by Mike Ashley
Lindsey Davis, The Silver Pigs (1989), AD 70.
Set in the days after the death of Nero, this is the first of the novels about Marcus Didius Falco, who finds himself embroiled in a plot against the new emperor Vespasian. The investigation takes him to ancient Britain. The sequels are Shadows in Bronze (1990), Venus in Copper (1991) The Iron Hand of Mars (1992), and Poseidon’s Gold (1993).
Barbara Hambly, The Quirinal Hill Affair (1983), AD 116.
What starts with a kidnap, leads young Marcus Silanus deeper and deeper into the Roman underworld. Reprinted in paperback as Search the Seven Hills (1987).
Wallace Nichols, “The Case of the Empress’s Jewels” (1950), AD cl74.
The first of sixty-one stories about Sollius, the Slave Detective, which ran in the London Mystery Magazine, concluding with “The Two Musicians” (1968). Reprinted in this anthology.
The Dark Ages
Phyllis Ann Karr, The Idylls of the Queen (1982), AD c500.
Combines murder and fantasy in the days of King Arthur, as Sir Kay investigates the murder of Sir Patrise.
Peter Tremayne, “Murder in Repose” (1993), AD 664 onward.
The first of the stories about Sister Fidelma of which the second, “The High King’s Sword” is included in this anthology.
The Mystic East
Robert Van Gulik, The Chinese Gold Murders (1959), AD 663.
In reading order, the first of the stories about Judge Dee, a real-life Chinese magistrate who lived from 630–700. Van Gulik wrote fifteen other books about Judge Dee. In sequence they run, The Lacquer Screen (1964), The Chinese Lake Murders (1960), The Haunted Monastery (1963), The Monkey and the Tiger (1965), The Chinese Bell Murders (1958), The Chinese Nail Murders (1961), The Chinese Maze Murders (1962), The Emperor’s Pearl (1963), The Red Pavilion (1964), The Willow Pattern (1965), Murder in Canton (1966), The Phantom of the Temple (1966), Necklace and Calabash (1967) and Poets and Murder (1968). The stories in Judge Dee at Work (1967) interweave throughout the novels.
Theodore Mathieson, “Omar Khayyam, Detective” (1960), c1100. Another of Mathieson’s stories in The Great Detectives (1960).
The Middle Ages
Ellis Peters, “A Light on the Road to Woodstock” (1985), 1120.
The earliest chronological setting of the stories about Brother Cadfael, of which the second, “The Price of Light”, is included in this volume. Cadfael’s world is an England split by the civil war between King Stephen and Queen Matilda. The novels, starting with A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977), begin in the year 1137. The series continues with One Corpse Too Many (1979), Monk’s-Head (1980), Saint Peter’s Fair (1981), The Leper of Saint Giles (1981), The Virgin in the Ice (1982), “The Eye Witness” (1981), The Sanctuary Sparrow (1983), The Devil’s Novice (1983), Dead Man’s Ransom (1984), The Pilgrim of Hate (1984), An Excellent Mystery (1985), The Raven in the Foregate (1986), The Rose Rent (1986), The Hermit of Eyton Forest (1987), The Confession of Brother Halvin (1988), The Heretic’s Apprentice (1989), The Potter’s Field (1989), The Summer of the Danes (1991) and The Holy Thief (1992).
P. C. Doherty, Satan in St. Mary’s (1986), 1284.
The first of the novels featuring Hugh Corbett, a clerk to the King’s Bench in the latter part of the reign of Edward I. After this case, in which he investigates the death of a goldsmith and murderer found hanged inside a locked church, Corbett rises to the position of Edward’s master spy. The series continues with Crown in Darkness (1988), Spy in Chancery (1988), The Angel of Death (1989), The Prince of Darkness (1992) and Murder Wears a Cowl (1992).
Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose (1980), 1323.
A highly atmospheric, gothic novel about the investigations of Brother William into deaths in a remote Italian monastery.
P. C. Doherty, The Death of a King (1985), 1344.
Follows the undercover investigations of Edmund Beche, a clerk at the royal chancery, into the death of King Edward II.
Paul Harding, The Nightingale Gallery (1991), 1376.
Introduces Brother Athelstan, parish priest of St Erconwald’s, in Southwark, and assistant to Sir John Cranston, Coroner of the City of London. The series concentrates on impossible crimes in a disgustingly real London. Later novels are The House of the Red Slayer (1992), Murder Most Holy (1992) and The Anger of God (1993). The first Athelstan short story is included in this anthology.
Margaret Frazer, The Novice’s Tale (1992), 1431.
Set in the priory of St. Frideswide, in Oxfordshire, during the infancy of King Henry VI. Introduces Sister Frevisse, hosteler of the priory who sets out to solve the bizarre death of the unwelcome Lady Ermentrude. Later novels are The Servant’s Tale (1993) and The Outlaw’s Tale. The first Sister Frevisse short story is included in this anthology.
Mary Monica Pulver, “Father Hugh and the Deadly Scythe” (1990), 1450s.
The first of the stories about Father Hugh, priest of Deerfield Village in Oxfordshire. The story is reprinted in this anthology. Sequel is “Father Hugh and the Miller’s Devil” (1990).
P. C. Doherty, The Fate of the Princes (1990), 1483–1487.
An investigation into the death of the princes in the tower by Francis Lovell, a close ally of Richard III. The death of the princes is one of history’s most famous mysteries. A modern-day novel about their disappearance is The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey. One set a few years after the period, in 1536, is A Trail of Blood (1970), by Jeremy Potter, where Brother Thomas of Croyland Abbey is asked to solve the matter once and for all.
Elizabeth Eyre, Death of a Duchess (1991), 1490s.
Labelled “an Italian Renaissance whodunnit”, it introduces Sigismondo, a man from nowhere, who is employed by the Duke of Rocca to find a kidnapped girl, but soon finds himself investigating a murder. Sequels axe Curtains for the Cardinal (1992) and Poison for the Prince (1993).
Theodore Mathieson, “Leonardo da Vinci, Detective” (1959), 1516. Another of Mathieson’s stories in The Great Detectives (1960) featuring famous historical characters. This one is reprinted in this anthology. Set in the same period (1520), with the first detective in the New World, is “Hernando Cortez, Detective” (1959).
The Tudors and Stuarts
Michael Clynes, The White Rose Murders (1991), 1517.
The first novel featuring the memoirs of Sir Roger Shallot, Justice of the Peace, who, following the battle of Flodden, finds himself investigating the death of a physician, poisoned in a locked and guarded chamber in the Tower of London. The second novel is The Poisoned Chalice (1992).
J. F. Peirce, “The Double Death of Nell Quigley” (1973), 1585.
The first of a series featuring the investigations of Will Shakespeare, Detective. The stories ran in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine from 1973–5 and have not been reprinted in book form. Another story with Shakespeare as detective is “A Sad and Bloody Hour” by Joe Gores (1965), reprinted in this anthology.
Edward Marston, The Queen’s Head (1988), 1588.
The Elizabethan stage is the background for this series about the investigations of Nicholas Bracewell, agent of the troupe of players, Lord Westfield’s Men. The murder of an actor is just the start of a series of investigations following in the wake of the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. Later novels are The Merry Devils (1989), The Trip to Jerusalem (1989), The Nine Giants (1991) and The Mad Courtesan (1992).
Theodore Mathieson, “Galileo, Detective” (1961), 1520.
Another of Mathieson’s stories about the Great Detectives, but one not included in the book. In this story Galileo’s unpopularity in Italy forces him to undertake his experiment of falling bodies at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Two more falling bodies force him to turn detective.
Leonard Tourney, The Players’ Boy is Dead (1982), 1601.
The Elizabethan stage is also the background for the first novel featuring Matthew Stock, clothier and constable in the county of Essex. Stock, a man who hates fuss and attention, soon finds himself having to solve a murder amongst a
troupe of travelling players. Later novels are Low Treason (1983), Familiar Spirits (1984), The Bartholomew Fair Murders (1986), Old Saxon Blood (1988) and Knaves Templar (1991).
Theodore Mathieson, “Don Miguel de Cervantes, Detective” (1959), 1605.
Another of Mathieson’s stories in The Great Detectives (1960), this one featuring the author of Don Quixote.
John Dickson Carr, Devil’s Kinsmere (1934), 1670.
A narrator in 1815 tells the story of his grandfather, Roderick Kinsmere, and the murder of a man in a tavern against a wider background of court intrigue. This novel was rewritten in 1964 as Most Secret.
John Dickson Carr, The Devil in Velvet (1951), 1675.
One of Carr’s novels where a person from the modern day is whisked back in time and so is able to bring twentieth-century perceptions to the thinking of the day. Despite that mechanism, this is one of Carr’s best novels. A Cambridge professor goes back in time to solve a murder that is about to happen.
The Eighteenth Century
Theodore Mathieson, “Daniel Defoe, Detective” (1959), 1719.
Another of Mathieson’s stories in The Great Detectives (1960), this one featuring the author of Robinson Crusoe.
S.S. Rafferty, Fatal Flourishes (1979), 1730s–1770s.
A series of stories which feature Captain Cork, a businessman and entrepreneur in the American colonies who has a fascination for “social puzzles”. The stories span a period of forty years and travel around each of the original thirteen states. “The Christmas Masque”, from the middle period, is reprinted in this anthology.
Robert Lee Hall, Benjamin Franklin Takes the Case (1990), 1757.
Written as the recently discovered chronicles of Nicolas Handy who, in 1795, set down his adventures with Benjamin Franklin during his days in England. The sequel is Benjamin Franklin and a Case of Christmas Murder (1991).
Lillian de la Torre, Dr. Sam: Johnson, Detector (1946), 1763–1783.
The longest-running series of historical detective stories, written over a period of forty years. The series started with “Dr. Sam Johnson: Detector” in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine in 1943. More stories are collected in The Detections of Dr. Sam: Johnson (1960). The story in which Johnson and Boswell first met, “Murder Lock’d In”, is included in this anthology.
Theodore Mathieson, “Captain Cook, Detective” (1958), 1770 and “Dan’l Boone, Detective” (1960), 1777.
Two more stories from Mathieson’s The Great Detectives (1960).
Ragan Butler, Captain Nash and the Wroth Inheritance (1975), 1771–1772.
Novel of Britain’s first private detective, reprinted in full in this anthology. Sequel is Captain Nash and the Honour of England (1977).
Charles Sheffield, Erasmus Magister (1982), 1777 onwards.
A collection of three novellas featuring the fantastic investigations of Erasmus Darwin.
David Donachie, The Devil’s Own Luck (1991), 1792.
A nautical detective: Harry Ludlow, a privateer, tries to solve a murder aboard ship of which his own brother stands accused. The second novel is The Dying Trade (1993).
John Dickson Carr, Fear is the Same (1956), 1795.
Another of Carr’s novels where a person from the modern day is whisked back in time, this time to the days just after the French revolution.
J. G. Jeffreys, The Thieftaker (1972), 1798.
Jeremy Sturrock of the Bow Street Runners (under whose name the books were published in England) finds himself involved with highway robbery in the first novel, but is soon involved in crime on the international scene in the Napoleonic era. The first novel was entitled The Village of Rogues for British publication. Later novels are A Wicked Way to Die (1973), The Wilful Lady (1975), A Conspiracy of Poisons (1977), Suicide Most Foul (1981), Captain Bolton’s Corpse (1982) and The Pangersbourne Murders (1983).
The early Nineteenth Century
John Dickson Carr, Captain Cut-Throat (1955), 1805.
Set at the time of the Napoleonic wars. British agent Alan Hepburn gets involved in a series of murders of sentries in the French army whose bodies are left with a message signed by Captain Cut-Throat.
Melville Davisson Post, Uncle Abner, Master of Mysteries (1918), 1800s.
Seventeen stories, of which the first published was “Angel of the Lord” (1911), featuring the powerful deductive work of a god-fearing country squire in Virginia – the first genuinely historical detective in fiction. This book along with other previously uncollected stories was later published as The Complete Uncle Abner (1977). In 1979 John F. Suter began a new series of Uncle Abner stories in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine starting with “The Oldest Law”. One of Post’s stories is reprinted in this anthology.
John Dickson Carr, The Bride of Newgate (1950), 1815.
Richard Darwent, sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit, is reprieved at the last moment, and begins his hunt for the real murderer.
Richard Falkirk, Blackstone (1972), 1820s.
Edmund Blackstone, a Bow Street Runner, finds himself moving in exalted circles. In this first novel he has to protect the infant Princess Victoria from a threat of kidnapping. Later novels are Blackstone on Broadway (1972), Blackstone’s Fancy (1973), Beau Blackstone (1973), and Blackstone and the Scourge of Europe (1974), in which he is despatched to St. Helena to investigate the security of the island-prison of Napoleon.
John Dickson Carr, Fire, Burn! (1957), 1829.
Detective-Inspector John Cheviot suddenly finds himself back in the year 1929 helping Robert Peel establish the police force, only to find himself accused of murder.
Michael Harrison, The Exploits of the Chevalier Dupin (1968), 1830s–1840s.
Starting in 1965, Michael Harrison wrote a new series of stories featuring Edgar Allan Poe’s trail-breaking detective C. Auguste Dupin. The expanded British edition was published as Murder in the Rue Royale (1972). The title story is reprinted in this anthology, as is John Dickson Carr’s “The Gentleman from Paris” (1950), which features Poe as one of the main characters.
Theodore Mathieson, “Florence Nightingale, Detective” (1960), 1854 and “Alexander Dumas, Detective” (1961), 1840s.
The first is included in Mathieson’s The Great Detectives (1960), but the second has only appeared in magazine form.
John Dickson Carr, The Hungry Goblin (1972), 1869.
One of Carr’s best historical novels featuring Wilkie Collins as the detective. A more recent novel featuring both Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens as detectives is The Detective and Mr. Dickens by William J. Palmer (1990), set in 1851.
And there we conclude our survey. Stories set from the 1870s on become increasingly “modern”, featuring either an established police force (as in the novels of Anne Perry, H. R. F. Keating, John Buxton Hilton and Julian Symons), or well-known historical characters (as in the works of Peter Lovesey and Donald Thomas), or Sherlock Holmes and his many associated characters, as in the works of Michael Harding, Glen Petrie, M. J. Trow and many more.