Regency mysteries?

I love Jane Austen and the regency era, but it seems like there aren't many mystery series set during this time. Here are some off the top of my head...

- Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen series (the first being Jane Austen and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave). Started out strong, but the last book was mostly a disappointment aside for the exquisite cover art.

- Kate Ross's Julian Kestral series which I started and lost interest in as I started the second book. I can't even recall any of the titles.

- Madeleine Robins' Sarah Tolerance books, Point of Honour and Petty Treason are the only two that I've been able to discover. I was pleasantly surprised by this series, expecting it to be one bawdy adventure after another, but it stayed free from scenes that were too graphic and the characters were interesting.

Are there any others I'm missing?

I loved T.F. Banks Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner. There are two in the series The Thief-Taker and the Emperor's Assassin. I wrote a review of The thief-Taker for another site:

Wow! This is the best book that I have read recently; well, the best book that I have read lately that I have never read before, I should say. It is a regency period mystery, and the detective of the piece is a Bow Street Runner. If you have never read regency period pieces before you probably don't know what a Bow Street Runner was. Well, they were London's first professional police detectives. The group was founded by the novelist Henry Fielding, and they used to work for a very small salary supplemented by rewards that they won by bringing in a criminal and private commissions they would take on by the wealthy. Due to their pay arrangement, they weren't very highly respected and were often accused of being corrupt. It is an interesting spin to the very well defined genre of regency period pieces that usually involve firmly upper class or firmly lower class characters. In the Thief Taker, the protagonist Henry Morton is a middle class working man trying to use his salary to maintain the appearance of being a gentleman. Not to mention that it makes a change from the Jane Austen wannabes that write regency period romances with too obviously modern sensibilities.

You could also try Carrie Bebris Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mysteries. I read the first Pride and Prescience, which I have also written a review of:

I just got finished dissing Jane Austen wannabes who write regency period books with modern attitude. Just between you and me, however, I still read them. I discovered this book when a friend said she was going to send me An Assembly Such as This (Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman: Book 1) by Pamela Aiden. According to Amazon, it answers the intriguing question of what Mr. Darcy was doing when he wasn't in Pride and Prejudice (personally I think he was on a character exchange with Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights a la Jasper Fforde). Fine, I will admit to being mildly intrigued! Bebris' book is one of those listed as what other readers who enjoyed the Darcy book also bought. And a sneaky thought ocurred to me. What if I read every book ever written that is a sequel, a remake, a tribute, a pastiche, a continuation etc. of Pride and Prejudice? Do you think I could carve out an exotic niche for myself and make money off of it? Has the lady whose car has a bumper sticker on it that says "I'd rather be at Pemberley" already beat me to it? Then I decided that all the real Jane Austen fans out there would be unimpressed when they found out that I secretly think Sense and Sensibility, Emma and all other Jane Austen I've ever read is boring, and I'm just in it for six hours of Colin Firth. In my excitement about the possibility of literary fame and fortune, I did run out and buy Pride and Presience. My advice? Just watch the wet shirt scene over and over. In the end, that was a much better addition to the "Pride and Prejudice universe."

I'm not a huge regency fan, but the opening line of Point of Honour just cracked me up. I still smile when I think about it. Otherwise, the book was okay to me. I wasn't totally swept away by it, but I'll give the second in the series a spin.

I also have the Kate Ross books buried somewhere along Mt Bookmore, but haven't read them yet. My friends have had good things to say about them -- we'll see what I think. Maybe I'll try one in 2007.

Katissima -- You've got me intrigued with the Banks' books. I think I'm gonna check to see if my library has them.

I just remembered another series, though it's more Georgian than Regency. Hannah March has a three book series (if there's more, I'm not aware of them) starring a tutor as the detective. It's been awhile since I read the first one, but I remember liking it sufficiently to be on the lookout for any others.

I very much liked the two Kate Ross books I've read - though typically I read the fourth one first (The Devil in Music) and then the second, A Broken Vessel! TDiM I enjoyed very much, especially the "twist", and ABV I enjoyed not least because

*SPOILER WARNING*

it showed a woman having a sexual relationship with The Great Detective *and not getting killed afterwards*. It says a lot about the books I was reading at the time that my first thought was "Argh, she's slept with the Detective! She's toast!" ;)

I have a limited tolerance of pre-20th century settings for mysteries, they often seem overly contrived to me. The Kate Ross series were one of the few I liked.

It's strange, but I feel almost the opposite way - I think contemporary mysteries seem overly contrived because in order for there to be any kind of real mystery one has to explain

- Why there's zero fingerprint/DNA evidence
- Why, if it's an urban setting, none of the surveillance/shop/road cameras along the route were working at the time

I know, police nowadays can't find every murderer, but with Big Brother watching us constantly things have become a lot more routine. Therefore, if you want a whodunit which takes more than two minutes to solve, it becomes necessary to set the murder in an out-of-the-way area and organize fire or flood to contaminate the DNA evidence. It's a contrivance of its own, and I can't help but notice it.

I tend to agree with you, bibliotheque.

I remembered another Regency series; Rosemary Stevens has a few books in a series starring Beau Brummell as a detective. They include Death on a Silver tray, The Bloodied Cravat, and The Tainted Snuff box. I'm not sure if there are more. These are all that were listed in LibraryThing. It's been several years since I read them, but they kept my interest at least.

I love Regency era England! There are also mysteries by Ashley Gardner that take place in Regency era England that are pretty good. I think the first one is A Body in Berkeley Square.

Another author I've recently heard of that is Georgian era is Janet Gleeson. And Jane Jakeman writes right on the cusp of the Victorian era- around 1830.

Those are all I have off the top of my head :-) And I've read three of four of Kate Ross's books. I found them alright, except that most of the females in the books annoy me. I still have the last in the series on my shelf, unread.

I love Regency era England! There are also mysteries by Ashley Gardner that take place in Regency era England that are pretty good. I think the first one is A Body in Berkeley Square.

Actually, I think that's the fifth in the series; one I haven't read (yet)... The first is The Hanover Square Affair if I remember correctly. Been a while since I started the series, but I liked them well enough to continue.

Oh, yes, thank you Marcinyc. *Something* in some square ;-)

I just discovered a new Regency period mystery: What Angels Fear. I just started it, so I will let everyone know what I think when I'm done. Also, I just listened to the Lauren Willig books Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Masque of the Black Tulip and Deception of the Emerald Ring. They are definitely Regency, but only sort of mysteries, sort of romance, sort of chick lit. I liked them though! Anyone else discovered any new Regency mysteries?

Hi, Kat ~ Thanks for the tip. I just read the Amazon.com blurb for What Angels Fear, and it did sound good! I look forward to reading your review when you've finished it.

I've also heard about mysteries by Tracy Grant. I have her Beneath a Silent Moon, but I haven't read it yet. It sounds like she doesn't get great reviews on Amazon.

Another I've heard about is the author Madeleine E. Robins. I've wanted her books for a few months, but haven't found them yet!

Oh, just realized that Robins was mentioned back in the first post! Maybe that's why she was added to my wishlist in the first place ;-)

Well, I haven't finished What Angels Fear yet. I have to admit I got bored, and so it has been abandoned. I recently discovered Marion Chesney who writes Regency period romances. I read His Lordship's Pleasure (it is not as raunchy as the title makes it sound...it isn't really raunchy at all--more a Georgette Heyer type romance) which has a very little bit of mystery in it! I just finished reading two mysteries that made an interesting combination. Madeleine Robins Point of Honour which several people have mentioned and Marion Chesney's Snobbery with Violence. Although the later is actually an Edwardian mystery, it goes well with Robins because it explores a similar theme--the "fallen woman" from two different perspectives. Chesney is lightly comedic (slight overtones of Jeeves and Wooster) while Robins takes herself and her characters very seriously. One warning about Robins. She takes really really hugely big liberties with history. So, if that kind of thing bothers you, I might skip her!

I adored all of Kate Ross's Julian Kestrel books:
Cut to the Quick
A Broken Vessel
Whom the Gods Love
The Devil in Music

The Rosemary Stevens books were a bit more light-hearted and fun. Brummel makes a great sleuth.
Death on a Silver Tray
The Tainted Snuffbox
The Bloodied Cravat
Murder in the Pleasure Gardens

C. S. Harris's
What Angel's Fear and
When Gods Die, I thought were promising. I'd certainly read more.

I've read most of the others mentioned... if there are more out there, I'd gladly hear about them!

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Edited to add that I have gotten ahold of Harris's Why Mermaids Sing, the third Sebastian St. Cyr mystery--and I am really enjoying it! He's investigating a series of murder-mutilations that have taken the life of a sons of the aristocracy, the clergy and others that seem unrelated aside from the m.o. (which seems related to a Donne poem).

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Edited again to say that I've finished C. S. Harris's Why Mermaids Sing and despite needing to actually do some work, I couldn't put it down! An amazing mystery--involving all kinds of things, interwoven nicely with bits of St. Cyr's equally complex life and love. Action, too. I loved it. Even better than the first two books, which I also loved.

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Edited to say that I've read C. S. Harris's Where Serpents Sleep and am SO enjoying this series!!! I highly recommend it.

Well, the first book is set in 1810, so technically pre-Regency by a year...

The Keeper of Secrets by Judith Cutler

Tobias Campion is a young parson reporting to his first parrish out in the country in Warwickshire. He's used to a life of privilege and needs to adjust to his very different position --although he doesn't endear himself much when he is shocked at the condition of the poor and preaches charity from the pulpit... and he's forced to give a facer to the friend of the son of Lord Elham, when he was staying with them temporarily as he waited for his belongings to arrive so he could move into the parsonage (he is distantly related to Lady Elham). First there is a seemingly accidental death and then, months later, a death that is obviously murder. Campion and his new friend, Dr. Hansard have personal reasons to find the murderer. The details of the period and the place are very good. There's another in the series in the works which I will heartily welcome.

Count this as another vote for Kate Ross's Julian Kestrel books. I'm *so* disappointed that there are only the four of them.

There's Joan (I think) Smith, who wrote one or two. They were packaged as regencies, in which three people worked together for at least 2 titles.

Georgette Heyer, who wrote regencies and mysteries, wrote at least 2 regency mysteries: The Tollgate, and The Talisman Ring.

The Joan Smith's were Murder and Misdeeds Behold, A Mystery and Murder will Speak read one of them and it was alright.

Kate Ross died before we got anymore of Julian Kestrel. The author notes here say that she died of cancer. When she was released she seemed to have good shelf space. I wonder how do you find out how sales were in this series. Not something to justify a ghost writer taking over I should imagine. Maybe another hero similar to Kestrel will appear and solve mysteries in Regency England.

I was quite devastated when Kate Ross died. It wasn't that long after her last book was out, it seemed, and she seemed so on top of things with her career and her writing... and so young...

I hadn't found anything close to Julian Kestrel...

But, I was very happy when C. S. Harris started up her series. Not the same, of course, but I really adore her books. And I'm hoping Judith Cutler's series will also be fun.

I just finished Madeleine E. Robins Point of Honour this evening and really enjoyed it! I think it got slightly convoluted in parts, but I definitely intend to read the second in the series. And I hear from the author that a third has been written but she is searching for a publisher, i think.

I also have put the Sebastian St. Cyr books on my Amazon wishlist- thanks for the heads up, aprillee!

I will be reviewing Point of Honour on my blog soon, if anyone would like a more detailed account of my reaction: http://aartichapati.blogspot.com