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We are excited to welcome Marie Benedict to Foxtale BookShoppe to celebrate the launch of her newest book, "The Queens of Crime" on Tuesday, February 18th, at 6:30PM. Book purchase required. Pre-Order your copy here, https://foxtalebookshoppe.com/Benedict THE QUEENS OF CRIME
The Queens of Crime by beloved and bestselling author Marie Benedict (The Personal Librarian, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie) is a genre-bending novel starring Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie that blends classic mystery, historical fiction, and elements of true crime into a page-turning and unforgettable story. Set in London in the 1930s and starring five of the greatest women crime writers of the interwar period, The Queens of Crime is an homage to the Golden Age of Detective Fiction that celebrates women who buck convention and seek justice for themselves—and others.
It’s winter of 1931 and Dorothy Sayers has a plan. She’s a founding member of the Detection Club, an organization meant to help crime writers gain credibility in the literary establishment. She and Agatha Christie are the only women members, yet their male colleagues are determined to limit the role of women in what they consider their exclusive male preserve. Together, Sayers and Christie persuade Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy to join, creating a cohort of women to challenge the status quo—they dub themselves the Queens of Crime. To prove they belong in the pantheon of preeminent crime writers, Sayers proposes they solve an actual murder, that of a young woman found strangled in a park in France who may have connections leading to the highest levels of the British establishment.
May Daniels, a young English nurse on an excursion to France with her friend, seemed to vanish into thin air as they prepared to board a ferry home. Months later, her body is found in the nearby woods. The murder has all the hallmarks of a locked room mystery for which the Queens of Crime are famous: how did her killer manage to sneak her body out of a crowded train station without any witnesses? If, as the police believe, the cause of death is manual strangulation, why is there an extraordinary amount of blood at the crime scene? What is the meaning of a heartbreaking secret letter seeming to implicate an unnamed paramour? Resolved to solve the highly publicized murder, the women embark on their own investigation, pooling their wits and unique skills to work as a team. But soon the killer targets Sayers herself, threatening to expose a dark secret in her past that she would do anything to keep hidden.
PRAISE FOR "THE QUEENS OF CRIME"
“In this excellent novel, Benedict vividly brings to life real Golden Age mystery novelists ... Fans of Benedict’s previous novels and those who enjoy historical whodunits will find this hard to put down.”
—Library Journal, Starred review
“In this marvelous locked-room puzzle, we’re treated to a masterclass in solving mysteries from the grand dames of the form … A delight from beginning to end.”
—First Clue Reviews
“I was riveted by this quintet of mystery writers... Smart, biting, and a tribute to female friendship and loyalty. An absolute delight!”
—Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Spectacular
“Faithful to history and at the same time wonderfully inventive, The Queens of Crime is a brilliant, irresistible, and page-turning delight, as well as a rallying cry for what women can accomplish when we stick together. If I always had a new book by Marie Benedict, I would do nothing but read sixteen hours a day.”
—Nina de Gramont, New York Times bestselling author of The Christie Affair
“I loved Marie Benedict’s stellar The Queens of Crime....[it] will move you with its themes of female friendship and equal justice, which resonate so powerfully even today.”
—Lisa Scottoline, New York Times bestselling author of The Truth About the Devlins
“Marie Benedict takes her formidable talents to a new level in The Queens of Crime... Breathtaking suspense and female friendship make for a heady combination in this wonder of a book, which will have fans of both historical fiction and thrillers torn between racing through the pages and wanting to savor every word.”
—Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of Code Name Sapphire
“Full of Benedict’s richly textured language, complex moral questions and delicious historic detail, The Queens of Crime reads with the urgency of a mystery and the charm of a captivating, character-driven narrative —this is one to savor.”
—Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author of Finding Margaret Fuller
MARIE BENEDICT
Marie Benedict is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Mitford Affair, Her Hidden Genius, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, The Only Woman in the Room, Lady Clementine, Carnegie's Maid, The Other Einstein, and with Victoria Christopher Murray, the Good Morning America Book Club pick The Personal Librarian and the Target Book of the Year The First Ladies. All have been translated into multiple languages, and many have been selected for the Barnes & Noble Book Club, Target Book Club, Costco Book Club, Indie Next List, and LibraryReads List. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.
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