If you binged Miss Scarlet and the Duke season 3 on PBS Passport and now you’ve got an Eliza and William-sized hole in your heart, here are four historical mystery series (with varying degrees of romance) I’m checking out while we wait for season four. If you don’t subscribe to PBS Passport, the new season will broadcast on PBS starting January 8, 2023.
This post includes affiliate links that kick us a small percentage at no cost to you if you use them to shop. If this post is useful, please use them to support my work – thanks!
THE VERONICA SPEEDWELL MYSTERY SERIES
Set in 1880s London, Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell mysteries feature butterfly collector and scientist (that’s a lepidopterist, if you please) Veronica Speedwell and natural historian Stoker. A Curious Beginning, book one in the eight book series, introduces the two main characters and throws them together to uncover the truth of Veronica’s parentage and solve the murder of a German baron. The audio for book one, narrated by Angele Masters, hooked me. I’m in the for the long haul. The eighth book, A Sinister Revenge, drops March 7, 2023.
[Update 12/30 — I’ve ripped through the first four books. So far, A Treacherous Curse is my fave of the bunch. It involves Egyptology and the deaths of a couple of people involved with the dig. The pacing is on fire and it has vague The Mummy vibes. A Dangerous Collaboration, book 4, is right behind it in my ranking.
[Update 2/21 – Are these updates useful or annoying? A Murderous Relation is a perfectly fine episodic entry and we finally get a little payoff. But moving on, I DNF’d An Unexpected Peril (book 6). I felt like it was bait and switch on solving the mystery and the audiobook narration annoyed the hell out of me. The Alpenwald accent GRATED HARD. I tried print, too, but no go. I had to bail.]
[Update 3/7: My review of A Sinister Revenge, out today, is live!]
Get A Curious Beginning from The Ripped Bodice | Bookshop.org | IndieBound | Amazon | Apple Books
LADIES MOST SCANDALOUS SERIES
Manda Collins’ Ladies Most Scandalous series is billed as historical romance though I maintain the first book, A Lady’s Guide to MIschief and Mayhem, is still a better fit for mystery readers than romance. A Lady’s Guide introduces us to newspaper reporter Lady Katherine Bascomb and Detective Inspector Andrew Eversham whose paths cross when Katherine’s reporting on a murder interferes with his investigation. Each book in the series features a new crime fighting duo, rather than following the serial adventures of one pair. The first two books are out now — the third, a Spinster’s Guide to Danger and Dukes, is due out March 23, 2023.
[UPDATE 12/30 — Caro, the main character in An Heiress’ Guide to Deception and Desire, might just be my favorite. If you like Eliza’s spunk and wit, you’re gonna love Caro, too. Now I’ve just got to get my hands on an ARC of book 3.]
[UPDATE 4/12: My review of book 3 in the series, A Spinster’s Guide to Danger and Dukes, is live! Fake engagement + Poppy and Langham must exonerate a sister who’s accused of murdering her husband!]
Get A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem from The Ripped Bodice | Bookshop.org | IndieBound | Amazon | Apple Books
LADY SHERLOCK SERIES
Currently a six book series that starts with A Study in Scarlet Women, Sherry Thomas’ Lady Sherlock series reimagines Sherlock Holmes as Charlotte Holmes. In book one, Charlotte is investigating a trio of murders and the stakes couldn’t be higher when her sister and father fall under suspicion. But even with help from friends, it’ll ultimately be up to Charlotte to solve the crimes, even if she has to do it under an assumed name. The blurb promises she’ll “match wits against an unseen mastermind.” Moriarty, perhaps? The seventh book in the series, A Tempest at Sea, docks March 18, 2023.
Get A Study in Scarlet Women at The Ripped Bodice| Bookshop.org | IndieBound | Amazon | Apple Books
WREXFORD & SLOANE SERIES
He’s an earl who’s a brilliant scientist, she’s a lady artist whose assumed her husband’s nom de plume. The two team up to expose a killer in Murder on Black Swan Lane, the first book in the six-book Wrexford & Sloane series. I started this one on audio, but I’m gonna switch to print/ebook. Books 1-5 are also available on Kindle Unlimited.
Get Murder on Black Swan Lane from The Ripped Bodice | Bookshop.org | IndieBound | Amazon | Apple Books
[JUST ADDED 1/24: 6 MORE BOOKS TO CHECK OUT IF YOU LOVE MISS SCARLET AND THE DUKE]
A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL THE BOOKS IS ON BOOKSHOP.ORG
