Review of The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict

Queens of Crime book next to books by each of the “Queen’s of Crime” themselves!

Set in 1930’s London, The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict gives insight into some of the female members of the prestigious and secret society during the Golden Age of Detection known as the Detection Club. Founded by well known authors such as AA Milne, GK Chesterton, Dorothy Sayers, and Agatha Christie, the goal of the Detection Club was to elevate the quality of detective fiction. While it seems Benedict has taken creative liberties with the timeline and interactions among these five powerhouse female authors, in The Queens of Crime, readers get the first person perspective from Dorothy Sayers as the leader of the group, which includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy.

In an effort to stem the tide of misogyny in this male dominated field, the ladies decide to attempt to solve a real murder case of a young woman who goes missing during a day trip with a friend to France and is later found dead.

I read an ARC e-version which means I did not get the Author’s Note (back matter) on why Benedict chose these five women (despite a bit of potential historical timeline inaccuracy) nor did I get any information on the credibility of the “actual murder” case, so unfortunately I am left at the completion of the book still feeling curious about her choices and processes.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well Benedict - a historical fiction writer - fleshed out the murder mystery. My favorite parts were when the women worked together to recreate this “pseudo” locked room mystery. Dorothy sneaking around to see if she could hide from the other four women was so well depicted! There were actual high stakes involved as the safety of some of the women was in question.

My criticism is that since much of the focus was on the mystery, getting to know the five “Queens of Crime” was lacking. We learn a bit more about Dorothy Sayers since the story is told from her perspective. And we got a little bit from Agatha Christie relating to her mysterious disappearance and the relationship with her sister. But after finishing this book, I still hardly know anything more about Ngaio Marsh (she’s from New Zealand and is opinionated), Margery Allingham (she’s young, stylish, and pretty), and Baroness Emma Orczy (she’s privileged and older).

If you like mysteries from the 1920s-1940s, I think you’d enjoy picking this up from the library to see if you can solve the mystery and maybe to imagine better what the friendships of these authors may have looked like. But if your goal is learn more about Dorothy Sayers,Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy, there may be better nonfiction options available for getting to know each of these “Queens of Crime on a more individual basis.