Books like 'Past Crimes: A Compendium of Historical Mysteries'
Readers who enjoyed Past Crimes: A Compendium of Historical Mysteries by Ashley Gardner also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery historical-fiction cozy roman-empire ancient-civilization crime romantic-love
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The Saltwater Murder by L.B. Hathaway
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMURDERED WITH A BOX OF TEARS… London, 1924Posie Parker has been called to her most baffling case yet.Amyas Lyle, London’s top young lawyer, has been found with his head in a box of poisoned saltwater.It’s the perfect murder... -
A Gentleman of Dubious Reputation by Grace Burrowes
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA matter of matrimony...Lord Julian Caldicott is summoned to the family seat by his ducal brother, whose bachelorhood is imperiled by the very determined Lady Clarissa Valmond. As the only titled Eligible the hostesses avoid including on their guest lists, Julian has little sympathy for the duke’s situation... -
Blood of a Gladiator by Ashley Gardner
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLeonidas, champion gladiator of Rome, is set free from the games by a mysterious benefactor who grants him freedom, a place to live, and a servant—Cassia, a scribe—to look after him.But the benefactor is only so generous—Leonidas must pay his own way and Cassia’s, which means hiring himself out. The sharp-witted Cassia quickly lands him a post as a bodyguard, escorting a retired senator to Ostia...Categorized as:
historical-fiction ancient-civilization roman-empire crime europe south-europe italy urban -
Gin & Murder by Beth Byers
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSeptember 1924. When Violet and Victor are called home to account for their actions, only one course of action is possible. They pack a liberal amount of alcohol and call on their friends to rally round... -
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Murder in the Shallows by Beth Byers
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJuly 1924. Violet and Jack go for a simple day on the water. They little expect their day of sun and fun to end with finding a body in the water. The mystery of what happened to the girl in the shallows posses them both, and they unite in their desire to find out more... -
The Thames River Murders by Ashley Gardner
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCaptain Lacey is asked by Peter Thompson of the Thames River Police to help him investigate a cold case–the murder of a woman found near the docks Thompson patrols. The investigation was sidelined, considered unsolvable, but Thompson has long wished to find her killer. Captain Lacey joins him in the hunt, entering a part of society that is closed to outsiders...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime romantic-love cozy mystery historical industrial-era regency -
The Midwife's Secret by Emily Gunnis
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA little girl goes missing from Yew Tree Manor - the same house from which a girl vanished decades before. Does the key to the present lie buried even deeper in the past, in the forgotten history of an innocent midwife accused by a family of shocking betrayal? A gripping, heartwrenching story of love, loyalty and family secrets... -
Murder on the White Cliffs by L.B. Hathaway
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsYou can hunt. But do you really want to find?Bonfire Night, November 1924Posie Parker once failed a client. And now that client is dead.Elsie Moncreiff, a Housekeeper, has fallen from the White Cliffs of England in a howling storm... -
Kennington House Murder by Beth Byers
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsApril 1923. After a winter on the Amalfi Coast, Lady Violet Carlyle returns home for her little sister’s wedding. The last time Vi was with her family, she was the pauper daughter who needed to wed before she lost her chance. After the events of the holidays, Vi’s richer than Midas. When Violet meets her sister’s fiancé Violet knows something must be done... -
The Worthy Soldier by Sarah Woodbury
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMay 1147. Gareth and Gwen have traveled to Deheubarth in the retinue of Prince Hywel. The Prince of Gwynedd has temporarily allied himself with King Cadell and his Norman relations in order to finally evict the hated Flemings from south Wales. But while the battle goes well, the celebratory feast afterwards does not, leaving Gareth and Gwen among the few left standing... -
The Fateful Marriage by Elizabeth Bailey
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA brand new mystery featuring Lady Fan! For fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Barbara Erskine and Jane Austen. Wherever Lady Fan goes, murder follows… 1791, England Lady Ottilia and Lord Francis Fanshawe are holidaying in Tunbridge Wells when they stumble across the scene of a horrific accident... -
A Vigil of Spies by Candace Robb
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA callous murder. A devastating secret. A crime of passion.York, 1373: John Thoresby, the Archbishop of York, lies dying... -
The Dagger Dance by Elizabeth Bailey
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLady Fan returns in another twisty murder case! For fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Barbara Erskine and Jane Austen.Can Lady Fan unravel another mystery…?1793, EnglandAfter a not-so-relaxing holiday in Tunbridge Wells, Lady Ottilia and Lord Francis Fanshawe have returned to their home with a young orphaned girl, Pertesia ‘Pretty’ Brockhurst... -
Dr. Bones and the Lost Love Letter (Dr Benjamin Bones Mysteries) by Emma Jameson
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThere's no such thing as privacy in the tiny village of Birdswing. Everywhere Dr. Benjamin Bones turns, someone is spying from a window, listening through a wall, or gossiping over a garden fence. "The birds sing in Birdswing," says the vicar, Father Cotterill, and in February 1940 this is more true than ever... -
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Murder on the Boardwalk by Lee Strauss, Denise Jaden
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBrand New 1950s Cozy Mystery series by USA TODAY bestselling author Lee Strauss! Murder's such a shock! When Rosa Reed, aka CPW Reed of the Metropolitan Police, and her cousin Gloria decide to spend a carefree and fun-filled afternoon in 1956 at the fair on the boardwalk in Santa Bonita, California, they're in for a shocking surprise... -
Death by the Book by Beth Byers
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsInspired by classic fiction and Miss Buncle's Book. Death by the Book questions what happens when you throw a murder into idyllic small town England.July 1936When Georgette Dorothy Marsh’s dividends fall along with the banks, she decides to write a book. Her only hope is to bring her account out of overdraft and possibly buy some hens... -
Murder in the Library by Martha Bond
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMurder mystery at the manor!After months of travel, former maid, Lottie Sprigg, returns to Fortescue Manor in the rolling hills of Shropshire. Her arrival coincides with a celebratory dinner to mend a family feud. But the flow of champagne dwindles to a trickle when a body is found in the library…Who committed the atrocity? Suspicion falls on several some above stairs and some below... -
Murder at Feathers & Flair by Lee Strauss
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt's 1924 and war widow fashionista Ginger Gold's new Regent Street dress shop, Feathers & Flair, is the talk of the London fashion district attracting aristocrats from Paris to Berlin to Moscow.Ginger is offered her first job as a private detective when a well-known stage actor goes missing, and though the dress shop takes most of her time, Ginger takes the case... -
Murder at the Mortuary by Lee Strauss
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsUnregistered corpses are showing up amongst the cadavers in the mortuary of the London School of Medicine for Women. Unnatural deaths. Murders.The first known victim is recognized by Haley Higgins, a third-year pathology student. War widow fashionista, Ginger Gold, feels a responsibility for the man’s death and is determined to find his killer... -
The Piccadilly Pickpocket by Karen Charlton
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThis is an alternate cover edition for ASIN: B00Y3KKHGA There’s no honour among thieves. When a robbery in the crowded streets of Piccadilly takes an unusual twist, Constable Woods is blamed and a royal scandal threatens to erupt. Detective Stephen Lavender must act quickly to track down the rogues, clear his friend’s name and avert the crisis... -
Murder at Enderley Hall by Helena Dixon
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSummer 1933. Fresh from the discovery that she has family living nearby, Kitty Underhay has packed her carpet bag, commandeered a chambermaid and set off on a visit to stately Enderley Hall. She’s looking forward to getting to know her relatives, as well as the assembled group of house guests... -
Lady Violet Pays a Call by Grace Burrowes
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhile Lady Violet Belmaine is busy sorting out the odd turns her life has recently taken, Hugh St. Sevier repairs to his Kent estate in hopes of embarking on the placid life of a rural physician. Alas, for St. Sevier, the village of St. Ivo has more secrets than it has pots of heartease, and the good doctor will once again find himself the target of rumors and threats.Somebody is rigging St... -
The Hangman's Hymn by Paul Doherty
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsStumbling upon an execution, Chaucer's pilgrims witness a hanging that leaves the carpenter in a dead faint. That evening, he narrates the tale of a Gloucester hangman whose involvement in the secretive punishment of three witches unleashes a vicious spate of revenge killings.When Simon Cotterill, a carpenter, followes his sweetheart to Gloucester, he is beaten by her father's thugs...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime romantic-love mystery medieval fiction historical supernatural -
A Death in Devon by Shéa MacLeod
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCocktails, capers, and corgis in 1948 England! After receiving a letter about a mysterious inheritance, Sugar Martin hops a plane from the West Coast of America to exciting post-war London. However, everything is not as it seems, and Sugar finds herself stuck in England for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, she’s also been offered a job... -
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The Mysterious Point of Deceit by Beth Byers
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSeverine DuNoir has returned home and continued to investigate the death of her parents. She has, however, reached a roadblock. As she tries to break through, she comes across an unexpected offer of help. While she delves into the history of her father’s life, she also starts to investigate the haunting of an elderly woman...Categorized as:
cozy historical-fiction romantic-love mystery fiction historical gothic amateur-sleuth -
Memento Mori by Ruth Downie
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe eighth gripping novel in the bestselling Medicus series, in which Ruso and Tilla investigate the death of the wife of Ruso's friend in the sacred hot spring of Aquae Sulis.A scandal is threatening to engulf the popular spa town of Aquae Sulis (modern-day Bath). The wife of Ruso's best friend, Valens, has been found dead in the sacred hot spring, stabbed through the heart...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization crime historical-fiction roman-empire adult audiobook book fiction -
Beretva és tőr by Gyula Böszörményi
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratings1900 verőfényes őszén Budapest székesfővárosa a mesés Perzsia uralkodóját látja vendégül. Muzaffer ed-din Qajar egész udvartartásával utazgat Európában, két marokkal szórva a pénzt és a kitüntetéseket. A magyar fővárosban négy kellemes napot szándékozik tölteni, amiről a sajtó részletesen be is számol, ám még a szemfüles firkászok sem találnak magyarázatot néhány érthetetlen történésre...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime romantic-love historical young-adult fiction law-enforcement genre-crime -
The Leper's Bell by Peter Tremayne
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn November of 667 A.D., Fidelma of Cashel has returned home to her brother's castle to discover that a servant, her son's nurse, has been found brutally murdered in the woods near town, and her son is missing, presumed kidnapped or worse... -
The Uncountable Cost of Mystery by Beth Byers
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsApril 1926 Severine DuNoir and friends have left New Orleans and started on the trail to just what happened to Jane Oliver.Things are confused and emotions are intense as they find Jane. The relief of finding their missing loved one fades as they have to face what they’ve found? Will their friendship survive? Where do they go from here?Book SIX in the Mysteries of Severine DuNoir... -
The Course of Honor by Lindsey Davis
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsRome in the first century A.D. saw the corrupt and bloody reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, as well as the Year of the Four Emperors. It also saw the rise of Vespasian, the destitute son of a provincial senator who brought peace to the empire after years of strife, court intrigue, and murder...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization crime historical-fiction roman-empire adult audiobook book classics -
A Bucket of Ashes by P.B. Ryan
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“As always, the author excels at setting the scene, evoking the time and place by use of the day-to-day details as well as historical events. The resolution of the central mystery is almost secondary to the revelations about Nell’s past and the way the author ties up all the loose ends of her present situation. Longtime readers will enjoy this aspect immensely; I know I did... -
The Maid’s Secret by Emily Organ
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe truth is rarely simple. London 1884. Victorian industrialist Alexander Glenville is a man with many secrets. Fleet Street reporter Penny Green is tasked with working undercover as a maid in his home, but tragedy strikes when Glenville’s daughter is poisoned... -
Murder in Venice by L.B. Hathaway
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWho do you trust when simply everyone is wearing a mask?A Winter Wedding, Venice, 1923Posie Parker, London’s premier female Private Detective, is getting married…But on arrival in Venice, Posie finds she is walking into a nightmare: her lodgings on the Grand Canal are consumed by fire, her famous fiancé is preoccupied, and most bizarrely of all, her hostess, the Countess Romagnoli, confesses she... -
Food for the Fishes by David Wishart
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen Licinius Murena, wealthy fish-farm owner, is found dead, not many tears are shed. Certainly not by Trebbio, who had just been booted out of his cottage by the landowner, nor by his widow, daugher, or farm manager. With friends like these, who needs enemies? Marcus Corvinus is the man to find out, with the help, of course, of his clever wife, Perilla...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization crime historical-fiction roman-empire adult book fiction historical -
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Kill the Shogun by Dale Furutani
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn" Kill the Shogun, award winning mystery writer Dale Furutani presents the latest in his popular samurai mystery series. He returns to the journey of Matsuyama Kaze, the masterless warrior destined to travel the seventeenth-century Japanese countryside until he fulfills the dying wish of his murdered lord's wife... -
Turning the Tide by Edith Maxwell
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"An intriguing look at life in 19th-century New England, a heroine whose goodness guides all her decisions, and a mystery that surprises."--Kirkus Reviews A suffragist is murdered in Rose Carroll's Massachusetts town Excitement runs high during presidential election week in 1888... -
Surgeons’ Hall by E.S. Thomson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat secret grips Corvus Hall?Visiting the Great Exhibition to view the wax anatomical models of the famous but reclusive Dr Silas Strangeway, Jem Flockhart and Will Quartermain find a severed hand, perfectly dissected and laid out amongst the exhibits... -
Betrayal at Iga: A Hiro Hattori Novel by Susan Spann
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAutumn, 1565: After fleeing Kyoto, master ninja Hiro Hattori and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo take refuge with Hiro's ninja clan in the mountains of Iga province. But when an ambassador from the rival Koga clan is murdered during peace negotiations, Hiro and Father Mateo must find the killer in time to prevent a war between the ninja clans... -
The Queen of the Night by Paul Doherty
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRome: August 314 AD, and as the sun's insidious heat beats down, murderous forces lurk in the underbelly of the city. The normally cosseted world of Rome's rich and powerful is rocked by a series of violent abductions, as children of the elite are kidnapped and held for ransom...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization crime historical-fiction roman-empire adult book female-mc fiction -
Chains of Folly by Roberta Gellis
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThat Nelda Roundheels had been murdered would have been of little interest to anyone - except that her body turned up in the bishop of Winchester's bedchamber with a letter to the bishop, from the king's most important enemy, rolled up in her breastband... -
Blood Debts: A Leonidas the Gladiator Mystery by Ashley Gardner, Jennifer Ashley
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLeonidas, freedman, once the most popular gladiator in Rome and champion of the games, now must fight for his life outside the arena. A man who owed him money was murdered, and Leonidas is a prime suspect. With the assistance of Cassia, daughter of a Greek scribe who was bestowed upon him as his slave, Leonidas fights for justice in the back lanes of Imperial Rome...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime ancient-civilization cozy roman-empire mystery historical fiction -
The Chariots of Calyx by Rosemary Rowe
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLibertus is in Londinium, at the invitation of the Roman Governor, when news arrives of the brutal murder of Caius Monnius, the city's chief corn-officer. Still reeling from the shock of catching sight of the wife he lost to slavery 20 years earlier, only to lose her again, the ever-inquisitive Libertus is, for once, uninterested in unmasking the murderer...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime roman-empire ancient-civilization mystery historical fiction roman-britain -
A Roman Ransom by Rosemary Rowe
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsGlevum, AD 188. Lying in his sick bed, weak and disoriented, Libertus is strictly forbidden visitors. But when Marcus Septimus forces his way in, desperate to speak to the pavement-maker, Libertus knows that something is seriously wrong. Marcus's beloved wife Julia and their baby son have disappeared without a trace...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime roman-empire ancient-civilization cozy mystery historical fiction -
Mystery at the Regal Rose Hotel: A 1920s Romance Mystery by C. Jane Reid
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe week that Lola Rose checked into the Regal Rose Hotel, three events caught her quite her widowed mother's surprise engagement to a famous London barrister, her desire to form a friendship with the cantankerous elderly woman living in the hotel's penthouse, and a dead body at the foot of the elegant sweeping staircase on the hotel's first floor... -
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The Marathon Conspiracy by Gary Corby
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNicolaos, Classical Athens's favorite sleuth, and his partner in investigation, the clever ex-priestess Diotima, have taken time out of their assignments to come home to get married. But if Nico was hoping they'd be able to get hitched without a hitch, he was overly optimistic. When they arrive in Athens, there's a problem waiting for them... -
The Mad Monk of Gidleigh by Michael Jecks
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAlone in his isolated, windswept chapel on the edge of Dartmoor, his only companions moor men and poverty–stricken serfs, who could blame the young priest, Mark for seeking affection from Jane, the local miller’s daughter? But when Jane’s body is found brutally stabbed, Mark is the obvious suspect—and the discovery that Jane was pregnant seems to confirm his guilt... -
Atonement of Blood by Peter Tremayne
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWinter, 670 AD. King Colgú has invited the leading nobles and chieftains of his kingdom to a feast day. The gathering is interrupted by a religieux claiming that he has an important message for the King. Suddenly, the man, shouting 'Remember Liamuin!' stabs King Colgú. The assassin is slain but Colgú is on the verge of death... -
Prima Facie by Ruth Downie
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA novella from the author of bestseller Medicus, featuring reluctant investigator Ruso and his partner Tilla. A tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal in Roman Gaul. It's AD 123 and the sun is shining on southern Gaul. Ex-military medic Ruso and his British wife Tilla are back after a long absence - but it's not the reunion anyone had hoped for...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime roman-empire ancient-civilization mystery fiction audiobook historical -
The Guilt of Innocents by Candace Robb
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt is winter in the year of our Lord 1372. A river pilot falls into the icy waters of the River Ouse during a skirmish between dockworkers and the boys of the minster school—among them Owen Archer’s adopted son Jasper... -
The Dove of Death by Peter Tremayne
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn A.D. 670, an Irish merchant ship is attacked by a pirate vessel off the southern coast of the Breton peninsula. Merchad, the ship?s captain, and Bressal, a prince from the Irish kingdom of Muman, are killed in cold blood after they have surrendered. Among the other passengers who manage to escape the slaughter are Fidelma of Cashel and her faithful companion, Brother Eadulf...
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