual events, like the great blizzard of 1888, as catalysts for some heinous crimes. If you needed to dispose of a body, what better place than a snowdrift?Ā
Set amidst the opulent mansions and cobblestone streets of Old New York, this enthralling historical mystery by Rosemary Simpson brings the Gilded Age to lifeāin a tantalizing tale of old money, new love, and grave suspicion . . . Ā
Iām the author of the Countess of Harleigh Mystery series. Iāve been fascinated by the Gilded Age/Victorian Era/Belle Epoque since reading my first Edith Wharton novel, The Buccaneers, which followed the lives of four American heiresses of the late 19th century, who crossed the Atlantic to marry British lords. Love and marriage almost never went together in Whartonās world, but with all the loveless marriages, the social climbing, and the haves and have-nots, I find it makes an excellent setting for a mystery.
Jane is uniquely positioned to move through the city streets as well as into the homes of the upper crust. Sheās smart, resourceful, and tenacious, but itās her loyalty to her not-so-nice employers that had me rooting for her to uncover the killer. It definitely gave me Upstairs, Downstairs as well as Downton Abby vibes.
āA taut, suspenseful, and complex murder mystery with gorgeous period detail.āāSusan Elia MacNeal
Through her exquisite prose, sharp observation and deft plotting, Mariah Fredericks invites us into the heart of a changing New York in her remarkable debut adult novel, A Death of No Importance.
New York City, 1910. Invisible until sheās needed, Jane Prescott has perfected the art of serving as a ladiesā maid to the cityās upper echelons. When she takes up a position with the Benchley family, dismissed by the cityās elite as ānew moneyā, Jane realizes that while she may not have financial privilege, she hasā¦
Iāve been reading historical fiction since childhoodāitās my preferred method for learning history. I want to know who people were in an everyday way, not as broad-brush reporting. My tastes are not limited to particular eras although I do my best to skip as much battle detail as I can. I like historical fiction that has character as its throughline. Who are these people? What do/did they want? How did they get it? I think my theatre background and training are what make me ask questions like these. What did they have for dinner? What did they talk about? Their excesses, their eccentricities, their excellences.
Sarah Brandt is, in a squirmy twist for her upper-crust Knickerbocker New York City parents, a turn-of-the-century midwife, widowed and curious about everything. Women of her ilk donāt work. She meets Metropolitan Police Force detective Frank Malone and is his answer to prayer as well as his personal torment. The two meet each other uncannily all over town in this series from the Battery to the Bowery to the Bronx and back again; she, ever helpful, he, ever cynical, until their lives collide in a magically different, far more intimate way. The situations are always intriguing and built around impeccable Gilded Age research.
The first novel in the national bestselling Gaslight Mystery series introduces Sarah Brandt, a midwife in the turn-of-the-century tenements of Manhattan who refuses to turn a blind eye to the injustices of the crime-ridden city...
After a routine delivery, Sarah visits her patient in a rooming house-and discovers that another boarder, a young girl, has been killed. At the request of Sergeant Frank Malloy, she searches the girl's room. She discovers that the victim is from one of the most prominent families in New York-and the sister of an old friend. The powerful family, fearful of scandal, refuses to permitā¦
The epic saga continues. Jarnland is in a frenzy of excitement. After the eccentric demise of Old King Wyllard, his co-Majesty, young Queen Esmeralda, announces a Royal Tournament to celebrate the return of our heroes from their perilous quest.Ā The Main Event will be a duel between the legendary warriorā¦
Iām the author of the Countess of Harleigh Mystery series. Iāve been fascinated by the Gilded Age/Victorian Era/Belle Epoque since reading my first Edith Wharton novel, The Buccaneers, which followed the lives of four American heiresses of the late 19th century, who crossed the Atlantic to marry British lords. Love and marriage almost never went together in Whartonās world, but with all the loveless marriages, the social climbing, and the haves and have-nots, I find it makes an excellent setting for a mystery.
This series is actually set in Newport, Rhode Island but New Yorkās elite had to have somewhere to go when the summer heat settled on the city. Reporting on all the Newport society news is Emma Cross, second cousin to Cornelius Vanderbilt. I have to admit that Iām fascinated by the lives of these uber-wealthy characters. Their homes, wardrobes, and entertainments are almost shocking in their opulence. I love that many of the characters are real people. In this book, Alva Vanderbilt loses any hope of winning the Mother-of-the-Year award as she browbeats her daughter Consuelo into marrying heir to the Duke of Marlborough. If money canāt buy happiness, maybe a title will.
At the dawn of the twentieth century, the fortunes of the Vanderbilts still shine brightly in glittering Newport, Rhode Island. But when a potential scandal strikes, the Vanderbilts turn to cousin and society page reporter Emma Cross to solve a murder and a disappearance . . . Ā Responding to a frantic call on her newfangled telephone from her cousin, Consuelo Vanderbilt, Emma Cross arrives at the Marble House mansion and learns the cause of her distressāConsueloās mother, Alva, is forcing her into marriage with the Duke of Marlborough. Her mother has even called in a fortune teller to assure Consueloā¦
Iām the author of the Countess of Harleigh Mystery series. Iāve been fascinated by the Gilded Age/Victorian Era/Belle Epoque since reading my first Edith Wharton novel, The Buccaneers, which followed the lives of four American heiresses of the late 19th century, who crossed the Atlantic to marry British lords. Love and marriage almost never went together in Whartonās world, but with all the loveless marriages, the social climbing, and the haves and have-nots, I find it makes an excellent setting for a mystery.
This novel embraces all the darkest elements of the Gilded Ageāthe occult, greed, cruelty, and the notorious asylum for the insane on Blackwellās Island and Iām here for all of it! The sleuth is Amelia Matthews, a psychic who suffered a head injury that both expanded her psychic ability and landed her in Blackwell Asylum. She is not insane, but neither are many of the other women locked up with herāat least not when they first arrived. Itās chilling to know that this really happened to women who were betrayed by their nearest and dearest. Stacie Murphy made me feel like her characters were real, and I wanted justice for them!Ā
A historical mystery in the vein of The Alienist, in which a young woman in Gilded Age New York must use a special talent to unravel a deadly conspiracy.
Amelia Matthew has done the all-but-impossible, especially for an orphan in Gilded Age New York City. Along with her foster brother Jonas, she has parleyed her modest psychic talent into a safe and comfortable life. But safety and comfort vanish when a head injury leaves Amelia with a dramatically-expanded gift. After she publicly channels an angry spirit, she finds herself imprisoned in the notorious insane asylum on Blackwell's Island. As Jonasā¦
I have been known to read a book a day, and I read widely: all the classics, mystery and suspense, science fiction, future fiction, and fantasy. My favorite novels in any genre take me to a place or time far away. My favorite characters are like hobbits; they are caught up in big adventures but fun to have a beer with and donāt take themselves too seriously. And all the protagonists in the novels I have chosen are women, because women my age have spent enough time reading about men who have adventures.
What I love about historical novels is their ability to transport me into a past that was beyond my imaginings before I read the book.
The harrowing opening scene of this novel is something I could not imagine. But the main character of the novel, a black woman living in the Jim Crow South, has no such luxury. She knows full well the perils of being a black woman in the South. She must fight against deadly sexism and racism to try to claim a life for herself and solve a mystery with ties to a true historical crime.
Wanda Morris writes in a style reminiscent of John Grisham (if he had the life experience of a black woman). Plan to read this over the weekend because once you start, you wonāt be able to put it down.Ā
Called One of the Best Crime Novels of the Yearby New York Times * NPR * New York Post * Washington Post * Buzzfeed * South Florida Sun-Sentinel * Library Journal * CrimeReads
From the award-winning author ofĀ All Her Little SecretsĀ comes yet another gripping, suspenseful novel where, after the murder of a white man in Jim Crow Mississippi, two Black sisters run away to different parts of the country . . . but can they escape the secrets they left behind?
Itās the summer of 1964 and three innocent men are brutallyā¦
I have been known to read a book a day, and I read widely: all the classics, mystery and suspense, science fiction, future fiction, and fantasy. My favorite novels in any genre take me to a place or time far away. My favorite characters are like hobbits; they are caught up in big adventures but fun to have a beer with and donāt take themselves too seriously. And all the protagonists in the novels I have chosen are women, because women my age have spent enough time reading about men who have adventures.
I loved this book because of its setting: during World War II, in the house of Agatha Christie.
We follow the heroine as she escapes the bombs of London to take care of children in an unfamiliar countryside and a large manor house. She is keeping secrets about her past, as is every other character!
The novel uses multiple points of view, so we, as readers, slowly learn about the lies everyone is telling. The war provides the perfect backdrop and raises the stakes as the murderer might not just be a killer but a fifth-column member, helping the Germans win the war.Ā
"Irresistible... a Golden Age homage, an elegantly constructed mystery that on every page reinforces the message that everyone counts." -New York Times Book Review
AGATHA AWARD WINNER!
Recommended by New York Times Book Review * Wall Street Journal * Parade * Country Living * Chicago Tribune * South Florida Sun-Sentinel * The Free-Lance Star * St. Louis Post-Dispatch * CrimeReads * Nerd Daily * Red Carpet Crash * and many more!
From the award-winning author of The Day I Died and The Lucky One, a captivating suspense novel about nurses during World War II who come to Agatha Christie's holidayā¦
