As a fan of Marie Benedict, I will pick up pretty much anything she writes (I'm still thinking about 'The Mitford Affair' at least weekly). However, I'm always excited when she tackles a subject I'm interested in or familiar with. This was the case with 'The Mystery of Mrs. Christie' and I was delighted to see Agatha make another appearance in Benedict's works. This novel primarily centers around another famous mystery writer, Dorthy Sayers, and her efforts to install more women in the Detection Club, to do so, 5 'Queens of Crime' work together to solve an unsolved murder.

Benedict tackles themes of class and gender in post-WWI Europe. I did note she focused most on 2 of the 'Queens' (Sayers and Christie) but I hope maybe she'll visit the other 'Queens' in more detail at a later date.

Thank you to Marie Benedict and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for a honest review of 'Queens of Crime."

🩸 BOOK / REVIEW 👩

I am not sure what happened here, but I'm ripping off the bandaid.

Y'all ... I did not love this book. Thank you so much for my #gifted #audiobook @macmillan.audio. I thought the production of this was incredible, but I found myself pretty bored with the overall storyline.

What I did love was how Benedict brought together 5 insanely cool and powerful women to drive this story along. My favorite part was how getting to know these authors in a different light, written by a phenomenal author.

I just wanted more from the plot. Not sure what I was expecting, but May's death and the investigation just didn't hold my interest. I know this book will be super popular with other influencers, but just not for me!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed reading The Queens of Crime, by Marie Benedict, whose previous novels are favorites of mine. The Queens are 5 women writers from the Golden Age of Mystery Writers: Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Baroness Emma Orczy, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham. Because they are dismissed by male mystery writers as just women and thus insignificant, these 5 women decide to use what they know about writing detective fiction to solve a real murder, one that the p0lice have no real interest in solving.

The 5 Queens decide to focus on the disappearance and subsequent murder of May Daniels, a British nurse, who was murdered in Boulogne, France, while there only a few hours. The Queens of Crime begin interviewing people in Boulogne, London, and Birmingham. In part because they are women, the Queens are able to successfully interview witnesses the police barely examined. These 5 mystery writers use their knowledge of creating characters and plots to reverse a terrible injustice. There are many details and the plot is carefully constructed. Readers will not want to rush through this novel. There is a lot to unpack.

I would read this novel a second time. It was that terrific a novel. Thank you to Macmillan and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC, in exchange for my honest review. My comments do reflect my personal appreciation of The Queens of Crime.

Marie Benedict has done it again...a well-researched fictional account surrounding many factual events within. Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie round out the Queens of Crime...an unlikely (of course because they were all female) group of British mystery writers in 1930's London. This was a fun foray into the ins and outs of a group meeting to discuss events of an actual murder that had taken place. The ill effects of living in a male-dominated world leaving them often overlooked and underestimated, actually helped these crime-solvers in some ways during this investigation as they were able to pay attention and go where no one thought they were a threat.
The twists and turns of this story were well-executed and the pace was constant throughout.
I liked learning more about these prolific writers of their day and would love to see this as a series!
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC. All opinions are mine.

This mystery featuring the Golden Age mystery writers Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Baroness Orczy, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham, follows the only female members of the renowned 1930's Detection Club as they determine to solve a real-life locked-room mystery, the murder of a young English nurse in Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France. The development of the relationships amongst the group members, disparate in age and social class, as they attempt to solve the mystery, is the most interesting and engaging part of the novel. The resistance the middle-aged and elderly women encounter from the police in both countries and the socially prominent people of interest in the murder serves to bring the ill-assorted group of women closer together, and their firm friendship bonds strengthen their determination to succeed on behalf of marginalized women everywhere (including the murder victim). The actual mystery is not high in suspense but is engaging enough, more along the lines of a 'cozy' mystery than a dark thriller. The author's insight into the life and times of the first person narrator, Dorothy Sayers, and her companion writers entertains and informs the reader. Apart from some rather jarring anachronisms of speech (British characters of the 1930's using American terms and slang, which seems unlikely), the story drew me in with a believable sense of time and place, as good historical fiction should. The characters really make this story, and I was rooting for the group to succeed in proving the guilt of the perpetrator and their own abilities in detection.

DNF

I was expecting something more stylish and retro, not focused on real murders, a genre I really dislike. I don't be reviewing it as this was not the type of book I read.

Based on a real story from Dorothy L. Sayers' life, The Queens of Crime offers a delightful twist on the classic mystery novel. The story brings together five iconic female mystery writers—Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Baroness Emma Orczy, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh—who band together to form a group aptly named The Queens of Crime. Their initial goal is to solve a real-life murder and prove to the male members of the newly formed Detection Club that women writers are just as capable as their male counterparts.
However, as they delve into the mysterious death of young nurse May Daniels, their mission transforms from a bid for recognition to a genuine pursuit of justice. Along the way, the women discover that crafting fictional detectives is far easier than confronting real-life criminals. With engaging characters and a clever plot, this novel is a must-read for mystery lovers and fans of these legendary authors.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this digital e-arc.*

A wonderful historical fiction that follows 1930's mystery writers solving a murder and righting wrongs!

A we quick read, keeps the readers interest and takes them through the wiles of British writing royalty. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book!

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.