historical mysteries set in 19th & 20th century england

Explore gripping historical mysteries set in 19th & 20th century England with our curated list of suspenseful books. Uncover secrets, scandals, and thrilling whodunits from Victorian and Edwardian eras to post-war Britain.

Silent in the Grave Cover
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Silent in the Grave

by Deanna Raybourn

"Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave." These ominous words, slashed from the pages of a book of Psalms, are the last threat that the darling of London society, Sir Edward Grey, receives from his killer. Before he can show them to Nicholas Brisbane, the private inquiry agent he has retained for his protection, Sir Edward collapses and dies at his London home, in the presence of his wife, Julia, and a roomful of dinner guests. Prepared to accept that Edward's death was due to a longstanding physical infirmity, Julia is outraged when Brisbane visits and suggests that Sir Edward has been murdered. It is a reaction she comes to regret when she discovers the damning paper for herself, and realizes the truth. Determined to bring her husband's murderer to justice, Julia engages the enigmatic Brisbane to help her investigate Edward's demise. Dismissing his warnings that the investigation will be difficult, if not impossible, Julia presses forward, following a trail of clues that lead her to even more unpleasant truths, and ever closer to a killer who waits expectantly for her arrival.
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The Season Cover
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The Season

by Sarah MacLean

Showing no interest in the sumptuous balls, lavish dinner parties, and country weekends enjoyed by the rest of early nineteenth-century London society, seventeen-year-old Lady Alexandra Stafford seeks adventure as she investigates the puzzling murder of the Earl of Blackmoor, father of devilishly handsome Gavin.
Her Royal Spyness Cover
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Her Royal Spyness

by Rhys Bowen

THE FIRST ROYAL SPYNESS MYSTERY! The New York Times bestselling author of the Molly Murphy and Constable Evan Evans mysteries turns her attentions to “a feisty new heroine to delight a legion of Anglophile readers.”* London, 1932. Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, 34th in line for the English throne, is flat broke. She's bolted Scotland, her greedy brother, and her fish-faced betrothed. London is a place where she'll experience freedom, learn life lessons aplenty, do a bit of spying for HRH—oh, and find a dead Frenchman in her tub. Now her new job is to clear her long family name...
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Kept Cover
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Kept

by D. J. Taylor

Madness, greed, love, obsession, Machiavellian schemes, and a great train robbery--all are interwoven in this wonderfully imaginative novel that reinvents Victorian life and passions with dazzling skill and wit.
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A Beautiful Blue Death Cover
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A Beautiful Blue Death

by Charles Finch

Equal parts Sherlock Holmes and "Gosford Park," this Victorian debut introduces a wonderfully appealing detective and his friend, the lovely Lady Jane.
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Drood Cover
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Drood

by Dan Simmons

A tale inspired by the mysterious final years of Charles Dickens finds the fifty-three-year-old literary master irrevocably changed when a train journey with his mistress ends in violence.