Thank you to NetGalley and Marie Benedict for allowing me the chance to read this work in exchange for a fair review.
February. 1931 authors Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie are having tea and discussing the plans to start an all female mystery writers Detection Club. Emma Orczy, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham, all published authors, are asked to join.
The current all male Detection is hesitant to let them join so the ladies decide that they need to solve a real life cold case. In the weeks to come they settle on the suspicious death of Mary Daniel’s a British nurse found dead in France.
We follow the “Queens of Crime”, as they’ve called themselves, while they investigate on both sides of the English Channel. They find themselves in precarious predicaments as well as learning a few things about each other and themselves. In a time where women, no matter how famous, find they are still treated as less than.
I rate The Queens of Crime 3⭐️’s.

This was a fun twist on a mystery that follows some of the most beloved British female mystery writers back in 1930 England. We follow along as they try and solve a real murder, that occurred in France, in the hopes of gaining the respect they deserve from the male writers in their detective club.

I enjoyed the fun way this mixed historical fiction with mystery. The characters used their own way of story telling to suss out the clues and find answers to a murder that no one else was able to solve. It was very enjoyable being a part of this team and watching them work. There are five popular writers in the group but I’ve actually only read Agatha Christie so this put the others on my radar and I have plans to read at least something from each of them in the new year.

Thanks to @macmillan.audio for the alc via Netgalley, this was a fun one to listen to!

Rating: 4/5⭐️
Pub day: February 11

Five mystery women authors in the 1930s ban together to solve a real-life murder. Stepping outside of their fictional detectives, they realize that writing mystery and solving a murder are two different things.

The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict is a historical fiction novel set in the 1930s, where real-life mystery writers like Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, Emma Orczy, and Ngaio Marsh form a group to solve the disappearance and murder of a young nurse, May Daniels. In a male-dominated literary world, these women aim to prove their worth and their detective skills to the men of the Detection Club. They sleuth to get to the truth!

Each writer has their own unique perspective and character to bring to the game. The one thing they have in common? They are incredibly bold!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for the opportunity to read The Queens of Crime!

This is a delightful adventure with the Queens of the Golden Age.. It’s an easy quick read.. Lots of interesting details about the women and their lives. The mystery is less complex than the authors’ usual plot but that doesn’t detract much from this story. I am curious what is fact and what is conjecture. Another good read in the Marie Benedict historical novel series.

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.

Inspired by a true story in Sayers’ own life, New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict brings to life the lengths to which five talented women writers will go to be taken seriously in the male-dominated world of letters as they unpuzzle a mystery torn from the pages of their own novels.

Marie Benedict writes historical fiction at its best using real life characters in a storyline based on actual events. I have read several of her novels which are so well written fleshing out real life characters that you fall in love with as you read. She describes the times so well when women were thought of as second class citizens and writers and shows that they are not! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting my request to be immersed in history through the eyes of Marie Benedict. I highly recommend.

Dorothy Sayers was a well know crime novelist. She started the Detection Club but the men seem to ignore women mystery writers. She gets some of the best know mystery writers to join including Agatha Christie. The Women decide they will have to solve a real crime to get respect from the men. They call themselves The Queens of Crime. However, solving a real crime is not like writing fiction.

This is an interesting book. The mystery novelists much use the same methods they use in their books to solve the crime. They must also try not to compete against each other. I really enjoyed the story and liked learning about their methods in writing mysteries. Shows some of the same methods mystery/thriller writers still use today. I recommend reading this historical fiction.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #MarieBenedict, and #MacMillan for a copy of this book.
#TheQueensofCrime

A clever, classic murder mystery, solved by the famous ‘Queens of Crime,’ real life Golden Age of Crime novelists Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Baroness Emma Orczy, Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh. The story was pieced together differently, from the perspective of these mystery writers, which turned the classic murder mystery on its head. Although fictitious, it was a hoot to solve an ‘actual’ crime through these writers and their famous processes, while they forged their own relationships with one another.
Set in 1930’s Great Britain, the story took a few chapters to really get going for me, but once events started to unfold for these ladies, I was hooked. The various threads and twists the plot took along with the unique cast of characters sets this book apart from classic style mysteries.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. I love Marie Benedict. This book did not work for me. Instead of learning about the famous crime writers, this book was about the authors solving real life murders. Sadly I thought the book was boring and repetitive. I could not get into it at all.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advance readers copy of this book.

Once again, Marie Benedict has given us an engaging fictionalized account of not one, but five well-known women, this time, from the “Golden Age” of crime novels: Margery Allingham, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Baroness Emma Orczy, and Dorothy L. Sayers.

This 1931 adventure is narrated by Dorothy Sayers, who also explores her complicated relationships with those closest to her. She describes her fellow female novelists with their signature styles and quirks, and creates a camaraderie between them that one hopes they had in some measure in real life.

The mystery itself – seeking the truth about a young English nurse found dead after a daytrip to France – is well done, with the women using the techniques their fictional detectives employ, and all the fraught pieces falling into place in a dramatic climax.

The treatment of women - young, middle-aged, and older – as disposable and irrelevant, permeates the story, and gives one an even greater appreciation of what these women accomplished.

Dorothy Sayers started the Detection Club for mystery writers to gather and share notes on their craft. However, she quickly realizes that more women should be invited to join, so she also invites fellow female mystery writers -Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy to join the Detection Club. Most of the men seem unimpressed to downright rude to these ladies. So, Dorothy decides that she and her friends, now called Queens of Crime, will impress these men by solving a real crime.

They decide to take on the mystery around May Daniels, who was on a quick weekend trip with her friend, Celia McCarthy, in France, when she went missing. She walked into a restroom, while her friend was outside, and was never seen alive again. Her body was found strangled, but with a lot of blood under it. For the Queens of Crime this seems like the perfect locked room mystery. What starts out as a fun test of skills turns into something much more meaningful for these women.

I was engaged in this story from the first chapter. I enjoyed the easy flow and short chapters. Also, I liked learning about the women in Queens of Crime and seeing their friendship develop. I’m hoping this is the beginning of a new series.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC.

“Inspired by a true story in novelist’s Dorothy Sayers’ own life, New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict brings to life the lengths to which five talented women writers will go to be taken seriously in the male-dominated world of letters as they unpuzzle a mystery torn from the pages of their own novels.”

I enjoyed this historical whodunnit, and found it interesting to be transported into the 1930s with Sayers, Agatha Christie, and several other female mystery writers. The mystery kept me wondering and engaged, and I also appreciated the chance to think about the way a mystery is crafted. In their attempt to prove themselves to a group of men, they solve a crime in the process.

This novel is available on Feb. 11. Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the advance digital copy for review.

Strong friendships, intelligent females and a mystery to solve count me in!
This was such a fun and clever suspenseful book. I absolutely love how this is inspired by Dorothy Sayers own life. The dynamics between the characters and how each woman brought something different to the story was perfection. I really enjoyed the pace of the story with little to no fillers. It kept you guessing til the very end and didn't disappoint.
This was my first Book by Marie Benedict and I can't wait to read more of her work.

5⭐️s - This was such a fun and enjoyable read this weekend! Marie Benedict cleverly unfolds a murder mystery where a team of famous female crime authors solve an impossible case. The “Queens of Crime” team consist of Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie, who lead with Emma Orczy, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh all helping with the investigation of a murder in France. Boulogne-sur-Mer and London are the backdrop of this book and I loved all scenic descriptions. Also loved all the literary references to the “Queens of Crime” books. Highly recommend to all who enjoy classic crime mysteries! I was lucky enough to receive the ARC and just pre-ordered a signed copy from Buxton Books. Can’t wait to add this gem to my library!

Expected release: 2/11/25

✨Special thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin Press for this complimentary digital advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie are part of a five women group called the Queens of Crime. The men in the detection club still don’t respect these five women. Their plan? Solve a real life murder to command respect. May Daniels is a young nurse that had gone missing several months before and now her body had turned up dead. The police don’t seem interested in solving this, & right it off as just another young woman with a drug problem. This is far from the truth and the Queens are out to prove it. Told through Sayers eyes, we get to know a little about each of the five women. It was interesting to see how successful these women were and, yet, still had to prove themselves. I liked the story and the real life aspect of these women.

This was my first Marie Benedict novel and I am of mixed minds about it. I loved the premise of it: these famous female mystery novelists coming together to solve a real life murder. The plot was great. However, I did find my mind wandering as I was reading. The novel was told with a first person perspective which told us most about Dorothy Sayers, but fell a bit short when it came to the other female sleuths. I thought that the dialogue, which was intended to reveal character, was a bit flat. I might have been more invested had there been multiple perspectives or it was told in third person, delving more deeply into each of the characters, who were working together to solve this mystery. I also felt like there were moments where the author was delivering a lecture on women's rights and thought this message should have been delivered more subtly, since it was a message worth getting.
I received the audio and after reading the text, I shifted to the audio, which helped. The narrator was excellent and engaging and helped me to get through a book that I might have otherwise given up on. Thanks to MacMillan Press and MacMillan Audio as well as to NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this novel before publication in exchange for my honest review.

Think “The Woman’s Murder Club” but based on a true story. The Queens of Crime are all crime writers, Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. The goal? To show the men they can do what they can and to solve an actual murder, of a young woman found strangled in a park in France.

I only put this book down last night because it was almost midnight, and I fell asleep, and my kindle fell and hit my head. I only had 25 pages left! I wanted to finish it! It was soo good. Too early to claim my favorite book of February?
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reader copy. #queensofcrime #netgalley

Marie Benedict stays being one of my favorite historical fiction writers and we’re lucky enough to have another book that stars Agatha Christie in it along with four other Queens of Crime.

Queens of Crime follows mystery authors Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy as they attempt to solve a murder of an Englishwoman killed just across the channel in France in 1930. It’s all Dorthy’s idea and when her husband Mac gets assigned to report on the case in France, she knows they have an in to do their own investigation.

The women deal with period typical misogyny from reporters, police, husbands, sisters, and rich men while piecing together the crime by traveling all around England and going over to France.

There’s secrets of both the main characters and the side characters that brilliantly tie this together.

Why 4 stars instead of 5? I think this one had a very slow start. It’s for sure a slow start with a great finish.

In the end it’s still a great historical fiction with the usual Benedict special - following important women of history and bringing stories to light. Plus it has a locker room mystery spin.

Big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of Queens of Crime in exchange for my honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict. True to her style, she brought to life extraordinary women who may not have been well known. I loved the strong female friendships in this book, and their coming together to prove that they can do everything that a man can do.

The book was fast paced and well written. The mystery was well done, and so unique to be solved by mystery authors.

I highly recommend this book, especially if you love historical fiction and strong female characters!

Again, many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Marie Benedict for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Crime solving in London in the 1930s was primarily a man’s job, but not for long. When May Daniel’s disappears in plain sight, Dorothy Saylor, Agatha Christie, and friends, form the Queens of Crime to find justice for May and to prove women can solve a crime as well as a man. This is not an easy task. The twists and turns of this crime, suspects you won’t believe, and attacks on one of the members, will keep you reading at a fast pace. This book was easy to read and written so that you didn’t want to quit reading. I look forward to sharing this book with my book club friends.