I loved The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict. That book brought to life one main character, a time and place, and the emotions that entails. The Queens of Crime does not quite accomplish that - perhaps too many characters, perhaps a story of a time and place complicated with a mystery, and perhaps the main point of a male-centric world overwhelming the characters and story. Nevertheless, I am fascinated by the historical finds that the author develops and look forward to see what she tackles next.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2025/04/the-queens-of-crime.html

Reviewed for NetGalley.

After the initial pages, I found myself not connecting with the story or characters, so I decided to pass on this book. Did not finish

The Queens of Crime is the latest by brilliant historical fiction writer, Marie Benedict. The Queens of Crime is a club for the women in the male-dominated mystery authors club in the 1930’s Paris literary world. Tired of being written off as women, Dorothy Sayers and friends, including Agatha Christie, set out to prove their worth. Solving a real unsolved murder would be just the challenge that would get them
Some attention. This story started off slow, but once the club was formed and they started to investigate the murder it picked up and the characters became more interesting to me. I really enjoyed it overall. I received an ARC of this book, all opinions are my own.

3.5 Stars

I love novels with strong female characters. And when you can make the women varied in ages and personality and show that they can get along and solve a murder? Even better. Set in the 1930s and focusing on the death of a young nurse, five female mystery writers join forces to solve her murder when the police seem ready to write it off as nothing but an unfortunate accident.

Queens of Crime is a captivating blend of historical fiction and mystery that brings together five legendary women writers of the Golden Age of detective fiction. This novel explores camaraderie, determination and brilliance as the authors unite to solve a real-life mystery.

Marie Benedict masterfully weaves the narrative, drawing on the unique strengths and personalities of each writer, as they work together. The novel not only pays homage to their literary legacies, but also highlights the challenges they faced as women in a male-dominated field. The characters are richly drawn and their interactions are entertaining and thought provoking. With twists, red herrings and a satisfying resolution this book is ideal for mystery readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. I have loved other titles by Marie Benedict but unfortunately this was not one of them. As hard as I tried this was a DNF for me.

3.5 stars rounded up. This was a well-written, solid piece of historical fiction. It didn't fully hold my attention, which I think was more my problem than the book's. I was hoping it would draw me in more than it did because I've been a fan of Agatha Christie's for ages. There were some interesting parts though and it moved along quickly. All in all, I'd say it was a decent read, especially if you really like this genre.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

Thank you so much to @stmartinspress for the copy of this book along with the fun notebook and pen! (and for the eARC via Netgalley). @authormariebenedict is one of my all time favorite authors and I was so excited to receive this book in the mail!

Read this one if you enjoy:
⭐️1930s historical fiction
⭐️Strong FMCs
⭐️Amateur investigations
⭐️Mystery/crime writers

This author is one of my go-to authors for historical fiction with strong female leads, highlighting stories from history that aren’t super mainstream. This was such a well crafted story about a group of five female mystery/crime writers who came together to support each other as well as doing some amateur sleuthing.

The balance of mystery investigation and the elements of the Detection Club made for such an interesting story. I loved the representation of authors like Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and their contemporaries who all brought unique charm and perspective to the group.

As always, I’m fascinated by the crumbs of truth that provide the basis for this story and the research and ingenuity that it takes to put this sort of narrative together! Highly recommend this one!

I listened to the audiobook version of The Queens of Crime and loved the author’s narration. This was a fast-paced mystery with well-developed characters. You will be drawn into the story and held tight until you have absorbed the last word of the book. Based on a true unsolved murder, the “queens of crime” do an admirable job of using their mystery writer gifts to help uncover the person who is guilty of committing the crime. In addition to the unsolved murder, one of the characters is targeted by the killer which adds to the intense atmosphere. What a group of strong and intelligent women. It was also nice to see the relationships they develop with each other. A great addition to the historical fiction genre and one I encourage you to add to your to-be-read list.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

For more reviews, please visit my blog at: https://www.msladybugsbookreviews.com/. Over 1000 reviews posted!

Fiction
Historical
Historical Fiction
Historical Mystery
Mystery
Mystery Thriller
Thriller

This was a complete surprise of a book for me. I've never read a Marie Benedict book before, but this certainly won't be the last. The look into four of the most prestigious detective author's lives was an absolute blast, and to wrap that all up in a murder mystery with more twists than a labyrinth? Yes, please! I loved seeing how the individual author's personalities were developed throughout the story and how their individual talents in writing were used to ferret out the truth. I don't know if more books from Sayers POV are possible, but I'd pick one up in a flash!

I loved The Queens of Crime! The plot itself was intriguing . More interesting yet we're the profiles of the famous authors, their different approaches to a mystery, and their support of each other
A win on many levels, I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an Advanced Listening Copy in exchange for an honest review.
I listened to this audiobook over the holiday break and it was a great choice, as I was fully able to get lost in the story. While I’m very familiar with Christie and Sayers, and somewhat familiar with Orczy, Marsh and Allingham are new to me, so in addition to a new story, I also have more authors to explore. I think that Benedict introduced all five authors skillfully- we learned enough about them and their careers/novels to keep up with the story, but it was not clunky or forced. (There is a reason her novels remain popular.)
The story is framed around the women wanting to prove themselves to their male contemporaries by solving a real crime, a story that feels rather relevant even in 2025. Because you can’t very well have five people wandering around investigating everything together, you get some very interesting combinations throughout the novel. (The different pairings allowed us to dive into different aspects of each author’s life and career, and I think it works perfectly.)
Bessie Carter’s narration for the audiobook is sublime, as always. (Yes, the Bessie Carter who is the daughter of Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter and was Prudence in Bridgerton.) She has quickly become one of my favourite narrators and I will continue to look out for her next projects!

Marie Benedict's The Queens of Crime creates a league of five of the most famous and acclaimed women of the Golden Age of Crime: Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. The premise for this novel is that the women feel maligned and overlooked by their male counterpoints in the mystery writing field, so they decide to prove that their detective accumen exceeds beyond the printed page and they group together to solve an actual murder of a young woman.

Dorothy L. Sayers is the leader on this case. Her personality along with the other women's bring different perspectives to their investigation. There are some personality clashes, but ultimately they are able to get past their differences and solve the crime in the fashion of their fictional detectives. This makes the novel charming as it portrays friendship and collective reasoning towards a common goal. However, practically, there are too many people covering the same ground: the police, investigators and the Queens. The crime scene and the witnesses seem to be over combed for believability. The phrase "too many cooks spoil the broth" comes to mind. If this becomes a series for Benedict, it might be better to have only one or at most two of the authors featured in future investigations to solve the problem of too many people covering the same territory, so to speak.

Overall, this was an entertaining read that paid homage to the actual Queens of Crime.

The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict peeks into the lives of the women who broke barriers as crime fiction writers, including Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie. Despite revolutionizing the genre in the early 20th century, they were often overlooked and undervalued by both the public and their male counterparts. In the book, Benedict tells the story of how these women allied themselves together, calling themselves the Queens of Crime, and forged their own path towards gaining the respect they deserved -- while working to solve a real-life mystery in the process!

Benedict portrays the personal lives of the women as both friends and partners, with big dreams, insecurities, and lots of wit. Rather than so many books centered around romance, this focused on the friendship these women worked hard to build with each other in the effort to support one another in a male dominated field (despite technically being rivals!) -- and I found that to be incredibly inspiring. Highly recommend for fans of historical fiction or mysteries!

In 1931, the legendary Dorothy Sayers founded the Detection Club in order to elevate the status of the mystery writing genre. However, when the males in the club state that they are unwilling to admit more than two female members, Sayers is highly offended. In response, she recruits Agatha Christie and three other talented authors, Baroness Emma Orczy, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh, to join her in investigating an unsolved homicide. In Marie Benedict's novel, "The Queens of Crime" (the name they give themselves), the ladies intend to demonstrate that female sleuths are not to be underestimated.

Benedict lends her novel a bit of verisimilitude by alluding to the eleven-day disappearance of Agatha Christie that caused a sensation in England. The author also includes information about a scandalous secret that Sayers kept under wraps for years. The Queens, as they refer to themselves, set out to investigate the slaying of a young British nurse named May Daniels, who disappeared and was strangled while vacationing in France. Dorothy, Emma, Margery, Agatha, and Ngaio search for clues and interview witnesses who knew Miss Daniels. In addition, they look into the victim's background and retrace her steps on the days before she was murdered.

Sayers, who narrates, is witty and sarcastic; Marsh and the Baroness squabble constantly; and they all use stealth to extract information from individuals who have no reason to tell them anything. Unfortunately, the novel is weakened by passages of stilted dialogue and a slow-moving plot that has little suspense. Benedict repeatedly hammers home the point that unenlightened men during that era condescended to and exploited women, whom they considered to be their inferiors. Undeterred by the supercilious attitude of their male counterparts, the astute and determined Dorothy, Emma, Ngaio, Margery, and Agatha refuse to be marginalized. They prove that they are skilled detectives who are capable of tracking down a ruthless killer.

Thank you MetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review the ARC.

This was such a fun read. It was the author’s t signature historical story and added mystery. This was extra fun! I loved the little extra description of fashions in the beginning. I think this is my favorite book of hers.

History with mystery, steady paced story with little bit of “rest”. What a perfect book!!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

Although I generally don't read historical novels, I thought I would give this one a try because of the title.
I found it slow at times but I thought it was interesting read about Agatha Christie and the other queens of crime. I am glad I stuck with this one and would be interested in reading more about them.

This was a great historical fiction read. I had heard a little about this before reading this so I throughly enjoyed getting more background in a dramatized setting.

Queens of Crime was a slow read and eventually I lost interest. This one just wasn’t for me. Thank you to NetGalley for the arc.

I have not read Marie Benedict before but I absolutely look forward to reading more of her stories. 5 of the most lauded female mystery writers of the early 20th century are the main characters in this fictionalized story of the death of a young woman. I've only read Agatha Christie and that was many, many moons ago but I now have a hankering to read all these amazing women in the future. Marie Benedict has a way of bringing these characters to life in a way that has you rooting for them. A young woman's death during that time, especially one who was not moneyed, barely got any notice but these five would not let it go down like that. I loved how everything got pulled together to give us a wonderful finale.