Historical crime fiction skillfully merges the allure of the past with criminal intrigue. Authors like Umberto Eco (The Name of the Rose) and Ken Follett (The Pillars of the Earth) transport readers to bygone eras, combining historical accuracy with gripping mysteries. Anne Perry explores Victorian England in her Thomas Pitt series, while C.J. Sansom immerses readers in Tudor-era turmoil through Matthew Shardlake. One of the earliest examples is Melville Davisson Post's 1911 story 'The Angel of the Lord,' set in pre-Civil War West Virginia. This genre meticulously recreates historical settings with complex characters and thrilling plots, whisking readers to distant epochs.
Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Shadow of the Wind
The Cemetry of Forgotten - Book 1
2018 (First published: 2004)
Barcelona, 1945 - just after the war, a great world city is nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother’s face. To console his only child, Daniel’s widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, where he discovers a puzzling secret.
Check Price on AmazonCarlos Ruiz Zafon
The Angel's Game
The Cemetry of Forgotten - Book 2
2010 (First published: 2008)
In this powerful, labyrinthian thriller, David Martín is a pulp fiction writer struggling to stay afloat. Holed up in an abandoned mansion in the heart of Barcelona, he furiously taps out story after story, becoming increasingly frustrated. Thus, when he is approached by a mysterious publisher offering a book deal that seems almost too good to be real, David leaps at the chance.
Check Price on AmazonCarlos Ruiz Zafon
The Prisoner of Heaven
The Cemetry of Forgotten - Book 3
2013 (First published: 2011)
Barcelona, 1957. It is Christmas, and Daniel Sempere and his wife, Bea, have much to celebrate. They have a beautiful new baby son named Julián, and their close friend de Torres is about to be wed. But their joy is eclipsed when a mysterious stranger visits the Sempere bookshop and threatens to divulge a terrible secret that has been buried for two decades in the city's dark past.
Check Price on AmazonCarlos Ruiz Zafon
The Labyrinth of Spirits
The Cemetry of Forgotten - Book 4
2019 (First published: 2016)
Beautiful and enigmatic Alicia Gris, with the help of the Sempere family, uncovers one of the most shocking conspiracies in all Spanish history. Nine-year-old Alicia lost her parents during the Spanish Civil War when the Nacionales (the fascists) savagely bombed Barcelona in 1938. Twenty years later, she still carries the emotional and physical scars of that violent and terrifying time.
Check Price on AmazonGeorges Simenon
Dirty Snow
2003 (First published: 1950)
Set in occupied France during WWII, Simenon's bleak masterpiece is a dispassionate description of human cruelty. No other writer has achieved the psychological intensity of Simenon. “What many regard as the finest of all noir novels…"--Tim Rutten, The Los Angeles Times
Check Price on AmazonJeffrey Deaver
Garden of Beasts: A Novel of Berlin 1936
2004 (First published: 2004)
Deaver thrills with a captivating narrative set in 1936 Nazi Berlin. Amidst a backdrop of espionage and danger, mob hitman Paul Schumann's undercover mission to assassinate a top Nazi architect is fraught with twists and turns. Deaver's masterful plot shifts and vivid historical setting create an enthralling experience. With espionage, intrigue, and morally complex characters, this is Deaver at his best, delivering unparalleled entertainment.
Check Price on AmazonKen Follett
The Pillars of the Earth
Book 1 of Kingsbridge
2007 (First published: 1989)
This story of intrigue, power, revenge and betrayal chronicles the ups and downs in the life of a prior, his master builder as they struggle to build a Gothic cathedral in 12th century England. Follett weaves human brutality, steamy sex scenes, deep religious faith, agony and glorious success into his epic historical novel.
Check Price on AmazonKen Follett
World Without End
Book 2 of Kingsbridge
2007 (First published: 2007)
World Without End takes place in the same town of Kingsbridge, two centuries after the townspeople finished building the exquisite Gothic cathedral that was at the heart of The Pillars of the Earth. Brilliant historical novel!
Check Price on AmazonKen Follett
A Column of Fire
Book 3 of Kingsbridge
2017
In 1558, the ancient stones of Kingsbridge Cathedral look down on a city torn apart by religious conflict. As power in England shifts precariously between Catholics and Protestants, royalty and commoners clash, testing friendship, loyalty, and love.
Check Price on AmazonMelville Davisson Post
Uncle Abner: Master of Mysteries
2018
The tales of Uncle Abner take place in what is now West Virginia, in the 1840's or 1850's. The mysteries of the crime solving, justice dispensing West Virginian backwoodsman Uncle Abner - written between 1911 and 1928 - have been called some of "the finest mysteries ever written".
Check Price on AmazonP.D. James
Death Comes to Pemberley
2013 (First published: 2011)
It is six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy’s magnificent estate. Their orderly world seems almost unassailable. Then the patrician idyll is shattered. A coach careens up the drive carrying Lydia, Elizabeth’s disgraced sister. Hysterically she is shrieking that her husband has been murdered. Inspired by a lifelong passion for Austen, P.D. James re-creates the world of "Pride and Prejudice".
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