Creative genius and chaotic influence: how a society photographer inspired a character This episode delves into the character of Sebastian Blakely, a vibrant and unconventional photographer who brings his own unique form of turmoil to the High Society Lady series. Inspired by real-life society photographer Cecil Beaton, Blakely's cheeky wit and pen…

🪩 They knew how to throw a killer party in the 1920s! Join me as I explore the opulence and extravagance of the themed parties of the Bright Young People and their over-the-top gatherings. From the circus party with wolves and horses to the bath and bottle parties that drew the attention of the police, the era's lavish soirées inspired the Silver a…

Why set a book in the 1920s? Because a time of great change makes for an interesting setting. The phrase "may you live in interesting times," certainly applies to the tumultuous post-World War I period. Find out how motorcars, bobbed hair, short hemlines, and makeup compacts play into the changing social mores in this “Story Behind the Story” of Ch…

⛲️ Love an English stately home? Then come with me on a tour of Chatsworth House and find out how the English country home inspired not one, but two book series in this “Story Behind the Story” of Chapter 4 of Murder at Archly Manor, a 1920s historical mystery. Plus reading recommendations for Sherlock Holmes fans! 🕵️‍♀️ Recent read: The Missing Ma…

Family tensions and inspiration from Agatha Christie are the “Story Behind the Story” of Chapter 3 of Murder at Archly Manor, a 1920s historical mystery. Recent read: A Report of Murder by F.L. Everett (Affiliate link) Mentioned: The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie (Affiliate link) Next chapter in the next episode! If you want the rest of the myst…

We’re traveling back to the 1920s in this season of Mystery Books Podcast with a chapter by chapter deep dive into Murder at Archly Manor, the first book in the High Society Lady Detective series. What inspired the location of Murder at Archly Manor? Was I intimidated to write historical fiction? (You bet I was!) How did I take the first step to wr…

🤨 Are you fond of impossible crime mysteries? What about swanky settings for 1920s mysteries? If you answered yes to either question, join me for a look at the inspiration and research behind Murder in the Alps, a 1920s mystery set in the glamorous winter playground of St. Moritz. 🔎 Olive Belgrave, discreet sleuth for the posh set, and her dashing …

Tis the season for . . . holiday mysteries! Get your holiday reading sorted with this list of mysteries that feature holly, mistletoe, and plenty of murder. Snowed-in country estates abound with tense family gatherings in these books. Cranky family members, too much food, and a patriarch threatening to change his will are the ingredients of a festi…

🕵️‍♀️ 🕵️ Get double the detection with this episode about odd couple crime-solving duos on TV. 🔎 The mismatched partners span the globe, from small town librarians to big city detectives, grumpy inspectors and sunny caterers. Even though they get off to a rocky start, these teams find their differences make them unstoppable. From ancient Roman Bath…

⚓️ All aboard for a look at Death on the Isle, an amateur sleuth mystery from M. H. Eccleston with a nautical theme. 🚤 This isle-set mystery takes you to the Isle of Wight during yachting season. When freelance art restorer Astrid takes on a freelance job of appraising the art in an estate on the island, she ends up investigating a suspicious death…

🍿 If you're in the mood for a mystery with Golden Age overtones combined with a behind-the-scenes look at the film industry, grab your popcorn and settle in for a discussion of The Three Dahlias by Katy Watson. 🏛️ The modern day mystery is set at Aldermere House, home to the legendary author Lettice Davenport and her fictional 1930s sleuth, Dahlia …

📺 If you ever wished your favorite Doris Day/Rock Hudson movie was a whodunit, then the 1950s mystery, “The Socialite’s Guide to Murder,” by S. K. Golden is for you. 🏢 Wealthy Evelyn lives a life of privilege in the New York hotel her father owns. The swanky Park Avenue address has everything she could want–a luxurious suite, excellent cuisine, a d…

🔎 Are you looking for a mystery for a book club pick with a Golden Age flavor similar to Agatha Christie with the bonus of deep themes and interesting characters? Then you’ll want to read “Unnatural Ends” by Christopher Huang. 🧩 “Unnatural Ends” has a classic set-up. A patriarch dies and when the family gathers to read the will, it’s revealed the d…

Mystery Books Podcast is back with Season 4. Join me for spoiler-free discussions of mystery fiction along with “read-alike” book recommendations to keep your TBR (to be read) pile stocked. 🔎📚✨ Support the show 📚 Buy Sara's books: SaraRosettBooks.com 🔎 Get more mystery in your life when you sign up for Sara's updates.…

🔎 If you like mysteries with dapper gentlemen sleuths, vintage CSI, and Golden Age fiction with themes that still resonate today, you’ll enjoy The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers. 🎩 Lord Peter Wimsey is the epitome of the dapper gentleman sleuth. He hides his sharp intellect under a foppish and sometimes silly manner. In man…

🏛Take “Downton Abbey,” add a lady interested in science who becomes involved in a murder mystery, and you’d have “Poison at Pemberton Hall” by Fran Smith. 🧪As Vita Carew pursues the murderer, the book considers some serious questions about education (and obstacles women encountered in 1903), the perceptions of beauty, and beauty versus brains. Than…

🧐If you every wished for a mashup of Jane Austen’s Catherine Moreland from Northanger Abbey and a Christie-type shipboard murder, you’ll want to check out “Death in a Deck Chair” by K.K. Beck. 🕯While “Death in a Deck Chair” doesn’t have gothic overtones or take place at an abbey, it does feature Iris Cooper, a plain-Jane kind of heroine similar to …

Who wouldn’t want to visit a library made up of first editions from Golden Age authors? That’s the premise of The First Edition Library series by Marty Wingate. Haley is a curator at the unique private library in Bath. The third book in the series, “The Librarian Always Rings Twice” delves into the fun Books About Books trope. It’s a story rich in …

🗝 Locked rooms, secret staircases, and a family curse–-three things a mystery reader can’t resist! 🔎Join me as I delve into Gigi Pandian’s modern day locked room mystery, "Under Lock and Skeleton Key." With plenty of nods to Golden Age mysteries, this book will appeal to fans of classic crime as well as contemporary traditional mysteries. 📚Read-ali…

Do you have a fondness for lady scientists of the early 20th century who encounter mysteries? Then you'll want to read “A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons” by Kate Khavari. 🔬 Research assistant Saffron Everleigh wants to follow in her father's footsteps and teach botany at University College London, but a poisoning threatens to upset her pla…

Do you enjoy enjoy the “Upstairs, Downstairs” contrasts of Downton Abbey, but wish it had the added element of a murder mystery? Then you’ll want to check out "Murder at Mallowan Hall" by Colleen Cambridge, which features a mashup of fiction and real life as it considers the the question, "What if Agatha Christie’s housekeeper had to solve a murder…

If you’d like a fresh take on 1920s historical mysteries, check out “The Bangalore Detectives Club” by Harini Nagendra, which takes readers to India. Newly married to a doctor, Kaveri is juggling her own ambitions to get a degree in mathematics with society’s pressure to be a good wife. When a murder occurs, Kaveri is compelled to investiagate. Bes…

Mystery Books Podcast is back with a new season of spoiler-free discussions of mystery fiction along with “read-alike” book recommendations to keep your TBR (to be read) pile stocked. 🔎📚✨ Support the show 📚 Buy Sara's books: SaraRosettBooks.com 🔎 Get more mystery in your life when you sign up for Sara's updates.…

If you enjoy eccentric sleuths of a certain age, crosswords, and ensemble cast mysteries, you'll want to check out The Marlow Murder Club. Seventy-seven year old Judith Potts is just fine on her own, thank you very much. That is, until she overhears a murder. Her questions bring her into contact with two women who are quite different from her. The …

We return to Singapore for “Revenge in Rubies” by A. M. Stuart, but this time we're seeing things through the British Colonial perspective. The 1910s are a bit of an underserved time period for historical readers, so if you're fond of books set during the Edwardian era you'll want to check this novel with a sleuthing couple. However, this time the …

Travel to romantic Hawaii in the 1920s for Charlie Chan's first case in The House Without a Key by Earl Derr Biggers. Chan’s "Watson" is a stuffy Bostonian who thaws out in the tropics. We have another exotic locale for a murder plus a black sheep victim trope along with something a bit different from the usual love triangle subplot— a love rectang…

If you want a look at a little-known aspect of World War II, check out the historical mystery "Olive Bright, Pigeoneer" by Stephanie Graves. It's got an English village full of quirky characters, a romantic subplot with a pretend relationship, and the classic trope of a name spoken as the victim dies. Poirot references also abound! Support the show…

If you like to experience other cultures through reading, you'll enjoy The Mimosa Tree Mystery. Ovidia Yu gives us a look at Singapore in the 1930s during the Japanese occupation. Her brainy young female protagonist must figure out not only codes and ciphers but also her place in society. Support the show 📚 Buy Sara's books: SaraRosettBooks.com 🔎 G…

Murder, Mystery, and . . . Subtitles! I've discovered two foregin language TV shows, Crimes of Passion and The Art of Crime. Find out how the shows work in hints of Agatha Christie, Jurassic Park Syndrome, tension triangles, lost Old Masters, and the always popular tropes of crime in beautiful locations. One is a mid-century modern mystery (think M…

Mix together a World War II setting and a heist story, and you’ve got the very entertaining novel, A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver. This book has so many twists on tropes--cat burglars, Cinderella, and opposites attract, to name just a few. Plus, a safecracker protagonist torn between loyalty and revenge. So much to unlock! See what I did t…

If you have a soft spot for rather dense sidekicks and you miss detectives from the 1920s, you'll enjoy The Sloane Square Mystery, a novel from one of Golden Age fiction's prolific writers, Herbert Adams. Published in 1925, The Sloane Square Mystery gives us a look at how the Bright Young People lived in High Society and how they handled the stress…

The Thursday Murder Club was the feel-good hit of 2020—and we certainly needed that in 2020! I think the novel is also an example of a new type of subgenre, upscale mystery book club fiction. Join me for a look at this new subgenre, plus an exploration of the Gang of Misfits trope and what it all has to do with yet another possible new trope, retir…

Mystery Books Podcast is back (finally!) with Season Two. 😀🔎📚 Support the show 📚 Buy Sara's books: SaraRosettBooks.com 🔎 Get more mystery in your life when you sign up for Sara's updates.Sara Rosett

Are you fond of a jolly little Christmas mystery? I certainly am. Join me for a look at the inspiration and research behind Murder on a Midnight Clear, a 1920s Christmas mystery. I can’t pass up a mystery set at a snowbound country estate, so that’s exactly the situation I put my characters in for the sixth book in the High Society Lady Detective s…

S1 E10 / This American-set 1920s mystery with an odd-couple pairing is a madcap American twist on Downton Abbey, with a murder mystery added, of course. Full show notes at https://www.sararosett.com/mbps1e10 Support the show 📚 Buy Sara's books: SaraRosettBooks.com 🔎 Get more mystery in your life when you sign up for Sara's updates.…

S1 E9 / A small town cozy with plenty of humor and lots of Southern tropes? Yes, please! In this episode, we take a look at the clever set-up of this amateur sleuth mystery that features an obit writer who suspects the death of her old school friend wasn't suicide, but murder. Full show notes at https://www.sararosett.com/mbps1e9 Support the show 📚…

S1 E8 / If you like Agatha Christie's mystery The Secret Adversary, you'll want to check out Patricia Wentworth's The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smtih. It features a plucky young woman set on adventure, a dashing Scotland Yard man, and a mansion on a cliff by the sea. Gothic tropes abound! Plus find out the connection between Jane Smith and Etha…

S1 E7 / Sara pivots to look at mystery television in this episode. By-the-book British detective Miranda Blake goes to sunny Mallorca to escort a prisoner back to the UK, but things go very wrong. She must work with a relaxed German detective to solve the case, which results in some funny scenes and an enteratining odd couple pairing. Full show not…

If you love Downton Abbey, Miss Fisher, and The Crown, this episode is for you. Her Royal Spyness is a historical mystery set in the 1930s London with fun tidbits of royal trivial and intrigue. Why are country house mysteries such an enduring trope and what is a discreet sleuth? Find out in this episode of Mystery Books Podcast. Support the show 📚 …

MBP S1 E5 / Does the world need another Sherlock Holmes spinoff? If the answer involves Enola Holmes, the answer is yes. Join USA Today mystery author Sara Rosett for an in-depth look at the much younger sister of Sherlock Holmes. Discover the secret language of Victorian women and how Enola co-ops fashion for her own ends. Plus, find out what Enol…

S1 E4 / Escape to Crete and delve into one of Sara's favorite tropes, the travel mystery. Adventure, intrigue, and romance abound in Mary Stewart's classic romantic suspense novel, The Moonspinners. Full show notes at https://www.sararosett.com/mbps1e4 Support the show 📚 Buy Sara's books: SaraRosettBooks.com 🔎 Get more mystery in your life when you…

S1 E3 / What do you get when you set a World War II novel in a sleepy English village, add a plucky Air Raid Warden, then mix in an influx of American fly boys stationed at the nearby air base? A perfect set up for a historical mystery, Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders. Full show notes at https://www.sararosett.com/mbps1e3 Support the show 📚 …

S1 E2 / Join Sara for a look at the cozy mystery about a quirky and abrasive (yet loveable) former PR excutive who moves to an English village and just can't quite fit in. It's a cozy mystery with a serving of a fish-out-of-water trope added to the mix. Full show notes at https://www.sararosett.com/mbps1e2/ Support the show 📚 Buy Sara's books: Sara…

S1 E1 / Welcome to Mystery Books Podcast, a podcast covering mysteries in all of their forms from classic Golden Age novels to contemporary cozies. I’m mystery author Sara Rosett and this is Season One, Episode One, and it's all about Murder on the Orient Express. Full show notes at https://www.sararosett.com/mbps1e1/ This is probably the most famo…

Hello and welcome to Mystery Books Podcast. I'm mystery author Sara Rosett, and this is a short introduction to Mystery Books Podcast. This podcast will cover mysteries in all of their forms from classic golden age novels to contemporary cozies. In each podcast, I'll focus on one mystery. I'll give you a quick overview of the book, but there will b…