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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Murder
Minor: Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
I'm sad to say this was a disappointment. Pretty sure I'm done reading this author's books, as both have resulted in the same outcome for me: frustration that a great premise (and great research!) was wasted on subpar execution.
Said premise: Dorothy L. Sayers (our narrator) has been the driving force behind the creation of The Detection Club, a real club formed in 1930 by Britain's most prominent mystery and crime writers, for the benefit of their genre. They were tired of being discounted by the literary establishment and wanted to safeguard their chosen form and promote it at the same time. Other members included: Agatha Christie, Baroness Orczy, Anthony Berkeley Cox, and G. K. Chesterton, the first president. (The club also famously wrote up The Fair Play Rules for mystery authors, which I most recently enjoyed a prominent mention of in Benjamin Stevenson's book, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone.)
Queens of Crime opens when the club is having its initiation, and Sayers and Christie are both very frustrated at the attitude of the male members towards inviting more women than themselves into the club, as they view Sayers and Christie as exceptions to the norms of "womanhood". Your basic sexist bullshit. So Agatha and Dorothy scheme to get more women in, including Ngaio Marsh, the Baroness Orczy (The Scarlet Pimpernel), and Margery Allingham. I believe there were liberties taken with the membership history here, but I don't know for sure because the ARC copy didn't have her author's notes. But even as they are successful in getting five women mystery authors into the club, they are treated poorly or dismissed by the men, and determine to show themselves worthy of membership.
Firstly, this approach rankled me. Why must they have to go so far out of their way to prove themselves to these men? It's gross.
Anyway, they hatch a plan to solve the murder of a woman called May Daniels, whose body has just been found after she went missing months before. They choose May because they believe the men running the investigation have discounted many things about the case because they lack the perspective of women, and because the fate of the dead young nurse is one they'd like to address if they can.
This had the bones of a good story, great historical research, compelling characters (in theory), a twisty mystery, and an emotional hook based on these women doing something that men can't to fight for the respect they should have been given automatically. But unfortunately, Benedict's style is very lacking in almost every aspect of the craft that makes stories compelling for me. The characters are wooden, the descriptions and events as they are laid out are very very workmanlike with absolutely no sense of emotional or artistic flair. It is a logic-based approach to story, and it did not work for me at all. The result of all this is a book that feels overall plodding and lifeless, which is an impressive feat, considering the quality of materials the author had to work with. How do you make such vibrant historical women seem so mundane on the page?
I really wouldn't recommend this book. I wish this author would team up with another author with more artistic flair, or that someone else had written a book with this same premise, like happened with Benedict's other book featuring Agatha Christie*.
*The Mystery of Mrs. Christie was published around the same time as The Christie Affair, which was a much, much better book, in my opinion.
Very sad with this outcome, but it is what it is, and I've learned my lesson.
[2.5 stars]
I'm sad to say this was a disappointment. Pretty sure I'm done reading this author's books, as both have resulted in the same outcome for me: frustration that a great premise (and great research!) was wasted on subpar execution.
Said premise: Dorothy L. Sayers (our narrator) has been the driving force behind the creation of The Detection Club, a real club formed in 1930 by Britain's most prominent mystery and crime writers, for the benefit of their genre. They were tired of being discounted by the literary establishment and wanted to safeguard their chosen form and promote it at the same time. Other members included: Agatha Christie, Baroness Orczy, Anthony Berkeley Cox, and G. K. Chesterton, the first president. (The club also famously wrote up The Fair Play Rules for mystery authors, which I most recently enjoyed a prominent mention of in Benjamin Stevenson's book, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone.)
Queens of Crime opens when the club is having its initiation, and Sayers and Christie are both very frustrated at the attitude of the male members towards inviting more women than themselves into the club, as they view Sayers and Christie as exceptions to the norms of "womanhood". Your basic sexist bullshit. So Agatha and Dorothy scheme to get more women in, including Ngaio Marsh, the Baroness Orczy (The Scarlet Pimpernel), and Margery Allingham. I believe there were liberties taken with the membership history here, but I don't know for sure because the ARC copy didn't have her author's notes. But even as they are successful in getting five women mystery authors into the club, they are treated poorly or dismissed by the men, and determine to show themselves worthy of membership.
Firstly, this approach rankled me. Why must they have to go so far out of their way to prove themselves to these men? It's gross.
Anyway, they hatch a plan to solve the murder of a woman called May Daniels, whose body has just been found after she went missing months before. They choose May because they believe the men running the investigation have discounted many things about the case because they lack the perspective of women, and because the fate of the dead young nurse is one they'd like to address if they can.
This had the bones of a good story, great historical research, compelling characters (in theory), a twisty mystery, and an emotional hook based on these women doing something that men can't to fight for the respect they should have been given automatically. But unfortunately, Benedict's style is very lacking in almost every aspect of the craft that makes stories compelling for me. The characters are wooden, the descriptions and events as they are laid out are very very workmanlike with absolutely no sense of emotional or artistic flair. It is a logic-based approach to story, and it did not work for me at all. The result of all this is a book that feels overall plodding and lifeless, which is an impressive feat, considering the quality of materials the author had to work with. How do you make such vibrant historical women seem so mundane on the page?
I really wouldn't recommend this book. I wish this author would team up with another author with more artistic flair, or that someone else had written a book with this same premise, like happened with Benedict's other book featuring Agatha Christie*.
*The Mystery of Mrs. Christie was published around the same time as The Christie Affair, which was a much, much better book, in my opinion.
Very sad with this outcome, but it is what it is, and I've learned my lesson.
[2.5 stars]
slow-paced
This is a cozy mystery from a historical fiction perspective. The Queens of Crime actually refers to four real life female English novelists from the 1930s, which was considered to be the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction". The women, after feeling unappreciated and undervalued, decide to take on a real case to try to solve to prove their detective prowess. The novel highlights their efforts to solve the crime of a murder of a young girl where police have no leads, while they forge a strong sisterhood between them.
The Queens of Crime is cozy and a cute but a little dull. Overall, I enjoyed it but don't think it will be very memorable.
The Queens of Crime is cozy and a cute but a little dull. Overall, I enjoyed it but don't think it will be very memorable.