Marie Benedict writes engrossing historical fiction about real-life strong women characters, some famous and some just famous-adjacent. She has previously written about Agatha Christie in “The Mystery of Mrs. Christie” and the author re-visits that British post World War era in 1931, 5 years after Agatha Christie’s 11 day disappearance (when her cheating husband was publicly revealed and properly humiliated). Mrs. Christie has dumped the cad and has a younger paramour now. Plus she’s finally ready to come out again in public, due to the coaxing of fellow mystery author, Dorothy Sayers. Agatha and Dorothy have been grudgingly accepted by the male mystery writers of the day, but they want to expand that acknowledgement to other women authors, including Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy. Except for the baroness (in her sixties), they have an age range from 27 to 41 and they would all like the legitimacy of recognition.

Together they form “The Detection Club,” and new members are sworn to write without relying on "Divine Revelation, Feminine Intuition, Mumbo Jumbo, Jiggery Pokery, Coincidence or the Act of God" and "to observe a seemly moderation in the use of Gangs, Conspiracies, Death-Rays, Ghosts, Hypnotism, Trap-Doors, Chinamen, Super-Criminals and Lunatics, and utterly and forever to forswear Mysterious Poisons unknown to Science."

Led by Dorothy Sayers (the main character and first person narrator), the Queens of Crime decide to reassure the public of their competency by solving a real life murder mystery of a young English nurse who went missing on a day trip to France.

The audiobook is gloriously narrated by Bessie Carter who brings all the personalities to life (especially New Zealander Ngaio). This novel seems a tad different than some of Benedict’s other tales since it is trying to actively solve a murder, using the techniques and reasoning that the women have written about. We do learn about another past tragedy in Dorothy’s life, that she reflects upon why trying to find the murderer. I had access to both the ARC and audiobook — I far preferred Carter’s narration, although the plot keeps you interested to the very end. 5 stars for both book and audio!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO No green ones among the detecting eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): YES/NO

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

I read and really enjoyed The Only Woman in the Room and The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by this author, and I was excited to be approved to read an eARC of this one, but the writing was a departure from Benedict's usual style and it just didn't work for me at all. Unlike her other books, where the story focuses on the heavily-researched, fictionalized stories of real-life women that allowed the reader to learn something about those women, The Queens of Crime focuses on Dorothy L. Sayers and four of her female contemporaries of the time, including Agatha Christie, and uses them as detectives to solve a murder mystery.

My first problem was the characters. I wasn't able to connect with any of the characters at all. They felt two-dimensional and never came off the page for me. The dialogue, which I assume was intended to sound authentic, came off as stilted, lacking the panache and pluck these women must have had. The few tidbits of their real lives we pick up throughout the story didn't really pack enough punch in either educating me or in connecting me to the characters or storyline much. In fact, I had to Google the Queens of Crime to see if this was a moniker assigned to the group by society or if they were actually as they were portrayed in the story, a self-appointed subset of the larger Detection Club, and I couldn't find an answer, so hopefully there's an Author's Note added in the final copy of this book.

Probably the bigger problem I had was the pacing and writing. I found the pacing incredibly slow and the story much too drawn out. The writing itself was often pedantic and sometimes a little patronizing in how much was overexplained throughout. The book was fairly short and the chapters moved quickly, but it felt purposely drawn out, but could have been condensed even more by the time you remove unnecessary explanations and redundancies.

As a result of my problems with the characters, the pacing, and the writing in addition to the fact that I didn't really learn overmuch about Dorothy L. Sayers and the Queens of Crime, I struggled to engage with this book. I pushed through because of my respect for the author, but I honestly almost DNFed this at least once a week during the month it took me to read it.

I am sad to say that I cannot recommend this one, unfortunately.

This is such an intriguing concept for a book. It's almost like it's breaking the fourth wall of a movie like Deadpool does. It's even more fascinating that it is inspired by true events.

I will read anything Marie Benedict writes. I really enjoyed The Queens of Crime. The plot was great, the writing was amazing as always. I know when I pick up one of her books, I can expect to read about women who are real, flaws and all. I loved it.

I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. As a longtime fan of Marie Benedict, I was excited to read her latest work. It did not disappoint. Like her other novels, this one has strong female characters. I kept going back and forth between google and the Queens of Crime to find out their true stories. I think Benedict kept the characters’ personalities true to life all while crafting a puzzling mystery. Highly recommend.

This was my first Marie Benedict novel, and it was a fun read! I loved learning about Dorothy Sayers & Agatha Christie and the other ladies. Even though the “mystery” portion wasn’t hard to figure out, it was fun to get to know these Queens of Crime as they tackle the mystery together.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

I loved this book! It is historical fiction about women in the 1930s who write mystery novels. They form a group called the Queens of Crime. The group consists of: Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy. They decide to try and solve the murder of a young English nurse in France.

I loved learning more about the personalities of the Queens of Crime. I wanted to read more of their actual books and started with Agatha Christie. I hope there will be an author’s note because I would love to hear what she has to say about the book.

Thank you to Marie Benedict, NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: February 11

This is a total treat for readers who love traditional mysteries and historical fiction. Five golden age mystery authors (they call themselves the queens of crime) band together to actually solve a real life murder -- Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, and three others. Marie Benedict is such a good author, and she tells a great story here!

Marie Benedict knows how to write historical fiction. I just loved this! What a fun journey into the world of crime writing in the 1930s. I really felt transported. A fast paced mystery novel built on the foundation of strong female friendships.

I really enjoyed this book. The authors are well portrayed. They start out determined to show up male authors by solving a real unsolved murder. They learn to work together, improving their sills. As they work a case they change how they think of the victim. She becomes a real person. They learn to care about her more than showing up the men. I received an Advanced Reader Copy courtesy of Net Galley and I am leaving a review voluntarily.

We are back in 1931 and are with women mystery writers, famous, now and then.
These women are trying to break into a man's world, and are being met with resistance, the five of them want to be members of the legendary Detection Club! Then they come up with an idea, they decide to solve a real murder, and we are with them at each step.
There are stumbling block along the way, and some real danger, they are getting close to answers, and someone doesn't like it.
There are some real chuckles here, but there is a deep sense of danger, along with women being treated as second class citizens.
I loved how the answers come, and yes, I had the wrong culprit, an enjoyable page turner!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher St. Martin's Press, and was not required to give a positive review.

The Queens of Crime were Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh, and Baroness Emma Orczy. They faced resistance to more women joining the Detection Club, an elite club for mystery writers. To prove their worth, they decided to solve the murder of London nurse May Daniels, whose body had recently been found in the woods. The nurse and her friend had vanished months ago and never returned from an excursion to France. The police had dismissed the case believing the syringes found near the body indicated involvement with drugs. As the women investigate further, their lives are threatened. Can they solve the case, or will May's killer end their lives first?

I’m a huge fan of Agatha Christie’s work and I really enjoyed Benedict’s The Mystery of Mrs. Christie a few years ago so this book was immediately added to my TBR. This book is based on a fun premise- five female crime writers solving a real life murder mystery together. I would have preferred more classic mystery and less “down with the patriarchy.” Still a worthwhile read. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication.

My reading list has just increased exponentially! I now want to try some of the 1930s authors who were central to this story. The five female crime writers have formed a secret society, the Queens of Crime, to prove their worth to their male counterparts, the Detection Club. Dorothy Sayers is the leader. Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy join with Ms. Sayers to solve a crime. A young English woman on holiday has died a brutal death in France; the police shrug and decide it was a drug deal gone bad. Our crime writers aren't so sure, and they begin to dig out clues, each woman using her own particular style of shaping crime writing to help solve the crime. Along the way they discover a multitude of unsavory characters and events.

This book centered around several famous female mystery writers popular in the 1930’s. Key among them is Dorothy Sayers, who is a co-founder of the Detection Club of London, of which G.K. (“Gilbert”) Chesterton is the first president. Chesterton declares himself “king” of the club, which rankles the ladies about to be sworn in through a blindsided G.K.—including Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Baroness Emma Orczy, Ngaio Marsh, and the youngest, Margery Allingham. The ladies decide to form their own circle within the club, naming themselves the Queens. They agree to solve what they view as the unsolved killing of a young nurse, May Bennett, to prove their worth as detectives in real-life, furthering their status as murder mystery novelists.

There begin the novelists’ plans and investigative steps to look into May’s death through travel to Boulogne-Sur-Mer where May was murdered and retracing her steps. The French police have written off the death as being somehow involved with drugs since a syringe was found near May’s body. In their view, case closed, but Dorothy and cohort uncover countermanding facts and want to provide justice for May’s reputation.

Though the female authors eventually solve the murder through clever means and ruses, and Chesterton lauds them at the Detection Club, I found the book less than compelling. Having begun my career in the 1970’s and struggled for equal pay and opportunities with similarly-qualified men, I found the Detection Club’s subtle put-downs of the women novelists rather mild, though I admired their crime-solving efforts to prove themselves. Sad to say, the book did not enthrall me. Well-written, but I struggled to finish it.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy.

I can almost guess what Marie Benedict is going to write about as she tends to pick women from the past who haven’t been recognized as they should be.

In this book, she goes back to the early 1930s in London with a small group of women mystery writers. They were eager to get acknowledged in a distinguished club for their clever ways of solving a crime.

What a surprise to see our friend Agatha Christie again. This time, she’s one of the main characters trying to find justice for a questionable suicide. Four years ago, Benedict wrote an engaging bestseller: “The Mystery of Mrs. Christie.”

There were a lot of issues in this story. Sadly, there were slim pickings of jobs for women after the war when the soldiers returned. Talented women had to take secondary roles to men who had an attitude of entitlement. Also, single pregnant women were treated unfairly like misfits.

Readers of this book had it easy with only a handful of characters to keep track of and a fairly predictable plot. Nevertheless, Benedict once again did a good job at capturing confident, strong women with their witty conversations. It may not be the most ingenious of the many books written by Benedict, but there was much to appreciate.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of February 11, 2025.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️From St. Martin's Press: 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? 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.
********************
My review: I have read several of Marie Benedict's historical fiction books. She tells an amazing story with a great balance of true history and enough fiction to keep things popping. I always have to stop and research so I can keep the facts and the fiction separate. This story, about real mystery novelists in the 1930's, was quite engaging. The Queens were brilliant, creative, and not inclined to take the roles women were expected to at that time. Their ability to work together, each finding their niche, was so interesting and those qualities were ones I had to stop and look up. Agatha and her disappearance in the 1920's, Nagaio and her unorthodox clothing and demeanor, and Emma's aristocratic background all came into play in the novel.
Their close knit relationship gave them the strength they needed to persevere and find answers. Answers that they hope will lead to them being taken seriously, if they can outwit the murderer and keep themselves safe. I always learn a lot when I read historical fiction. This book was no different. And Benedict's style, detail, and storytelling make history come alive.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advice digital copy in exchange for my review.

2.5 stars

Marie Benedict is an author that I am in a somewhat contentious relationship with - I really enjoyed the first book I read of hers (Carnegie's Maid) and have not enjoyed anything else that I have read by her. In fact, her book Her Hidden Genius was one of my worst books of 2021. It is unfortunate because I love how her best-selling books highlight stories of women who have been overlooked in history; unfortunately, I find her character work to often be lacking and the choice of what she focuses on in her novels to be antithetical to promoting the story of the characters in question. The Queens of Crime, however, had a premise that I could not overlook and I hoped that maybe writing a mystery would help curtail some of the issues that I have with Benedict's writing style.

Unfortunately, all of the issues were still present (every character reads pretty much the same despite one overarching character trait that differentiates them) and writing a mystery also brought forth new issues (namely, obvious plot twists and weird chapter breaks in the middle of scenes). However, the story itself was interesting enough to keep me reading and the description of the settings was incredibly evocative. I am thankful to this book as it has cemented the fact that Benedict is just not an author for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I love venturing into Marie Benedicts books and this one didn't disappoint.

Queens of Crime was such a fun and cozy mystery. Albeit slow at first its engaging plot and rich character developments, this book is a tribute to the power of female friendship in a male dominated society.

If you love Agatha Christie novels then you will enjoy this.

Thank you Publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own and isn't influenced by anyone else

This book was such a fun and engaging read! I loved the idea of five legendary female crime writers—Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy—teaming up to solve a real-life murder. It was fascinating to see these iconic women brought to life as characters, each with their own distinct personality and unique sleuthing skills. Their camaraderie and determination to prove their worth in a male-dominated literary world made the story even more compelling.

The mystery itself was intriguing, with plenty of twists and turns. I especially enjoyed how their investigation contrasted with the police and media, who seemed all too eager to jump to the wrong conclusions. It was satisfying to see the “Queens of Crime” outsmart everyone else!

What really stood out to me was how well-researched the book felt and how empowering the story was. The author did a great job highlighting the strength and intelligence of these women, both as writers and as characters.

I’d definitely recommend this book to fans of historical fiction, mystery lovers, or anyone who enjoys the works of these remarkable women. It’s an entertaining and inspiring read that I won’t forget anytime soon!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.