I received an early copy through Net Galley. Thoughts are entirely my own.
This was a lot of fun. I am not overly familiar with Ms. Benedict's prior books, but given the quality of the writing in The Queens of Crime, I am sure I will be reading more of her work in the future. The set-up is intriguing, if not all that plausible- Five Golden Age mystery writers- all women- get together and hatch a plot to gain the respect of their male counterparts and the literary world in general. This evolves into a quest for justice (and to restore the good name) for the young women whose murder they are investigating. The plot rolls along at a brisk pace-with red herrings, misdirection, some genuine peril, and nice character development. The story is worthy of the Queens of Golden Age detective fiction for whom it is named. I adore a well-crafted mystery, and with Christie, Sayers, Allingham, Orczy, and Marsh along for the ride, this is a highly entertaining one. It also has some valuable insights to offer regarding the way society undervalues women's work, but it is never preachy.
Highly Recommend.

2.5 Stars

I usually really like Marie Benedict’s books as they are based on strong women characters who were ahead of their time.

Oh……..this one is slow. It was such a great premise, 5 Real Mystery Writers decide to solve an actual murder. They are Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Emma Orczy, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh. These were women that Marie Benedict continually points out struggled with sexism. I am sure this is correct and for these five women to survive and publish books they had to be intelligent, resilient, and bold. Yet, sadly that is not how they are portrayed in this book. Beyond describing meetings for high tea at restaurants, how each woman dressed, manners, and just stale discussions, I never felt I knew these striking women at all. There is no depth to their characters. The mystery of a young nurse being murdered also carries little suspense or intrigue. Dorothy Sayers narrates the book and Agatha Christie is the second biggest contributor, but think that was for her name. The other three, well I know how they dressed and if they bickered or not. That’s about all.

I have read several of Marie Benedict’s books and really enjoyed them. This one just fell flat for me. It has the making for such a great book and it honestly does not deliver. It took me two weeks to finish and usually I read one of her books in a couple of days.

Thank you NetGalley, Marie Benedict, and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this book. I leave reviews for all books I read.

Marie Benedict has written a fascinating story about a group of 5 women who write mysteries that are determined to break into the male dominated field of mystery writers. Among the five are Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers who have already been admitted to the group but are basically shunned. They all decide to solve a “locked room” mystery about a young nurse in order to prove that they are worthy of their admittance to the Detective Club.
I enjoyed the ruse of Dorothy traveling with her husband, also a journalist initially assigned to the lurid case. All 5 women traveled to France and managed to meet up without Dorothy’s husband’s knowledge. The dynamics between the five women, complete with jealousies, made this read so very engaging.
A microcosm of history, women’s struggles for equality in a male dominated world, and actually solving the mystifying case all combined to create this fascinating read.
Many thanks to Marie Benedict, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an arc of this intriguing blend of historical fiction published on February 11th.

What a great idea for a mystery novel! The Queens of Crime, by Marie Benedict, (re)introduces us to some of the great women mystery writers of mid-century England: Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy. It was a pleasure to encounter these authors, who I've come to know through the characters in their own books as characters in this book. Although I enjoyed reading about how they got together to solve a murder, I enjoyed even more seeing the authors' personalities and their support for each other as women in a male-dominated profession. If you haven't read these authors - don't worry! You'll enjoy the book and look forward to reading their works too.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC; all opinions are my own.

"The Queens of Crime" by Marie Benedict is an expertly researched and eloquently written tribute to four pioneering women in the mystery genre. The book provides a captivating blend of historical context, literary analysis, and personal narratives. The themes of perseverance and creativity are prominently featured, making it an enlightening read for those interested in crime fiction.

This book comes highly recommended for readers who value biographical works, mystery novels, and accounts of trailblazing women. It is an informative and engaging narrative that illuminates the lives and legacies of four remarkable writers.

I had no idea there was a real Detection Club of British mystery writers in the 1930s, so this historical fiction novel featuring a band of the five greatest women crime writers: Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy was both fun and informative. I especially liked that Marie Benedict challenged my mystery-solving skills by keeping me guessing until the end.

What fun!
I enjoyed this title so much & can't wait to dive into the back catalog of Marie Benedict.

Five women mystery writers, led by Dorothy Sayers, take it upon themselves to solve a real life murder. Calling themselves the Queens of Crime--Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, Baroness Emma Orczy. along with Dorothy Sayers, set out to prove to their male counterparts in the Detection Club that they're not second class citizens & won't be treated as such.
Their goal is to solve the murder of a young nurse, May Daniels, that appears to have all the hallmarks of the kinds of mysteries they've become famous for writing--a locked room mystery. May has been slandered in the press as a drug addict & a girl of loose morals so there doesn't appear to be much interest in solving her case from the local authorities. The queens disagree with this portrayal as personal circumstances have greatly changed how they view the world & their places within it.

I recently had another opportunity to read a title based on real life characters that felt very voyeuristic but this title didn't come across that way. I felt as though I was learning about old friends & greatly enjoyed the interaction between the authors & whether or not it was based on real life situations this felt very real to life. I enjoyed the comparisons between the solving of a mystery in real life as opposed to in the pages of their novels & how this aspect was discussed by the authors. Little bits like this add lots.

If you are a mystery fan I can't recommend this enough--especially if you enjoy historical mysteries!

Thanks to netgalley & St Martins for a review copy

This is one of those books where
I wish all book review sites had the option for half stars. I had never read a book by this author and so I was excited to see how
She could take these amazing historical women and weave them into a murder mystery.
Unfortunately, I just couldn’t come to care for any of the characters. They all felt incomplete and honestly, interchangeable. Mrs Christie being the exception, but that could be I knew or her before reading this book.
I do think that this book will find an audience that enjoys this type book. Unfortunately that audience isn’t me.
For me this would be more of 2.5 to 2.75 out of 5 stars just for the lack of character development.
I received a ARC of this title, all opinions are my own.

I love Marie Benedict's historical fiction based on fantastically overlooked women so deserving of the attention she draws to them. In this case, the founders of London's Detection Club: Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie, and Baroness Emma Orczy, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham making up the rest of their titular gang. The time period is the Golden Age of detective fiction, and the 5 Queens of Crime an intergenerational, international band of unquestionably feminine brilliance.

I loved the portrayal of Dorothy Sayers' marriage with her Scottish reporter husband Mac Fleming, the egalitarianism, mutual respect, and the trials they endured too. Before reading this I'd never heard of the plight of the "surplus women" who were single and employed in man-strapped post-World War London. I love how Marie Benedict takes historical fact (that The News of the World hired Mac and his wife to cover the May Daniels murder from two different perspectives, that of the crime reporter and also the crime writer) and tweaks it, asking, "what if Dorothy snuck her girlfriends along on that adventure?!"

Feminism in this setting is fascinating, and disappointing that we are still grappling with inequality over 100 years later. "Only female sleuths properly crediting female witnesses." "The horrific hubris of (men), treating women as though they are disposable." "Men are so often put on a pedestal, and women are taught to prop them up there."

This is a fun, cute little mystery story. The twist here is that our detective are female mysteries writers, including Agatha Christie herself. The is like historical girl power with the 5 different women teaming up. I really enjoyed this book. It's not quite a cozy mystery, but as cozy as I like. It was easy to read, the dialogue was smart, the twists and turns were fun. It was actually quite believable and not too far out there. I hope to see this team again in another story. Thanks to netgalley and publisher for a copy.

Five women band together in 1930 London to fight the male dominated field of crime fiction. They plan to solve a mystery similar to those portrayed in their books. However, they get too close for the killer's liking and the killer goes after Dorothy L. Sayers. The plot line of the investigation, the fictional use of Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers keeps the reader hooked and unable to put the book down.

THE QUEENS OF CRIME
BY: MARIE BENEDICT

"THE QUEENS OF CRIME," is an excellent newest novel by MARIE BENEDICT, that has Dorothy Sayers meeting with Agatha Christie to float an idea by her about inviting three more women to band together with these two famous authors adding three more crime writers so that they can be inducted into the all men's Detection Club. Instead of remaining relegated to the sidelines of the all male Authors Club of crime writers Dorothy tells Agatha her idea for including Baroness Emma Orczy who was published under the name Baroness Orczy, but known to her friends and family EMMUSKA ORCZY who was a Hungarian-born British novelist and playwright. She is best known for her series of novels featuring the SCARLET PIMPERNEL, the alter ego of SIR PERCY BLAKENEY, who was a wealthy English fop who turns into a quick thinking escape artist in order to save French Aristocrats from "Madame Guillotine" during the French Revolution, establishing the "hero with the secret identity" in popular culture. The second woman Dorothy Sayers mentions joining them is MARGERY ALLINGHAM, who wrote clever novels about gentlemen sleuth ALBERT CAMPION and the third member she mentions rounding out the team of five is the New Zealander with angles called NGAIO MARSH who is the well regarded writer of the INSPECTOR ALLEYN MYSTERIES. These Five women comprise the true to life five women who DOROTHY SAYERS gathered together the five women Authors that were "QUEENS OF CRIME."

Dorothy Sayers is married to Mac Fleming, and her husband being a crime reporter, and her supply to a real life crime to be solved of a murdered nurse named May Daniels. There will be a companion piece of Dorothy's husband Mac who is a crime reporter and his wife who is going to give the perspective of a crime writer with the result of the similar, but unique viewpoints resulting being run together printed side by side. It will indeed make for an interesting scoop with this husband and wife team Mac Fleming and his wife Dorothy Fleming whose writer's name goes by the name Dorothy Sayers. They seem to have a great marriage built on mutual respect and the "Queens of Crime," will all work together on solving a real murder. This should give the three other women besides Dorothy and Agatha the kind of recognition to be taken more seriously by the men in the club of crime writers the Detection Club more than just a ceremonial position by the men in the club who initially took only Dorothy and Agatha seriously as crime writers. Dorothy's rationale is that writers of Crime fiction should be as legitimized and gain equal recognition as Literary fiction.

I really enjoyed this newest novel by Marie Benedict as an innovative and clever idea for a mystery with interesting characters as equally intriguing, and addictive reading as I did with her novel called, "THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE," about Agatha's disappearance with her whereabouts during that time period just as captivating. Knowing that this was also true which I hadn't known before reading this made this so very much enjoyable, and both of them are equally favorites.
I felt that I really got to know Dorothy Sayers as the compassionate person she was during this time in 1930's France as Marie Benedict brought out the human side of Dorothy Sayers beyond the crime novelist as she she recreated a person who felt three dimensional letting me have a great glimpse of her humanity. This portrayed her as an also inquisitive, and empathetic woman who really wanted to get justice for May Daniel's, the young nurse who went on holiday with her friend to France. The mystery element was also handled well keeping me intrigued to how May Daniels went into a room ,and her friend was waiting outside for her to exit. How nobody saw her disappear from inside a locked room mystery with one way in and out, yet nobody witnessed how she disappeared. I loved the way this was written letting me get to experience what Dorothy's thoughts were as she processed them.

Publication Date: February 11, 2025

Thank you to Net Galley, Marie Benedict and St. Martin's Press for generously providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#QueensofCrime #MarieBenedict #StMartinsPress #NetGalley

One of the things Marie Benedict does very well is to craft narrative around the lessor known women of history. Many people reading this will instantly recognize Agatha Christie, but how many will know the other "Queens of Crime"/female members of the Detection Club/ prolific mystery writers: Dorothy Sayers, Baroness Emma Orczy, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh?

While the third person narration is focused on Sayers, all the rest have great involvement throughout the narrative. Anxious to prove their worth to belong in the Detection Club with their male colleague writers, the women set out to solve the murder of a British Nurse in France.

In this novel of mystery, murder, blackmail, and trickery, follow along as Sayers and the others use the same skills they have written into their famous fictious detectives to catch the perpetrators and solve the mystery.

While I enjoyed the story very much, and felt the narrative used all the "Queens" very well, there seemed to be one too many scenes of in-fighting born out of hurt pride that simply stalled the plot instead of moving it forward. Still, overall, a very satisfying story.

This was my first Marie Benedict book, although I've had a few on my TBR for a while. I loved how she created this story with a real-life historical figure as the protagonist and gave her a compelling mystery to solve.

Set in 1931 London, The Queens of Crime features a group of five leading female mystery writers of the day. Two of them have been invited to join a society of murder mystery writers. The men of the group are reluctant to admit any more female members, so the ladies find a way around this and install the other three into the group. Once they're in, they decide to prove themselves by solving a real murder mystery. All five women work together, each one using her unique skills to gather clues and interview witnesses.

The feminist angle of this story works very well. It may start off as a way to earn the respect of their male counterparts, but to the queens, this ends up being so much more. This mystery was intriguing and well thought out. The queens worked hard to fight against the sexism and misogyny that they came across in the course of solving the murder of a young woman.

I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I was completely drawn to this book purely by the cover! I started listening to the audiobook of this, but I had to use the ebook to keep up with it. The audiobook lost my attention a little, so when that would happen, I would hop over to the ebook and read a chapter or two and go back to the audio. I really enjoyed this story! It has mystery and focuses on the importance of friendship.

Imagine this. It’s the 1930’s, five women best selling mystery authors join together to form the Queens of Crime. They want to show that women detectives can be just as good as male detectives. They decide that they will solve the murder of May Daniels, a young female nurse that was missing and eventually found strangled in the park. They become entangled in a web of lies, deceit and malice. The murderer even targets one of the members with threatening letters and attempted harm. The best part about this book is that the queens not only have each other’s back, but they realize they are stronger working together.

This is a great thriller mystery book. It had relatively short chapters and enough twists and turns to keep me guessing. I loved the queens, they were brilliant!

I don't know how Marie Benedict does it, but she has such an incredible talent for bringing historical fiction to life. I'm sure there are long hours of research to get all the details of fashion, food, and even the everyday language of the characters correct. All that effort results in an amazing experience for us as readers. This time she captures the personalities of the leading female authors of the Golden Age of Mystery. Each of them is portrayed from her wardrobe to her attitude with all the pieces in place. Dorothy L. Sayers, author of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories. Agatha Christie of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot fame. Ngaio Marsh with her fictional British CID detective Roderick Alleyn. Margery Allingham who wrote about gentleman sleuth Albert Campion. And Baroness Emma Orczy the inventor of the Scarlet Pimpernel.

When the male members of the Detection Club try to pooh-pooh the little ladies, these formidable women decide to take on a real life mystery and solve it to prove their skills. The case they choose to solve involves a young nurse who disappears while on a short trip out of town with a friend. When her body is discovered, male journalists and the public in general put it down to death by misadventure, but the Queens of Crime have other ideas. They use their social and political contacts to locate and speak to persons of interest. Each of them is able to play a role when necessary, based on their own strengths. Benedict portrays the Baroness and her more traditional place in society, the brash Ngaio with her forthright colonial spark, as well as the difference in the ages of the various women and their levels of confidence in contributing to the group effort. She also nails the climate following the war and the generation of "surplus women" that were forced to adapt to lives that were much different than that of earlier generations.

Even if you have not read one of Benedict’s novels before, you will be a fan before these brilliant ladies reach the end of their investigation. Recommended for readers who enjoy the books of the featured characters, as well as those who have delighted in previous titles by Marie Benedict.

I enjoy Marie Benedicts writing and The Queens of Crime is no exception. A fun mystery that looks at women writers and what happens when they are active participants in a real life mystery instead of creating one. This book has inspired me to research these authors and take a look at some of their writing.

Great characters, mystery and storytelling.

hank you to Net Galley and St’. Martin’s Press for the ARC to read and review.

Title: The Queens of Crime
By: Marie Benedict
Pub. Date: Feb. 11, 2025

Genre:
Fiction, Historical, Women’s, Mystery, Thriller

Content Warnings:
Miscarriage, Abortion, Murder,

Favorite Quote:
"Men are so often put on a pedestal, and women are taught to prop them up there. But we only learn about our humanity and develop our empathy from our mistakes - and we could do with more doses of humanity, here and elsewhere."

Summary:
Five real women novelists, Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Emma Orczyare are challenging gender barriers in their male-led field as writers in the most recent story by Marie Benedict, The Queens of Crime. These phenomenal women writers join forces and investigate the loss and demise of poor Miss May Daniels. Though the local investigation has been closed, the women remain unconvinced, sensing the evidence doesn't align. Will they survive long enough to uncover the truth behind the killer's identity? Or will they risk everything in their pursuit of justice, jeopardizing their chance to secure a seat at the writers' table among the men?

Review:
Marie Benedict weaves a beautiful and engaging narrative of the time period in which women were marginalized. As the case unfolds, Marie Benedict adds the unique elements of each crime writer into the plotline. The bond of resilient relationships reminds the reader of the power in friendship, the impact of courage, and highlights hope as history has changed from the past to the present.

Authors similar to:
Julia Kelly
Pam Jenoff
Madeline Martin

Thank you to Marie Benedict, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the Advanced Readers Copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#MarieBenedict
#StMartinsPress
#TheQueensOfCrime
#reluctantreaderreads
#advancedreadercopies
#NetGalley

I really enjoyed this story. It's amazing how the difficulties women faced in this historical setting are still applicable today. Everything from having to work twice as hard to prove yourself in the workplace, to how women are judged by society. I thought the mystery was quite meaty, but not overly complicated or convoluted. It's a quick read, but there is good character and plot development. I think the author did a great job of mixing in the clues and investigation with the ladies trying to work together while overcoming personal conflict and insecurities.

“There are no ladies in waiting here, Gilbert. There are only queens and you are not our king.”

This story was a compelling combination of The Thursday Murder Club vibes, but instead of a group of older biddies, it’s a group of intelligent women writers making their mark on London, England.

This story was smart, well-written, and inspiring to women who wish to make their mark on a men-run world. This was a quick, fun read - the pacing propels the reader forward in a satisfying way that allows for no room to stop and take a breath, and I mean this in the best way.

A great mix of thriller and both historical and women’s fiction that I ate up.