4.25 stars

Marie Benedict’s upcoming historical fiction novel THE QUEENS OF CRIME takes the reader on a journey of learning about how five female detective writers, including Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, came together to form the Queens of Crime and solve a real-life murder of a nurse who vanished five months prior and was found in the woods. Think THURSDAY MURDER CLUB with female detective writers.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about these strong detective writers with a dose of feminism and a dose of empathy in learning about what was going on in the victim’s life and mind in the months leading up to her disappearance. Marie Benedict is very thorough in her research, and I particularly loved the character of Dorothy Sayers, a name which I have heard through the years but didn’t know anything about her. The other women detectives were interesting as well, but the reader doesn’t get a ton about the other detective writers except for Agatha Christie. I’m fairly confident that Benedict’s interest about this group was piqued while researching THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE.

Narrator Bessie Carter did a splendid job on the narration. She was easy to understand with a nice English accent and did voices very well with emphasis and emotion when needed. This is a great one to listen to on audio because the reader is in Dorothy’s perspective the entire time, and the story is pretty straightforward.

I’m almost a Marie Benedict completist, and THE QUEENS OF CRIME has risen to be my favorite of her novels. If you enjoy historical fiction and enjoy early twentieth century detective novels, I think this will be a hit for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance listener copy in exchange for an honest review.

THE QUEENS OF CRIME publishes February 11, 2025.

In this historical fiction novel Marie Benedict again brings us a tale of strong women, this time authors Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. When only Sayers and Christie are officially offered membership in the otherwise all male detection club of mystery writers, they invite their other three author friends to join the group, much to the dismay of the men. In an effort to gain their respect, the ladies, led by Dorothy Sayers who tells our story, decide to solve a real life murder mystery.

I really enjoyed the relationship between the authors, and how they related their fictional detective methods to the murder they were trying to solve. It was interesting to see the contrast between the clues the ladies had turned up vs what the male police inspectors had found. Benedict did a great job incorporating what Christie might have felt after the publicity she underwent after her disappearance into the character and the story line. I also went down my own rabbit hole looking up these authors and their books and may have to add one or two to my never ending TBR.

The audio was beautifully done by British actress Bessie Carter (Prudence Featherington on Bridgerton) and I had no trouble distinguishing between the Scottish brough of Dorothy's husband and the New Zealand accent of Ngaio, among others. Luckily there were not too many scenes where all 5 women did a lot of talking and I had no confusion at all on the audio.

Thank you to net galley as well as the publisher of the audiobook for the galley in return for an honest review.

Dorothy Sayers was one of the creators of The Detection Club, a group of crime writers in the 1930s. But what if she and a group of women had to solve a murder to prove their worth to be a part of the Detection Club? That's what the Queens of Crime do. This group, including Ngaio Marsh, Baroness Orczy, Margery Allingham, and Dame Agatha Christie, do just that in this interesting, imaginative story of these women's relationships.

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!

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advanced electronic audio review copy of this great book. Marie Benedict did it again! This is yet another great historical fiction taking place in the 1930s London. As always, there are wonderful characters, great, fast moving plot, mystery, great narration (I listened to the e-audiobook) and my favorite — a witty banter between characters. Can’t wait for the next Marie Benedict masterpiece!

As reporters and law enforcement fail to effectively solve a young nurse's murder, five unsuspecting female mystery writers team up to conduct an investigation of their own. The "Queens of Crime" (Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy) showcase distinct personalities and sleuthing strategies. This book captures all the elements of an empowering women's fiction novel, a twisty mystery, and an intriguing historical fiction tale.

If you enjoy reading golden age detective fiction, then I recommend Marie Benedict's book to you! Bessie Carter does a great job with the range of accents.

Special thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this audiobook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Audio Review: The narration is fitting, smooth, and well done. Would recommend.

Review: The Queens of Crime is a very interesting, creative non-fiction / retelling (it's not non-fiction but it's based on true events and lives). I really enjoyed the first 20 percent of this story. We meet some kick ass women, who wrote mysteries during the golden age of crime.... I'm sure you've read the synopsis. I enjoyed the fictionalization of these women's lives and incorporation of a real life mystery. I enjoyed the secret society aspect and the solving a fake murder as initiation. There was so much to love at the start. That's where I'm going to shift gears a little bit. This is where the story lost me and is likely more a me problem. Once the women start solving the crime, the suspense actually dies down and I lost a lot of interest in the story. I didn't find the crime interesting but also, there were way too many conveniences in the story and ways of getting information. I want to be careful here because I don't know what's true and what's not so maybe some of it is real and just hard to believe. You go from clue to clue essentially and the women get information from various sources over and over in ways that really were just hard to believe. It also lost a lot of the mystery and interesting dynamics between the club members.

Some things it had going for it were powerful women getting shit done. I did love that aspect of it. Outside of the requirement on netgalley, I'm choosing to not rate this story. I read this as a way to try something a little different and it didn't work for me. I think if you like creative fiction based on real people and don't mind some of my earlier complaints this story will be a knock out of the park. It's truly well written and well told, just not entertaining in a way I prefer.