This program is read by actor Bessie Carter, best known for her role as Prudence Featherington on the Netflix series Bridgerton.
"Bessie Carter's excellent dialect work makes the banter between feminist New Zealander Marsh and Hungarian-born aristocrat Orczy both fun and revelatory." —BookPage
"Bessie Carter's subtle changes in tone foster a growing sense of intrigue as the plot thickens." — AudioFile (Earphones Award Winner)
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Mystery of Mrs. Christie—a thrilling story of the five greatest women writers of the Golden Age of Mystery and their bid to solve a real-life murder.
London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. They call themselves the Queens of Crime. Their plan? 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 these authors are famous: how did her killer manage to sneak her body out of a crowded train station without anyone noticing? If, as the police believe, the cause of death is manual strangulation, why is there is an extraordinary amount of blood at the crime scene? What is the meaning of a heartbreaking secret letter seeming to implicate an unnamed paramour? Determined to solve the highly publicized murder, the Queens of Crime embark on their own investigation, discovering they're stronger together. But soon the killer targets Dorothy Sayers herself, threatening to expose a dark secret in her past that she would do anything to keep hidden.
Inspired by a true story in Sayers' own life, New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict brings to life the lengths to which five talented women writers will go to be taken seriously in the male-dominated world of letters as they unpuzzle a mystery torn from the pages of their own novels.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.
0 of 2 copies available
Wait time: About 3 weeks
0 of 2 copies available
Wait time: About 3 weeks
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
February 11, 2025 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781250379023
- File size: 299657 KB
- Duration: 10:24:16
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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December 2, 2024
Benedict follows The Mystery of Mrs. Christie with a shrewd speculative whodunit that imagines Agatha Christie’s peers joining her to investigate a murder in 1931 London. Crime writer Dorothy Sayers has just founded the Detection Club, “the preeminent organization of mystery writers” in England. After successfully recruiting Christie, Sayers becomes determined to add more female crime writers to the club’s ranks, and eventually enlists Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy. Once that cohort, who call themselves the “Queens of Crime,” swear on a skull to play fair with their readers, Sayers suggests they get their male colleagues to treat them with respect by solving a real murder. The group then crosses the Channel to probe the case of May Daniels, an English nurse who vanished in France seven months earlier, and whose corpse just turned up near the site of her disappearance. Benedict easily brings each of her five distinct writer/sleuths to life, and honors their literary legacies by providing plenty of ingenious, fair-play clues to help careful readers follow along and solve the central mystery. This is a treat for fans of golden age whodunits. Agent: Laura Dail, Laura Dail Literary. -
June 1, 2025
Benedict (coauthor of The First Ladies), known for her biographical novels, transports listeners to the interwar period, the Golden Age of mystery fiction ruled by several legendary women authors. Inspired by a real event in Dorothy L. Sayers's life, this novel follows five pioneering women mystery writers--Sayers, Agatha Christie, Baroness Emma Orczy, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh--as they attempt to solve the murder of a nurse who disappeared while on a day trip to France. Treating the victim as they would a character in one of their novels, they meticulously piece together her life, speaking with those who knew her and uncovering secrets along the way. But the women soon realize that real detective work is not the same as plotting fictional crimes. Narrator Bessie Carter is a perfect match for the material, not only skillfully distinguishing each character but also evoking the time period with authentic flair. Her performance immerses listeners in the world of these brilliant novelists, making for a thoroughly captivating listening experience. VERDICT A must-listen for mystery fans, historical fiction lovers, and those fascinated by trailblazing women in literature.--Christa Van Herreweghe
Copyright 2025 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Keeping track of the wide range of accents of a cast of characters from multiple countries--New Zealand, London, France, and Hungary, to name a few--is a daunting task. English actor Bessie Carter does just that in this delightful crumpet of historical fiction. Carter employs her best BBC English for famed mystery author Dorothy L. Sayers, who spearheads the effort to form a secret society of the greatest female crime writers of all time, including Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy. Determined to secure their status alongside their male counterparts in London's prestigious Detection Club, the "queens" travel to France to solve a real-life murder. Carter's subtle changes in tone foster a growing sense of intrigue as the plot thickens. E.E. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine
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