Historical Mysteries

Based on an article from The Armchair Detective, these mysteries are arranged according to time period then, in some cases, by setting within that period. Some may be out of print

The Ancient World and the Dark Ages

Egypt
Agatha Christie, Death Comes As the End, Era: c.2000 B.C.
Lynda Robinson, Murder in the Place of Anubis, Era: 1356 B.C., first in series.
Lee Levin, King Tut's Private Eye, Era: 1356 B.C.
Anton Gill, City of the Horizon, Era: 1355 B.C., first in series.

Greece
Margaret Doody, Aristotle Detective, Era: 332 B.C.

Roman Empire
Steven Saylor, Roman Blood, Era: 80 B.C., first in series.
John Maddox Roberts, SPQR, Era: 70 B.C., first in series.
Marilyn Todd, I, Claudia: A Mystery, Era: 13 B.C.
David Wishart, Ovid, Era: 19 A.D.
Lindsey David, Silver Pigs, Era: 70 A.D., first in series.
Barbara Hambly, The Quirinal Hill Affair, Era: 116 A.D.
Rex Burns, Roman Nights, 180 A.D. first in series.

England
Peter Tremayne, Absolution by Murder, Era: 664 A.D., first in series.

China
Robert van Gulik, The Chinese Bell Murder, Era: 663 A.D., first in series.

The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages From 1066 (The Norman Conquest of England) through the Norman, Plantagenet, Lancastrian, and Yorkist dynasties until 1485.

Edward Marston, The Wolves of Savernake, Era: 1086, first in series.
Ellis Peters, A Morbid Taste for Bones, Era: 1137, first in series.
Ken Follet, The Pillars of the Earth, Era: 1135-1170.
Sharan Newman, Death Comes as Epiphany, Era: France, 1139, first in series.
Domini Highsmith, Keeper at the Shrine, Era: 1180, first in series.
Ian Morson, Falconer's Crusade, 1994 Era: 1264, first in series.
P.C. Doherty, Satan in St. Mary's , Era: 1284, first in series.
Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose, Era: Italy, early 1300s.
Michael Jecks, The Last Templar, Era: 1316, first in series.
Susanna Gregory, An Unholy Alliance, Era: 1348. .
Candace Robb, The Apothecary Rose, Era: 1365, first in series.
Paul Harding, The Nightingale Gallery, Era: 1376, first in series.
P. C. Doherty, An Ancient Evil, Era: late 1300s, first in series.
Margaret Frazer, The Novice's Tale, Era: 1431, first in series..
Kate Sedley, Death and a Chapman, Era: 1471, first in series..
C. L. Grace, A Shrine of Murders, Era: 1471, first in series.
Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time, Era: 1483-1485.
P. C. Doherty, The Fate of the Princes, Era: 1483-1485. .
Elizabeth Frye, Death of a Duchess, Era: Italy, 1490s, first in series. Not in print and usually hard to find.

Tudors 1485-1603

Beginning with Henry VI, the first Tudor ruler.

Michael Clynes, The White Rose Murders, Era: 1517, first in series.
Harper, Karen, The Poyson Garden, Era: 1558, first in series.
Buckley, Fiona, To Shield the Queen, Era: 1560, first in series.
Ann Dukthas, A Time for the Death of a King, Era: 1567, first in series.
Emerson, Kathy Lynn, Face Down in the Marrow-Bone Pie, Era: 1570, first in series.
Edward Marston, The Queen's Head, Era: 1588, first in series. .
P. E. Chisholm, A Famine of Horses, Era: 1592, first in series.
Faye Kellerman, The Quality of Mercy, Era: 1593.
Leonard Tourney, The Players' Boy is Dead, Era: 1601, first in series.

Stuarts 1603-1714

Including the English Civil War of the 1640s until the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. And America has now entered the picture.

Robert J. Begiebing, The Strange Death of Mistress Coffin, Era: Colonial New England, 1640s
Maan Meyers, The Dutchman, Era: New Amsterdam, 1664, first in series.
John Dickson Carr, The Devil in Velvet, Era: 1675
Molly Brown, Invitation to a Funeral, Era: 1676
Laura Joh Rowland, Shinju, Era: Japan, 1689, first in series.

Hanoverians

Kings George I, II, III, IV, and William IV

Deryn Lake, Dealth in the Dark Walk, Era: 1754, first in series.
John Dickson Carr, The Demoniacs, Era: 1757, first in series.
Robert Lee Hall, Benjamin Franklin Takes the Case, Era: 1757, first in series.
Lillian de la Torre, Dr. Sam Johnson, Detector, Era: 1763-1784, first in series.
Bruce Alexander, Blind Justice, Era: 1768, first in series.
Dennis Wheatley, The Launching of Roger Brook, Era: Europe, 1783, first in series.
Margaret Lawrence, Hearts and Bones, 1996 Era: U.S., 1786, first in series.
J. G. Jeffries, The Thieftaker, Era: 1798, first in series.
Quinn Fawcett, Napoleon Must Die, Era: Egypt, 1799
Stephanie Barron, Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor, Era: 1802, first in series.
John Dickson Carr, Captain Cut-Throat, Era: France, 1802
Bernard Bastable, Dead Mr. Mozart, Era: 1820, first in series.
Kate Ross, Cut to the Quick, Era: 1820s, first in series.
Richard Falkirk, Blackstone, Era: 1820, first in series.
Raymond Paul, The Tragedy at Tiverton, Era: U.S., 1832, first in series.

Victorian and Edwardian Eras

Mostly London

Bernard Bastable, To Die Like A Gentleman, Era: 1842
W. J. Palmer, The Detective and Mr. Dickens, Era: 1852
Frances Selwyn, Cracksman on Velvet, Era: early Victorian, first in series.
Anne Perry, The Face of A Stranger, Era: 1855, first in the Monk series.
John Dickson Carr, The Hungry Goblin, Era: 1869
John Dickson Carr, Scandal at High Chimneys, Era: Victorian
H. R. F. Keating, A Remarkable Case of Burglry, Era: Victorian
Evelyn Hervey, The Governess, Era: 1870
Carola Groom, The Good Doctor, Era: 1870
Ann Crowleigh, Dead as Dead Can Be, Era: 1875, first in series.
Peter Lovesey, Wobble to Death, Era: 1878, first in series.
Peter Ackroyd, Dan Leno and The Limehouse Golem (U.S. title: The Trial of Elizabeth Cree), Era: 1880
Anne Perry, The Cater Street Hangman, Era: 1881, first in the Pitt series.
Robert Goddard, Painting the Darkness, Era: 1882
Emily Brightwell, The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries, Era: Victorian, first in series.
Robert Player, Oh! Where Are Bloody Mary's Earrings?, Era: 1887
Jean Stubbs, Dear Laura, Era: 1880s, first in series.
Peter Lovesey, Bertie and the Tinman, Era: 1886, first in series.
Ray Harrison, French Ordinary Murder, Era: 1891, first in series.
Julian Symons, The Blackheath Poisonings, Era: 1890s, first in series.
Barry Perowne, The Return of Raffles, Era: 1890s, first in series.

Kent

Elizabeth Jenkins, Harriet, Era: 1875
Amy Myers, Murder in Pug's Parlour, Era: Victorian first in series, but other settings.

Oxford

Donald Thomas, Belladonna, (U.S title: Mad Hatter Summer) Era: 1880
Gwendoline Butler, A Coffin for Pandora, (U.S. title: Olivia, 1974) Era: 1880s. This is not part of her current Coffin series.

South East Coast

Kate Kingsbury, Room with a Clue, Era: Edwardian first in series.
Robin Paige, Death at Bishop's Keep, Era: 1890s first in series.

Derbyshire

John B. Hilton, Gamekeeper's Gallows, Era: 1877 first in series.

Edinburgh

Iona McGregor, Death Wore a Diadem, Era: 1860
Alanna Knight, Enter Second Murderer, Era: 1870, first in series.

Egypt

Elizabeth Peters, Crocodile on the Sandbank, Era: 1880 first in series.
Michael Pearce, The Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet, Era: 1908 first in series.

South Africa

June Drummond, Slowly the Poison, Era: 1911

France

Richard Grayson, The Murders at Impasse Louvain, Era: c.1890s, first in series.
Eric Zencey, Panama, Era: 1892
Gillian Linscott, Sisters Beneath the Sheet, Era: c.1900 first in series, with other settings.

USA

Melville Davisson Post, Uncle Abner, Era: 1850s
Miriam Monfredo, Seneca Falls Inheritance, Era: 1857, first in series.
Jack Finney, Time and Again, Era: 1882, first in series.
James Sherburne, Death's Pale Horse, Era: 1880s, first in series.
Peter J. Heck, Death on the Mississippi, Era: 1890s, first in series.
Mary Kruger, Death on the Cliff Walk, Era: 1895, first in series.
William DeAndrea, The Lunatic Fringe, Era: 1895
Caleb Carr, The Alienist, 1896, first in series.
Teona Tone, Lady on the Line, Era: 1899, first in series.
Dianne Day, The Strange Files of Fremont Jones, Era: 1905, first in series.
Barbara Paul, A Cadenza for Caruso, Era: 1984, first in series.

First World War Onwards

1914-1918 Plus

John Dickson Carr, The Ghosts' High Noon, Era: U.S. 1911
Charles Todd, A Test of Wills, Era: 1914, first in series.
Eileen Hawkes and Peter Manso, The Shadow of the Moth, Era: 1917
Peter Lovesey, The False Inspector Dew, Era: 1921
Samuel Peeples, The Man Who Died Twice, Era: U.S. 1922
Carola Dunn, The Winter Garden Mystery, Era: 1923, first in series.
William Hjortsberg, Nevermore, Era: U.S. 1923
Kerry Greenwood, Death by Misadventure, Era: Australia, 1920s, first in series.
Peter Dickinson, A Summer in ther Twenties, Era: 1926
George Baxt, The Dorothy Parker Murder Case, Era: U.S., 1920s, first in series.
K. K. Beck, Death in a Deckchair, Era: 1927, first in series.
Robert Goddard, Closed Circle, Era: 1931
Sandra Dallas, The Persian Pickle Club, Era: U.S., 1935
James Anderson, The Affair of the Blood-Stained Tea Cosy, Era: late 1930s, first in series.
H. R. F. Keating, The Murder of the Maharajah, Era: India, 1930
Stuart Kaminsky, Bullet for a Star, Era: U.S., 1940, first in series.
Leslie Thomas, Omerod's Landing, Era: mainly France, 1941
Thomas Fleming, Loyalties, Era: U.S./Europe, 1941
Robert Harris, Enigma, Era: 1943
John Lawton, Black Out, Era: 1944

Adapted from lists provided in The Armchair Detective, Palmer, Jennifer S., "Mysteries of the Ages: Four Millennia of Murder and Mayhem in Historical Mysteries," (Spring 1997): 156-164.

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