Anyone who knows me as a writer or as a reader knows that I love England. But some of my favorite series are set elsewhere! When you need to branch out from the British Isles, come check out:
The Kopp Sisters – Amy Stewart
Girl Waits With Gun must be one of the greatest historical mystery titles of all time. That Stewart’s detective, Constance Kopp, was a real person, and this book inspired by articles about her life, makes it all the more intriguing. The three Kopp sisters have complicated, fascinating relationships with one another. Stewart explores the choices open to women in the United States during this period, and the consequences they faced for making those choices. There are seven books that bring the series from 1914 to 1919.
The Perveen Mistry Series – Sujata Massey
I knew very little about life in 1920s Bombay before starting The Widows of Malabar Hill, Massey’s first book in the series. The intrepid Perveen Mistry is based on the first female attorney in India, and the cases she investigates often combine classic elements of the mystery genre (a dubious will, a suspicious death) with elements of 1920s Bombay culture and history (purdah, the British secret service, riots) to come up with some very intriguing stories! There are three books in this series so far.
The Lane Winslow Series – Iona Wishaw
Set in a village in British Columbia, these novels have a refreshingly modern sensibility. Lane Winslow is an independent woman who’s just arrived in King’s Cove, B.C., in 1946. She must try to find her way in a community where everyone thinks they must know everything about everyone else. The gentle pace matches perfectly with the deceptively bucolic setting. If you like thrillers this may not be the series for you, but those willing to carefully uncover the details about both the mystery and Lane Winslow’s past will find a great deal to enjoy.
The Alienist – Caleb Carr
This barely counts as a series, as it’s just two books: The Alienist and its sequel, The Angel of Darkness. Set in New York City in 1896, it’s got a New York-style fast pace and a dark, gritty feel. John Schuyler Moore, a newspaper reporter, joins forces with the “alienist” (a period term for what we would call a psychologist) to investigate the murder of a young man whose body is found on the Williamsburg Bridge. It’s a long book with loads of historical detail that somehow doesn’t bog it down and a fun cameo by a young Teddy Roosevelt. Be warned, however, that the murder details are on the graphic side.
Liz Helfrich 