The Queens of Crime

A Novel

De: Marie Benedict

Narrado por: Bessie Carter

This program is read by actor Bessie Carter, best known for her role as Prudence Featherington on the Netflix series Bridgerton.

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.

©2025 Marie Benedict (P)2025 Macmillan Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"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

“Mystery fans may know the classic novels by the real queens of crime; now, thanks to historical-fiction star Benedict’s cleverly realized portraits of women committed to friendship and feminism, readers will know the wise, empathetic, and resourceful people who wrote them.”—Booklist, Starred review

“A shrewd speculative whodunit … 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.”—Publishers Weekly

Terrific book. So well plotted and written

I loves that the author was able to devise a plot that was presented as a storyline with a terrific back story

The combination of historical fiction and mystery.

It was interesting having the prospective of the crime writers and there were some excellent twists and turns in the plot. However I found it slow moving and repetitive at times.

Great story, Fantastic narrator

This is one of the best novels for listening. Marie Benedict is a wonderful writer. The story moves along without any dull moments--and it's not short! The narrator did a great job.

SOOOOOO good!!!

wonderful narrative performance by Bessie Carter of an absolutely delightful romp through 1930s London with these real life lady sleuths. Historic, funny, thrilling, unexpected. wish I could start it all over for the first time. Sequel please Marie??

Nicely done mystery with familiar names

I enjoyed this storyline and the sleuthing quite a bit! I like to look up the names and places in historical fiction and learn more about it all when reading it. It’s important to realize that the murder case is real, but the “Queens of Crime” as an investigative group are not, and neither is the resolution. Isn’t it fun to imagine them together, though? Be sure not to skip the author’s notes at the end. One element did run me the wrong way - that Dorothy was always the one leading the other also-brilliant women to the correct deductions. That I do have some trouble imagining to be the case with this group of intelligent women.

Very nice!

Good twists and great characters. I whipped through this audible quickly and couldn’t wait to continue it each time it stopped. It was a nice book to listen to throughout the day!!

Such a treat

This is just a lovely story - love the time period, the women the history and the beautiful silver tinsel of real historical figures oh and in a dream world of such amazing women. Buy it I’m on my 2nd listen already, just a great great story the narration was so perfect I could listen to her all day!

Intriguing

Five real, brilliant, female, mystery authors showing what women are capable of. Fascinating thought processes in unraveling a real murder. Important message about don’t mess with women! Benedict’s best book yet. I did this as an audiobook and loved the accents.

Completely enjoyed.

Pleasure to hear a story about my favorite authors of the inter - war era especially Dorothy L Sayers

Very fun adventure

I loved the respect the women had for one another, the clever investigative strategies, and the overall quality of the writing.