Historical fiction fulfills many needs in our lives. It educates us and entertains us, soothes us and challenges us. It can help us forget the present, or find new ways to understand our world today. This spring features a stellar line-up of historical whodunnits, from murder the Massachusetts Bay Colony to intrigue in Indochine. Whether you’re looking for a work of historical fiction that highlights the resonances between the past and the present, or pure escapism into the past so that you don’t have to think about the present at all, we’ve got a recommendation for you!
Note: The selections below are from January through April of 2020. Those that have yet to be released have publication dates listed.
TaraShea Nesbit, Beheld (Bloomsbury—comes out March 17th)
Setting: 1630 Plymouth, Massachusetts
I’m a huge fan of historical crime fiction, especially those books that manage to tell a compelling story while still immersing the reader in the thoughts and opinions of the time. TaraShea Nesbit’s Beheld begins with a murder on American soil ten years after the arrival of the Mayflower. It’s the first murder to occur in the fledgling colony, and the crime has its roots in the rivalry between an Anglican family and their Puritan neighbors, made deadly by the arrival of an interloper.
C.S. Harris, Who Speaks for the Damned (Berkley—comes out April 21st)
Setting: 1814 Europe
In Harris’ 15th installment of her popular and well-research Sebastian St. Cyr novels, the detective and his trusty valet encounter a mind-boggling murder when a royal whose been presumed dead for decades turns up very recently murdered. St. Cyr’s investigation will take him across Europe and through several courts, each more decadent than the last.
Ian McGuire, The Abstainer (Random House—comes out April 28th)
Setting: 1867 Manchester
In 1867 Manchester, revolution and murder will tear an Irish family apart, as one member sides with the Fenians and the other works to take down the budding rebellion from the inside. Featuring rich detail and vividly drawn characters that perfectly embody their milieu, The Abstainer is essential reading for all fascinated by the intersection of crime and history.
Clare Beams, The Illness Lesson (Doubleday)
Setting: 1870s New England
In this elegantly crafted tale of utopian woe, a new girls school set up in a former utopian colony becomes the site of a mysterious illness—and a very dubious cure. Beams’ protagonist, the daughter of the commune’s golden couple, is trapped between the patriarchal concern of the men running the school, the teenage rebellion of its students, and her own complicated desires; her thoughts are relatable but also grounded in 19th century ideals for a perfect historical novel.
Jess Kidd, Things in Jars (Atria)
Setting: Late Victorian Era London
Jess Kidd’s truly weird supernatural thriller really delivers on the title—there are so, so many things in jars. Big things, little things, very creepy things, and more. There’s historical fiction that’s chock full of the realistic details of the time, and then there are historicals that capture the essence, the mindset, and the atmosphere of the time. This is one of the latter. Bridie Devine, a resurrectionist-turned-detective who knows how to read bodies and find missing people, is on the case to track down a stolen little girl with strange powers—if the circus impresarios and bottling surgeons don’t find her first. Oh, and for all the Patricia Highsmith fans out there, I have one word for you: snails.
Gary Phillips, Matthew Henson and the Ice Temple of Doom (Agora)
Setting: 1920s Harlem
In what we’re hoping is the start to a new, long-running series, Gary Phillips takes real-life arctic explorer Matthew Henson, plunks him down in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance, and has him solve a mystery in the twilight of his life. Henson’s achievements were dismissed in his own generation, and he spent decades living in relative obscurity after the news-making exploits of his youth, so Phillips’ latest isn’t just a great crime novel—it’s an opportunity to give the figures of the past the credit that they are due.
Karin Tanabe, A Hundred Suns (St. Martin’s Press—comes out April 7th)
Setting: 1933 Indochine
In this lush and glamorous tale of intrigue and romance in 1930s Indochine, Karin Tanabe sends an American interloper with money to burn and secrets to learn into a decadent expat community, where she makes new friends, embarks on new affairs, and in general stirs sh** up. Message to Hollywood: can this be a movie please?
Benjamin Black, The Secret Guests (Henry Holt)
Setting: WWII Ireland
Benjamin Black is the pen name of renowned Irish writer John Banville, who uses the pseudonym for his carefully wrought detective fiction. His latest mystery is a departure from his usual elegantly noir style, taking place during WWII, when the British royal children were sent away from the Blitz and stashed on a remote estate in neutral Ireland. Espionage fiction, manor house gothic, and locked room mysteries collide for what’s bound to be one of the best historicals of the year.
Jane Healey, The Animals at Lockwood Manor (HMH)
Setting: WWII English Countryside
In this lush historical novel, a museum curator heads to a country manor with a collection of rare fossils and specimens, ready to do whatever it takes to protect her beloved curiosities from the Blitz. What she doesn’t anticipate is difficulty with the boorish overlord of the manse, who’d like to treat the museum’s collection as it were his own assemblage of hunting trophies, or the possible presence of a ghost, who may or may not have killed the previous lady of the manor. She also doesn’t expect the beautiful daughter of the manor to take such an interest in the fossils—or in their curator.
Sterling Watson, The Committee (Akashic)
Setting: 1950s Florida
This academic mystery takes us into the depths of the Cold War, Florida edition, as a bunch of professors find themselves targeted by the mysterious Committee, dedicated to using law to control morality. As The Committee begins, a professor commits suicide, and a curious onlooker gets more than he bargained for when he opens his own investigation.
