Liz's Reviews > The Queens of Crime

The Queens of Crime, Marie Benedict’s latest, combines her standard historic biographical novels with a locked room mystery.
Loosely inspired by a real event in Dorothy Sayers’ life, Benedict provides an ending for what, in real life, was an unsolved murder. In addition, she brings together five of the golden age female mystery writers.
Even though Dorothy Sayers was the energy behind the formation of the Detection Club, the men still fought the inclusion of too many women. So, Dorothy, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy name themselves the Queens of Crime. They decide the way to win the men’s respect is to solve a real murder. They embark on a quest to solve the locked room murder of May Daniels, a young nurse found murdered in France.
This was a fun, entertaining story. It’s told solely from Dorothy’s perspective, but the reader gets a decent feel for the others. We also learn important facts about her personal life.
There’s a wee bit too much emphasis in the beginning on the fashions of each woman as a means to differentiate their personalities. I was more impressed with Benedict’s thoughts about “surplus women” after WWI, discounting female witnesses or finding intellectual fulfillment in marriage.
The story moves at a strong pace with little downtime. It worked well as the women realize writing about detectives is very different than being one. Benedict acquits herself well as a mystery writer.
I was sorry that there was not an Author’s Note, something I expect from a historical story. This is an ARC, so hopefully that omission is fixed before publication.
I appreciated having both the e-book and the audio for this story. Bessie Carter did a good job as narrator.
My thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this book.