Always enjoy Marie Benedict's novel. This one has a great band of characters, famous female detective authors. The group bands together to solve an actual crime and cornicles the journey trekking across Europe to get answers. Some of the authors were unfamiliar to me but Agatha Christie and Dorothy Fleming lead the band of women, aptly name Queens of Crime. A good read!

Two of my favorite mystery authors (Agatha Christie & Dorothy Sayers) unite with three other authors to solve a REAL murder, so their male peers will take them seriously. This book is more than a simple romp between peers; it is actually a pretty gripping mystery told through the eyes of three fictionalized real authors. Dorothy Sayers is a fantastic protagonist--likable and relatable. The way that the queens of crime reference their own works to solve this mystery was fun, and the mystery certainly had the Golden Age of Mystery feel to it.

I loved the idea of this book as well as the facts that supported their characters. Besides Dorothy and maybe Agatha, however, the characters were pretty two-dimensional. This was definitely more plot-centered despite using five key characters from mystery history! There were also a few info-dumps with historical facts that didn't exactly feel authentic. The murder itself was fun, and while not hard to solve, it did have some interesting twists and turns. It gave a female view of murder during that time period.

Overall, this was a fun concept but didn't work as well as I was hoping for me.

Top notch. Meticulous plotting, slow unveiling of clues in a logical progression, believable interactions between the women, and delightful growth in their characters and friendships. A classic twist at the end.

I love the concept of this book. It so interesting to have famous who-done-it writers try to solve a real crime. Unfortunately, I don't feel it was executed as well as it could have been. The time skips between chapters threw me. It was tough to follow along when we would jump forward in time in almost every chapter. Especially when the chapter before ended on a cliffhanger. I also wish it was multiple POV. I liked the narrator a lot, but it would have been fun to see others narrate. Overall, thought it was a fun time, but I was more interested in the characters than the actual plot.

I enjoy Marie Benedict's writing quite a bit so was excited to read her latest book, about the Queens of Crime. I was already familiar with The Detection Club and with the writings of these women, as I have read at least one of each of their detective fiction.
I thought this was a very clever approach to the topic, of having the 5 women solve a real life murder. Evidently this really happened and it was interesting and easy to follow.
I was disappointed that there was no follow up section describing what was really happened and what is fiction. (Although perhaps that is still coming. I did read an ARC that I received about 6 months before the book is actually published).

Benedict has another hit on her hands. This story is about female crime/mystery writers, including Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, who join a male crime writers society. In order to gain better recognition of their talent in the group, they decide to solve a real mystery. They solve the crime as they would have the characters in their book.

What fun this book is! I’m a huge Marie Benedict fan, but this just might be my favorite. With a twist on the historical fiction genre, she has added a murder mystery AND the inclusion of some real life female crime writers of the past.

When five women want to join the Detection Club, an otherwise all male mystery writer’s club, they are treated as lesser than by the men, and this just won’t stand. They decide, in order to be taken seriously, to solve a real life murder. We get a glimpse into their creativity, their sharp minds, their friendship and the lengths they would go to be accepted by the very men who want to shun them.

Benedict’s writing is mesmerizing. This book captured my heart and cemented itself onto my list of favorites. Five great big stars for this one. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC.

Loved this book! Loved the plot and it kept me hooked highly recommended. Was a quick read for me and hoping to read more from this author.

3 to 3.5 stars out of 5 for me. I've enjoyed Marie Benedict's other books, I enjoy mysteries and historical fiction - this should have been a slam dunk for me and instead I found myself struggling to get through this, unable to read more than a few pages at a time before getting distracted. I don't think it was particularly BAD, it was just boring and couldn't keep me interested. I found the writing full of cliches and very repetitive. Would not recommend tbh.

Marie Benedict wrote in the true style of Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy.
The Queens of Crime in a world of male-dominant murder mystery writers of the early 1900s.
These five ladies proved they could solve a true-life crime and take their places as true Queens of Crime, welcoming more women into their ranks.
This was written in the dignified way of early British female writers. Agatha Christie was introduced to me by my mystery book-loving grandmother. I enjoyed this book for the memories of my grandmother and the relations these women shared.
#TheQueensOfCrime
#MarieBenedict
#NetGalley

I enjoyed this unique premise for a cozy mystery. The Five Queens of Crime. I am a huge Agatha Christie fan, I own all of her books and have been to plays and watch endless episodes of her books made into series and movies. This book will be added on as a treat in spending time with the ladies who have given me hours of escape from the mad world we live in. I highly recommend this entertaining story. Thank you #Netgalley #St.MartinsBooks #TheQueensOfCrime
carolintallahassee

I listened to Marie Benedict's earlier book, The Other Einstein, which gave me a sense of the feminist lens she uses in her historical fiction so I was excited to read the blurb about The Queens of Crime. The premise sounded fantastic - the greatest female mystery authors of the era joining forces to solve a real murder in 1931. Unfortunately the story itself was a bit flat for me. The actual process of solving the crime (examining clues, interviewing witnesses, gleaning information from various sources, coming up with hypotheses) felt a bit . And, maybe more disappointing, was the fact that the lead characters never really took shape - the mystery writers at the heart of the story seemed relegated to being superficial caricatures primarily focused on one aspect of their personality or appearance. Dorothy Sayers (the main protagonist) and Agatha Christie were slightly more 3-dimensional, because they had some backstory, but even they came across as undeveloped, but I had hoped for characters that were more complex and friendship between the women that felt more genuine and dynamic. I did enjoy being immersed into the setting and the time period, but I had hoped for more.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this e-arc.

Inspired by a true story, five British crime writers try to solve a cold case, set in the 1930's. very interesting read. I enjoyed it very much.

In post WWI Britain mystery writers don't get enough respect from the literary community. So they form a club to work on this issue. One problem, the female mystery writers don't get enough respect from the mystery writer community. So, the five "queens of crime", Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orzy, band together to solve a real crime - that of a missing nurse. It is fun to see them work together and show up the "old boys".

A fun murder mystery solved by real historical figures -- a set of five women mystery authors who -- if you're a reader -- you know well! Written in Benedict's gripping and dramatic style. Hard to put down

For the past several years I have been reading the murder mysteries of Agatha Christie. I have been enjoying the detective novels immensely getting to know Hercule Poirot, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford and Miss Marple. Until reading this most recent book by Marie Benedict, I wasn’t aware there were other women novelists who dominated the genre during Christie’s time. This story brings five of these writers together to solve a real life crime of a young nurse. Using their knowledge of how they created and solved “locked room mystery”, these queens team together as we wind through plot twists and red herrings to find the murderer. This story has even the best “detectives” of the time stumped. In my opinion Marie Benedict should be crowned the Queen of Historical Fiction!

I enjoyed this book. Five women mystery writers are brought together to solve a cold case murder. The author uses the differing personalities and quirks of each mystery writer to bring something to progress their investigation. They must learn to collaborate with one another, despite their conflicts and differing ways of framing their own murder mysteries. The five authors get caught up in solving the mystery and use their skills in following clues and add more information to the case. I could not put this book down

Inspired by a true story in detective novelist Dorothy Sayers’ life, Marie Benedict has written The Queens of Crime coming out February 11. In the spring of 1927, Sayers accompanied her journalist husband Mac Fleming to France to report a story about an English nurse who went on a day trip to Boulogne in October 1926, never to be seen again.

With this fact nugget, Benedict has created a story in which Sayers not only goes to France with her husband to learn more about the missing nurse case, but she also bonds with four other British crime writers to see if they can solve the crime and elevate their status with their male counterparts. These writers-turned-sleuths included Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy, the Queens of Crime along with Sayers.

May Daniels and fellow nurse Celia McCarthy were to return to England on a 5:30 p.m. ferry. While May went to the cloakroom to tidy up, Celia waited and waited for May to return but May had disappeared, never to be seen again until her body was found in a bush in a park in Boulogne months later. The Queens quickly identified the first part of the disappearance as a locked room mystery, and from there, Sayers found a way to duplicate May’s disappearance in plain sight.

Other parts of the puzzle included determining why the ground underneath the body was soaked in blood when the cause of death was determined to be strangulation and/or a drug overdose. More sleuthing by the Queens turned up a locker key and a letter penned by May. Working together, they may just solve the entire case, but getting the police to take their investigation seriously presented another problem.
Things turn ugly for Sayers when she is physically attacked by an assailant. After recovering from that, she receives a threat to expose a secret that she has concealed for years if she does not drop the search for May’s killer. Sayers and the Queens must work fast to confront suspects in May’s killing while keeping the writer’s private life just that: private.

Marie Benedict has made her writing career by sharing the hidden stories about strong women in history including Mitza Maric the physicist wife of Albert Einstein, mystery writer Agatha Christie, movie star Hedy Lamarr, and Clementine Hozier, the wife of Winston Churchill. Benedict lives with her family in Pittsburgh.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting September 18, 2024.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a review.

This is such an interesting premise for a mystery novel. I loved the incorporation of famous authors from the past into a story that still feels relevant to us today. This book is really dynamic and has some good characters and the plot is paced beautiful with a few good twists!

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.

What a great premise for a story! Marie Benedict brings together five women mystery writers to solve a cold case murder.
It's London, 1930's and we have Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and three other mystery writers I wasn't familiar with. They want to join the Detection Club, a group of mostly male writers, but need to get admitted. Their scheme to gain admittance leads them to solve the murder. May Daniels was a nurse, whose body was found in a park in France. The local police claim it was a drug related death, but these women claim otherwise. A fun story, with women making their presence known as they fight to be taken seriously as they work on solving this case- and others? You'll have to read yourself to find out!
Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Publishing for this digital copy in exchange for my honest review.