Was there ever a more prestigious group of women? Imagine it: The year is 1930 and the setting is London. Five of the best female crime writers including Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy united for a common goal. Tired of being treated like second-class citizens by the male writers of the Detection Club they form a secret club of their own calling themselves the Queens of Crime and their purpose is to solve an actual murder. But whose? Of course, Dorothy has just the case. While on a trip to France a young English nurse, May Daniels, was murdered. Because of the supposed evidence, the French police suspected there were drugs involved and seemed willing to let it go at that. But not this formidable group. THE QUEENS OF CRIME by Marie Benedict, a work of historical fiction inspired by an actual story from Sayers's life, is the story of their investigation and the outcome.
Even though the story is told in Dorothy's voice, readers get to know the other women just as well through their conversations. They are an eclectic group, each possessing their own unique skill sets. From the beginning, they realize that there are strong differences between crime writing and being actual detectives. Nothing about the case is obvious. There is a locked room component, a lack of suspects and almost no evidence. Even so, these women are one determined group and together they are a force to be reckoned with.
There is much that makes THE QUEENS OF CRIME an excellent story. Skillfully told and with a unique and intricate plot, the story moves at a perfectly executed pace. It is important to note that what these women accomplish without access to DNA, the internet and cell phones is nothing short of remarkable. This book is a real treasure. Highly recommended.
The New York Times bestselling author of The Mystery of Mrs. Christie returns with a thrilling story of Christie’s legendary rival Dorothy Sayers, the race to solve a murder, and the power of friendship among women.
London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. They call themselves the Queens of Crime. Their plan? Solve an actual murder, that of a young woman found strangled in a park in France who may have connections leading to the highest levels of the British establishment.
May Daniels, a young English nurse on an excursion to France with her friend, seemed to vanish into thin air as they prepared to board a ferry home. Months later, her body is found in the nearby woods. The murder has all the hallmarks of a locked room mystery for which these authors are famous: how did her killer manage to sneak her body out of a crowded train station without anyone noticing? If, as the police believe, the cause of death is manual strangulation, why is there is an extraordinary amount of blood at the crime scene? What is the meaning of a heartbreaking secret letter seeming to implicate an unnamed paramour? Determined to solve the highly publicized murder, the Queens of Crime embark on their own investigation, discovering they’re stronger together. But soon the killer targets Dorothy Sayers herself, threatening to expose a dark secret in her past that she would do anything to keep hidden.
Inspired by a true story in Sayers’ own life, New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict brings to life the lengths to which five talented women writers will go to be taken seriously in the male-dominated world of letters as they unpuzzle a mystery torn from the pages of their own novels.
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