I am sad that there's no genre search for "historical mystery".  I see that some member tag their books with this and some add it to their titles, both of which are helpful.  But meanwhile I'm wondering if there are any other historical mystery buffs out there and if so, what your favorite books/series/characters/authors are??

I am hooked on Anne Perry (victorian- both her Monk and Pitt series) and Stephanie Barron (Jane Austen).  

I recently discovered Rhys Bowen's Molly Murphy  (early 1900s, NY) series as well.  I've only read Murphy's Law so far, but its excellent!!

I've also read a few by Ellis Peters (Cadfael- medieval); Elizabeth Peters (1900-1920s Egypt); Steven Saylor (Ancient Rome);  and Laura Rowland (17th century era Samurai).

Does anyone have any other recommendations?  If anyone is swapping some historical mysteries, let me know so I can check out your bookshelf!!

Thanks,

Rita

Here are a few to add to your list:

The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries books (cozies) by Emily BRIGHTWELL (turn of the century London); Ursula Blanchard in the court of Eliz I by Fiona BUCKLEY ; Marion CHESNEY writes about Victorian England; P. C. DOHERTY writes about several historic eras - I like Hugh Corbett best in the 13th century, but he also writes about an ancient Egyptian investigator named Amerothe;

Jeanne DAMS  -  Hilda Johansson, a servant in the home of an American industrial baron in the late 19th century; Kathy EMERSON - Lady Appleton, in  16th century England; Elizabeth EYRE writes about an enigmatic sleuth Sigismundo, set in the time of Italian dukedoms; Margaret FRAZER has 2 series set in Medievil England;

Barbara HAMBLY -  New Orleans in the early 19th century; Michael JECKS  - Sir Baldwin Furnhill, a post Crusades knight who is supposedly a Knight Templer who escaped death; Kate KINGSBURY - (cozies) set in England near tjhe beginning of WWII;Edward MARSTON - Nicholas Bracewell - Elizabethan theater Co. stage manager and bookkeeper;

Robin PAIGE - Victorian England; John Maddox ROBERTS series set in the early Roman empire; Peter TREMAYNE - Sister Fodelma in ancient Ireland;

WOW!  Thank you for all this food for thought!  I can hardly wait to go explore some of these!! :)

Alys Clare     http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/C_Authors/Clare_Alys.html

Peter Tremayne     http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/T_Authors/Tremayne_Peter.html

Sharon Kay Penman   http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/P_Authors/Penman_Sharon-Kay.html

Michael Jecks     http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/J_Authors/Jecks_Michael.html

Of the ones already mentioned, my favorites are Tremayne (Sister Fidelma), Clare (Abbess Helewise), Penman (Justin de Quincy), Ellis Peters (Cadfael--probably my all-time favorite!)

Other favorites not yet mentioned...btw, Historical Mystery is my very favorite sub-genre!...

Kate Sedley link with Roger the Chapman, a peddler/amateur sleuth in medieval England

Susanna Gregory  (link)  with my favorite series of hers being Matthew Bartholomew, a 15th century physician

Bernard Knight link with his sleuth Sir John de Wolfe, first coroner in Devon, UK in the late 1190's.

Alan Gordon link with Feste the Fool, a 12th century jongleur and sleuth (excellent!)

Candace Robb link with Owen Archer, a one-eyed former soldier, now spy for the Archbishop in medieval York, UK

Kathy Lynn Emerson link features Lady Susanna Appleton, an herbalist/sleuth in Elizabethan times

Sharan Newman link features Catherine le Vendeur, a French ex-nun in medieval Paris

Bruce Alexander link writes about real historical figure Sir John Fielding, blind magistrate of London's Bow Street Court in the 18th C.

C.J. Sansom link has an excellent start on a series featuring Matthew Shardlake, a hunchbacked lawyer in 16th c. England

Victoria Thompson link  writes the Gaslight Mysteries featuring Sarah Brandt, a midwife in early 1900's NY

There are lots of newer up-and-coming series I'm just starting, too, but those are my favorites!

Cheryl

You've got quite a list already... i don't see Carola Dunn on there,  yet. she writes a series set in the '20s (although... not sure if you'd consider that historical, but it's.. recent historical).  And Dale Furatani who writes a mystery trilogy about a 17th century samurai in Japan...

I've found i really enjoy reading the really early mysteries - Wilkie Collins, Baroness Orczy (of Scarlett Pimpernel fame), Ernest Bramah, GK Cheterton, J.S. Fletcher - many of which are now becoming free of copyright restrictions and are available via MP3 on librivox and other similar sites.

I highly recommend Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin.

Hope this hasn't already been mentioned, but Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series is set in London in the 1920s and 1930s. Maisie is a psychologist/investigator.

Rebecca Pawel's series set in Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and on the cusp of WWII.  The protagonist is a Spanis Guardia, Carlos Tejada, and they're really well written.  I'm not all that familiar with Spanish history, particularly 20th C. Spanish history, so this has been a learning experience for me. 

I've read the first two in the series (1) Death of a Nationalist and (2) Law of Return - both which were available when I searched just moments ago.  The third in the series is The Watcher in the Pine and I started it earlier this week and am enjoying it immensely.

There's only four books in Pawel's series - since I've not gotten to the last one I don't know if she's just taken a breather from writing or if the series concludes.  The publisher is Soho Crime - which I've lauded before.  Everything I've read from them to date has been fabulous.

Some of my faves ...

Ancient Rome - Lindsey Davis' Marcus Didius Falco series, John Maddox Roberts SPQR series, and a series by David Wishart whose name I don't remember. (Don't try to read them all at the same time or even within three months of each other. They are all excellent but they can be confusing because the characters, while very different, fit the same mold. Husband, clever wife, etc).

Ancient Egypt - Lauren Hanes' Lt Bak series.

Susanna Gregory's Brother Matthew series.

May I recommend going to stopyourekillingme.com and looking at the historical Index? The historical mystories are way too many to list here. And I have some extra Lindsey Davis books if you are thinking of swapping ... they aren't listed here though.

Shirley Tallman's Sarah Woolson series.  This series is based on a real character, aspiring to be a female lawyer in the 1800's in San Francisco despite the protests of that time.  They're written in Sarah's voice and are really interesting not only from a plot perspective but from the historical facts, as well.

I am a great fan of historical mysteries. I spend most of my time on series from Ancient (up to 500AD or so) and Medieval periods, but I'm a sucker for almost anything previous to the 20th century. BIG on Sherlock Holmes pastiches.

I recently posted 11 books from Robin Paige's 'DeathAt...' series onto my Bookshelf, and you can find other goodies there as well. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unpostables available with an order from my shelf!  All are paperbacks, complete and readable, but with damaged covers.  PM me the title you ordered *and* which freebie you would like!  

Denim & Lace - Patricia Rice. 0451406885. Romance.   

Assignment Nuclear Nude - Edward S. Aarons. 44902815095. Mystery.   

Exceptional Clearance - William J. Caunitz. 0553296604. Thriller.   

A Time to Kill - John Grisham. 0440211727. Courtroom drama.  Front cover missing.  

Slaughter-House Five - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 0440180295.

The Godmakers - Frank Herbert. 0425093271. SciFi.

I am a great fan of historical mysteries. I spend most of my time on series from Ancient (up to 500AD or so) and Medieval periods, but I'm a sucker for almost anything previous to the 20th century. BIG on Sherlock Holmes pastiches.

I recently posted 11 books from Robin Paige's 'DeathAt...' series onto my Bookshelf, and you can find other goodies there as well. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unpostables available with an order from my shelf!  All are paperbacks, complete and readable, but with damaged covers.  PM me the title you ordered *and* which freebie you would like!  

Denim & Lace - Patricia Rice. 0451406885. Romance.   

Assignment Nuclear Nude - Edward S. Aarons. 44902815095. Mystery.   

Exceptional Clearance - William J. Caunitz. 0553296604. Thriller.   

A Time to Kill - John Grisham. 0440211727. Courtroom drama.  Front cover missing.  

Slaughter-House Five - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 0440180295.

The Godmakers - Frank Herbert. 0425093271. SciFi.

There is a list in my profile of great HF mysteries and mystery series if you'd like to check it out. Rennie Airth has a great series taking place in England after WWl. It starts with River of Darkness - only 3 books in this series so far. I am an avid HF mystery reader and I second the above books especially those by Ariana Franklin and C J Sansom. Another great series is by C S Harris (Sebastian St Cyr). Musn't forget Paul Doherty either.

If you check my lists, don't confuse the HF mystery AUDIO with the HF mystery FAVORITES b/c there aren't many books listed on the audio list! Happy hunting!!

Diane Stuckart has her Leonardo da Vinci mysteries.  The narrator and main protagonist is his apprentice Dino.  They're nicely done, and a place and time that isn't seen much in historical fiction.

Laurie R. King's Mary Russell (Sherlock Holmes) series is excellent!

I have a list created for historical  mysteries.    http://www.paperbackswap.com/Historical-Mystery-Series/list/420/

Many have contributed hope you find something you like.

Alice

I see this is an old thread that got revived, but in case anyone is still looking for the Historical Mystery genre to use in searches, it's:

Mystery & Thrillers >> Mystery >> Historical

David Liss does really good historical mysteries, as well as William Dietrich. His man, Ethan works for and against Napoleon as he tries to start his world march in Egypt.