Another great book by Marie Benedict. This one centres around Dorothy L. Sayers and the Queens of Crime, and also involves a real-life incident. I loved how each of the writers is portrayed. The interplay between Dorothy and the other women feels authentic and very much like the steps they took would have really happened. I also very much enjoyed how the women approached the disappearance of May Daniels much as one of their characters would have. Life as fiction. Fiction as life. Very satisfying and a good first book for the year!

4 True Crime Stars

This is my second book by Marie Benedict, but I enjoy her writing so much that I’m going back and reading some of her older titles! She’s a master at historical writing that brings real people to life.

In this story, we have five female crime writers (of course, Agatha Christie is among them) who band together in a club and decide to tackle an actual murder case and try to solve it. Dorothy Sayers is the main character in this one, and while I have heard of her, I haven’t read any of her books. Those are on my list now, too!

Watching these five women solve a crime like their book detectives and build a friendship was quite a ride. It was harder to read about how women were treated and thought of in the 1930s. Nursing was not a good profession; once pregnant, no woman could work. There were more women than men after WWI (and WWII). Despite contributions during the war, the women are now considered “surplus women” and expected to return to traditional household roles. Women were considered below men on so many levels. I’m glad some progress has been made on these fronts.

The women travel to France and all over England to solve the murder of Nurse May Daniels and redeem her name. I loved the ingenuity of the women and this was a delightful story to lose myself in for a few hours!

I thoroughly enjoyed this read! I was engaged the whole time and didn't want to put it down. The story was so good and I couldn't figure out what the ending was going to be.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 / 5

A solid historical mystery which reimagines the famous ‘Queens of Crime’, a female group of amazing golden age mystery writers, which included Agatha Christie, as they decide to take matters into their own hands and solve a cold case.

I had heard of most of these incredible mystery writers but confess I’ve only ever read Christie. I now have added Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy to my to-read list.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Net Galley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the Queens of Crime. It is an interesting mystery with famous authors doing the investigating. It was fun and entertaining. I would have liked an author's note at the end explaining some of the historical information.

This historical fiction is well written and very interesting. The plot sees the five most preeminent mystery writers of the time getting together to solve a real life crime. It is a story that reflects the history of women in England following WWII. The women travel across England and to France as they feverishly search for clues. It reflects their determination and intrepid spirit as they fight off the barbs of men and the dangers surrounding them. The author gives great descriptions of the setting and the characters that brings everything vividly to life. The dialogue is witty and very easy to read. This will make a very good book club read.

Marie Benedict has created another hit with this historical fiction work depicting real life mystery writers, including Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, who band together to create a club in order to solve a real life mystery to help them enter a male-dominated club. I loved this and know so many people who will also love it. The story is both fascinating and heartwarming and I loved the feminist theme and the way that the authors in the story used their female perspectives to see this mystery in a whole different light than their male counterparts. Marie Benedict’s books are already a hit with book clubs and these definitely will be as well. Ideal for fans of both cozy mysteries and historical fiction.

I really enjoy reading Marie Benedict's books because I learn about wonderful historical figures I didn't know about prior. This is another fascinating, interesting mystery story.

From the excerpt: " 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."

It was interesting to learn about the Detection Club, how Dorothy helped form the club but the men limited the number of women included. Then she took it into her own hands and invited the other ladies. I loved how they used their skills and background to help solve the mystery together. It was a really interesting storyline, fascinating characters and kept me reading.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

I’m a big fan of both Marie Benedict and Agatha Christie, so I was thrilled to get an early read of this book. Agatha and 4 other female mystery writers team up in London in the 1930s and form a group called The Queens of Crime. Led by Dorothy Sayers, they decided the only way to be taken seriously by the male writers is to solve an actual crime.

The title refers to the women who were crime writers at the time, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy and Dorothy Sayers, the leader of the group. They have decided to solve the mystery of a young English nurse who was strangled in a France. While crime solving was the framework for the story, at heart it’s about the bond and friendship of these women. Marie Benedict’s stellar research sets the stage for a well written book. Recommended for all public libraries.

Marie Benedict is an autobuy author for me. I'll be honest, upon seeing the cover and title, I thought this was a novel similar to Heather Webb's Queens of London. I often don't read the books blurb! Well, I was wrong , haha, and once that confusion resolved itself as the story built I completely lost myself in this novel. Like so many of Marie's novels, it's an ingenious concept with a stellar execution. The women rocked it in this story!

I thoroughly anjoyed this take on historical fiction where 5 well-known female mystery writers band together in 1930s London to solve a crime in the hopes of establishing legitmacy with their male counterparts. I found the whole premise delightful, and it was executed well. I'd love to see this become a series!

Thank you to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for a free copy of #TheQueensOfCrime by Marie Benedict. All opinions are my own.

Based on real life events we learn the story of mystery writers Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. When they are snubbed as the only women in a new Detection Club started by Sayer herself, they decide to prove themselves by solving a real life unsolved crime! The group, who name themselves The Queens of Crime, embark on their own investigation to solve the murder of May Daniels, a British nurse on a day trip in France with a friend when she disappears and is later found strangled. While they get closer to the truth they start to realize that real life isn't always as simple as fiction, and can have real negative consequences! However, along the way they also learn the importance of friendship!
Marie Benedict has a knack for finding lesser known stories in the past and writing great books about them! Although Agatha Christie is the only author I was familiar with, I now want to read some of each of these formidable women's works! I enjoyed the mystery, trying to figure out who done it alongside these ladies!
I was provided an advanced copy of this book (thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress ) in exchange for my honest review, so unfortunately you'll have to wait until February 11th to get your hands on a copy of it! But go ahead and add it to your TBR and check out some of Benedict's other works while you wait!
#NetGalley #TheQueensOfCrime

This one didn’t quite live up to my expectations. It’s got a compelling premise, but I wish some of the five main characters had been better fleshed out. Additionally, I found some of the commentary on women and motherhood a bit heavy handed. That being said, it’s still a good mystery. A few of the plot points struck me as predictable, but in the end, I was not able to guess whodunit, which I always count as a positive in my book. I would recommend The Christie Affair for a similar but maybe better read, but I don’t regret the time I spent on The Queens of Crime.

Thank you to @netgalley and @StMartinsPress for this ARC. Mystery writer Dorothy Sayers created a Detection Club, a society of mystery authors. When Gilbert was elected president, the most male group voted only a couple of women authors could be inducted. Not wanting to be beat at her own game, she recruits 4 more fellow female authors secretly - Agatha Christie, Baroness Emma Orczy, Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh. Now she feels in order for them to get the respect they deserve, they must solve a real life murder. This was a really great read and you can't go wrong with Marie Benedict! #TheQueensofCrime #MarieBenedict #StMartinsPress #Feb2025

In order to show the male writers in The Detection Club that women deserve to join, Dorothy Sayers gets Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh and Baroness Emma Orczy to join forces to solve the murder of a young girl.

This was an interesting read about strong women who refused to let their sex define them. Anyone who enjoys historical fiction and strong female characters will want to read this great story by Marie Benedict,

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this ebook.

London, 1930, five of the most successful female mystery writers band together to secure entry into the male only Detectives Club. Since women are not generally welcome in the all-male club, in order to do so they need to prove their worth (apparently their best sellers are not enough) and so they find a real-life crime to solve. They find the case of May Daniels, a young nurse who has gone missing since she went to France with a friend. The women work well together and investigate even though one of the women starts to receive threats and is put in danger.

I really enjoyed this one, I love when real-life people are characters (Agatha Christie is one of the authors) and the mystery was fun to see it reveal itself throughout the book. Both the twists of the mystery storyline and learning about the characters made this a fun read. I loved listening to a good portion of this book because the narrator was great (always love a good accent), although at points it got a little confusing and I'm glad I had the book to refer back to and read. I have loved the Marie Benedict novels I have read so far (I finished the Mitford Affair after this one) and I will look to her backlist for more while I patiently wait for her next novel.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC to review

4-4.5 stars
The "Queens of Crime" refers to five of the greatest female crime writers of the 1930s (Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy). The men in the legendary crime writer's Detection Club are not happy to have women infiltrating their ranks, so the women set out to solve a real mystery to prove their worthiness to be in this club. The story is told from the point of view of Dorothy L. Sayers and I really enjoyed her take on the group and the individuals in it. Made me want to learn more about these authors and to read some of their works (Agatha Christie is the only one whose life and works I had been familiar with). I thought the mystery was well done, along with the women's evolving attitudes toward solving it.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC eGalley — pub. date February 11, 2025

I really enjoyed this. It was an interesting story that I had never heard about, despite being a fan of all the authors involved. I'm only giving it three stars though; because the dialogue felt so unnatural. There was so much exposition, and even in 1931 I don't think people would have spoken so formally when being accused of murder.

I was so excited to get my hands on Marie Benedict’s upcoming release The Queens of Crime. Her latest story combines two of my favorite genres: historical fiction and mystery. In 1930 murder mystery writers Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy decide to demonstrate their skills to their male counterparts by solving a recent murder of a young woman. I enjoyed getting to learn more about the background of these famous female writers while also being totally engrossed in the murder mystery aspect of the story.

I had the opportunity to hear Benedict speak at a library gala where she described her desire to excavate women of the past to bring their stories to our attention in modern times. Benedict was successful in her mission not only for the famous writers represented in her novel but in the murder victim May Daniels, a “surplus” woman of her time. Overall, the story was well paced, entertaining, and thought provoking.

My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.