The Queens of Crime An Intriguing, Entertaining Historical Mystery

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

When the Detection Club—a society for British mystery writers—is created in 1930, its mostly male members balk at including too many women in their ranks. Dorothy L. Sayers, a prominent author of crime novels, isn't about to let that stand. To prove to her male counterparts that female mystery writers are just as capable and deserving of accolades as them, she invites four of her colleagues—Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Baroness Emma Orczy, and Margery Allingham—to join her in forming a secret club of their own. Calling themselves The Queens of Crime, they aim to solve a real murder mystery to prove their merit as amateur detectives and writers as well as to see a killer brought to justice.

The women take on the case of May Daniels, a young English nurse who disappeared from a train station restroom while on a quick holiday in France with a friend. Five months later, the woman's dead body was found in a park, along with a mysterious puddle of blood that couldn't have resulted from her death by strangulation. The authorities don't seem too interested in investigating the murder, but Sayers and her friends are determined to figure out who harmed May. It's not long before their digging unearths secrets that someone would kill (again) to keep buried. That someone is watching Sayers, threatening to reveal her own darkest secret if she doesn't stop poking her nose in where it doesn't belong. Is the women's increasingly dangerous investigation worth the risk to their own lives? How far will they go to find a killer?

I love a historical mystery that is inspired by real people and events. While The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict isn't entirely factual (naturally), it features a group of indomitable women who really lived and created names for themselves by succeeding in a male-dominated field at a time when ladies were not meant to have jobs or lives outside of home and family. I had only really heard of Sayers, Christie, and Orczy and only read Christie, so I was excited to learn more about each of the featured authors. To succeed as they all did, they must have been bold, clever, and tenacious. Unfortunately, their individual personalities don't shine through as much as I would have liked in this novel. However, the friendship and camaraderie that they create is my favorite part of the story. As they combine their skills to solve a murder, they also bond by encouraging, supporting, and uplifting each other, professionally and personally. I also like Benedict's portrayal of the authors' compassion and sensitivity. Tracking down May's killer isn't just a ghoulish game for them; they want justice for the young victim as well as for all the "surplus" girls like her who are so easily forgotten by society. Even though the novel mostly focuses on Sayers and Christie, it piqued my interest about Marsh, Orzcy, and Allingham as well, inspiring me to want to check out their work.

Some mystery lovers have found that The Queens of Crime moves too slowly for their tastes, which is fair. It's definitely not an adrenaline-fueled, edge-of-your-seat kind of read. There aren't any jaw-dropping twists and there's not much action to get your heart pumping. Slow and predictable though it may be, I found the novel to be quietly compelling. I never got bored with it. I kept reading because I liked the characters, I enjoyed their interactions, and the mystery moved along steadily enough to engage me throughout the story. As a bonus, the novel is a gentler read, cleaner and cozier than I expected it to be, something I always appreciate as someone who loves mysteries/thrillers but prefers them without graphic content. 

Overall, then, I very much enjoyed The Queens of Crime. It's an intriguing, entertaining read with both bookish and girl power vibes. You can't go wrong with that!

(Readalikes: Reminds me a bit of Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library, a forthcoming novel by Amanda Chapman)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for brief, mild language (no F-bombs), violence, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find