Nietzsche once said that an artist “has no home in Europe save in Paris.” But while the artists are flourishing in the city of light and love, the detectives are across the channel: Since the dawn of detective fiction, inspectors have been most at home in London.
Something about this bustling city has attracted fictional inspectors from the very beginning. Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White is one of the first mystery novels, opening in London. Then Sherlock Holmes and 221B Baker Street came along, the detective and his London flat becoming icons of the genre. The golden age of detective fiction saw authors like Agatha Christie taking her detectives back to the city, in novels like Cards on the Table and At Bertram’s Hotel.
It’s no surprise, then, that modern authors (and their fictional investigators) return again and again to London – and particularly, the London of the past. There is something almost mythical about the cobblestones and shadows and alleys with doors leading anywhere. We can’t help but lead our characters to retrace the steps of the beloved Holmes and Watson and Poirot and Miss Marple.
My first novel, A Most Agreeable Murder, took place in a fictional small town in England called Swampshire. But I knew my protagonist, Beatrice Steele, would eventually leave that small town for the big city of London. In my follow-up novel, A Terribly Nasty Business, Beatrice does just that, taking on a case in Regency-era London – or at least, my version of it. After all, she’s a detective, and that means London is her home.
My bookshelf is overflowing with fantastic London-set historical mysteries, but I’ve selected nine here which wonderfully showcase the fictional detectives who populate the City of Mystery.
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
World War I field nurse Maisie Dobbs starts an investigative practice in the first of this long-running, beloved series. Part historical fiction, part mystery, part exploration of postwar England, the book begins in 1929 London. Winspear’s grandfather was a World War I veteran, and some of his experiences informed and inspired the intriguing events of this series.
Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
Lady Julia Grey’s husband Sir Edward drops dead in their London home, murdered – and thus begins the Lady Julia Grey mystery series. Set in the Victorian era against the backdrop of London society, this is a lush showcase of the city. And once you’ve read all of Julia Grey, you can move to Veronica Speedwell, the detective in Raybourn’s other fantastic, London-set mystery series.
To Shield the Queen by Fiona Buckley
Ursula Blanchard is a young widow and mother who takes a position serving Queen Elizabeth the I in the beginning of this historical mystery series. She soon finds herself at the center of a mystery when Amy, the wife of Robert Dudley, perishes after a suspicious fall down the stairs. Well-researched and based on true events, this series is perfect for those – like me – intrigued by the Tudor era.
Smoke and Silk by Fiona Keating
Set in Limehouse, Victorian London’s first Chinatown, this historical mystery follows Pearl Fitzgerald as she tries to claim her inheritance – and instead ends up at the center of a murder investigation. This debut brings to life a little-known corner of Victorian London, with a side of romance, lush detail, and murder.
Murder in Westminster by Vanessa Riley
The first of the Lady Worthing mysteries, this London-set novel follows Lady Abigail Worthing as she investigates the death of her neighbor’s wife. Fans of Bridgerton will love how this series explores the diversity of the Regency era, with banter, romance, and intrigue.
Slippery Creatures by K.J. Charles
Fans of golden age mysteries, this London-set series is for you: Will Darling returns from the Great War, and is immediately immersed in a world of secrets, spies, and an unexpected romance.
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord by Celeste Connally
What is it about the Regency era that makes it the perfect setting for murder mysteries? Perhaps there’s something about the seemingly polished time period with all its glittering balls and empire waistlines that makes us yearn to see the dark underbelly. Connally delivers plenty of this in the first of her Lady Petra series: when her friend dies in a questionable manner, Lady Petra takes the investigation into her own hands, leaving no stone unturned as she seeks the truth.
A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith
London, 1901: Barrister Gabriel Ward finds the Lord Chief Justice of England, dead on his doorstep. So begins the Trials of Gabriel Ward, a new mystery series exploring the secrets of London’s legal sphere.
A Traitor in Whitehall by Julia Kelly
Evelyne Redfern is working as a secretary in World War II England, when a girl at work is murdered, and she decides to find answers. This 1940-set mystery is the first in a series following Evelyne’s sleuthing.
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