18th century

Sara Walker's DIETLAND is not for the faint hearted.  It's a challenging read, thought provoking.  Box office tickets to Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Hamilton" are sold out through January 2017; if you can't see the play, then read about the infamous Hamilton/Burr conflict. Fans of GRANTCHESTER, recently shown on local PBS Masterpiece Mystery, will want to read the James Runcie story collections featuring Canon Sidney Chambers and Inspector Geordie Keating. 

Dietland by Sarai Walker

"A fresh and provocative debut novel about a reclusive young woman saving up for weight loss surgery when she gets drawn into a shadowy feminist guerilla group called "Jennifer"--equal parts Bridget Jones's Diary and Fight Club"--.

When auctioneer Wren Morgan begins cataloging the contents of the Campbell mansion, she's unprepared to find something that can't be appraised--a dead man. After the body turns out to be a criminal with ties to a recent jewel heist, Wren comes face-to-face with Death Bogart. A private eye and part-time bounty hunter, Death is searching for the stolen jewels needed to convict a murderer. Death finds a friend and willing ally in Wren, but they aren't the only ones searching for treasure. Two ruthless men are also on the hunt, and they will do anything to eliminate the competition. To survive, Death and Wren must solve two mysteries spanning a century and a half and outwit a pair of cold-blooded killers. Praise: "Ross' thoroughly entertaining debut combines smart details about the auction business with two engaging mysteries and a uniformly appealing cast. Fans of small-town cozies, especially those by Denise Swanson, will love this, as will mystery readers who double as thrift-store aficionados and followers of auction reality shows.

May We Suggest: Historical Mysteries

Second Street Station: a Mary Handley mystery by Lawrence H. Levy

The empty mirror: a Viennese mystery by J. Sydney Jones

A duty to the dead by Charles Todd

The Mangle Street murders by M.R.C. Kasasian

Damsel in distress by Carola Dunn

The devil's making by Seán Haldane

Sleuth It: Dead & Done VII

Historical mysteries let the reader be picked up and be transported to different times and places. A good story is a painless way to get into the period, and, if it features a unsolved crime or two, give a look at history’s darker underside.

Bellfield Hall by Anna Dean

Pride and prescience, or, A truth universally acknowledged by Carrie Bebris

Mute witness by Charles O'Brien

A beautiful blue death by Charles Finch

A conspiracy of paper by David Liss

Time was...Time is... June 2013

This month in history Benedict Arnold was executed, Marilyn Monroe was born, The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album was released, WWII Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, and the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York.

The real Benedict Arnold by Jim Murphy

The making of Some like it hot: my memories of Marilyn Monroe and the classic American movie by Tony Curtis with Mark A. Vieira

D-day: the battle for Normandy by Antony Beevor

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [sound recording] by The Beatles

Enlightening the world: the creation of the Statue of Liberty by Yasmin Sabina Khan

Time was, Time is… November 2011

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