Request and/or post recommendations for Historical Mystery books here.

If you are requesting a recommendation put a little summary of what you would like to read. You can put what time period you want it to be from, if you want a book similar to something you read and enjoyed, etc. Just put whatever you want.

I love Laurie R. King's Mary Russell series, which starts with "The Beekeeper's Apprentice." (I have to get around to adding them all back to my bookshelf.)

I also enjoy Tasha Alexander's Lady Emily mysteries, which start with "And Only to Deceive." The most recent one came out this past week: "Behind the Shattered Glass." I haven't even had a chance to get to it yet.

And of course, there are all Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody books, which are wonderful, and Anne Perry's Victorian mystery series featuring Inspector Monk and, separately, Thomas and Charlotte Pitt.

Those are my recommendations for others, but if people know of similar books/series, do post them. My TBR pile is always threatening to topple over and crash, but it hasn't yet!

+1 for the Mary Russell books, I've read 2 so far but I want to get back to them.

C. S. Harris writes the Sebastian St. Cry novels and they are really good. I've heard that you should skip 2 & 3 and go straight to book 4 (I've read 1 & 2 so far)

If you like cozies I read a few of the Gaslight Mysteries by Victoria Johnson. They are a little formulaic so I try to sprinkle them in among my other reads. Great lead characters in these w/a slow (really slow) burn romance in there if that is to your liking.

+1 on the Mary Russell, most of those are a lot of fun.

C.J. Sansom's Matthew Shardlake mysteries, which are set in the England of Henry VIII. Currently five.

Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael mysteries, which are set in and around the Benedictine monastery at Shrewsbury, England, in the time of the civil war between Steven and Matilda in the 12th century. (Probably c. 1135-1145.) Brother Cadfael is the monastery's herbalist, and knows much of poisons. He's also an ex-Crusader, and knows much of people, too.

+1 on C.J. Sansom and Ellis Peters.

Also the Medieval Murderers series (a round robin series by several authors, including Susanna Gregory, Bernard Knight, Michael Jecks, Philip Gooden and, more recently, Karen Maitland; each book traces the "deadly" history from some point in the early Middle Ages through time, with a brief modern-day final twist at the end).

Ooh, hadn't heard of the medieval murderers before. Those look excellent. Thanks for the heads-up.

Wow, Michael Jecks is prolific isn't he? I had not heard of him before, but he sounds interesting. I will pick out one of his more recent ones and see how it goes.

I have really enjoyed the novels of David Liss. My favorite was The Whiskey Rebels set during the American Revolution. It has some mystery, some intrigue and some adventure.

All of his novels contain politics, corruption in high places, financial shenanigans and suspenseful situations toned down with humor. If you try him, I will be interested to learn your take on his books.

I like both Jecks and Liss. My favorite Liss so far is "The Devil's Company."

I just read (part of) my first David Liss, The Coffee Trader, but I really struggled to get into it. I liked his writing style, and there were a lot of elements I liked, so I think it was just not the right timing for me in terms of life. Are there any other Liss books you'd recommend? Maybe another title is a better one to start with.

Reply to post #11 (show post):
Liza, try the first Benjamin Weaver novel, "A Conspiracy of Paper." You can sort of tell it's a first, and there are a few historical gaffes (a literate laundry maid, for one), but by and large it's a well-paced read with a lot of interesting information on the South Sea Bubble (the granddaddy of all financial market implosions).

I've also heard that "The Whiskey Rebels" (set during the American Revolution, as RedTHaws says) is supposed to be good, but haven't gotten around to that one myself, either, yet.

I did not like The Coffee Trader (couldn't finish it), but I like the Benjamin Weavers. Have The Whiskey Rebels, but haven't gotten to it yet.

Reply to post #12 (show post):
Thanks for the suggestions! I know sometimes I can be more forgiving of a book if I already really love the author, so maybe I just picked a tough book to start with. That and I've got a very short attention span these days. I can barely get through a page without checking something on my phone it seems. Will definitely try the others!

I'm looking for something very specific and I hope I can get some recommendations. I'd like to read a novel about the Seattle Underground or similar underground city http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Underground Pendleton, Oregon had a similar underground district, Portland had the Shanghai Tunnels, I think there might have been something similar in Atlanta or maybe Chicago, not sure. I'd like it to be historical but it could be modern as well. I'm pretty open-minded so pretty much any genre is fine as well. Can anyone help me?

There was an Underground Atlanta (and they've reopened it at least twice in my lifetime); not sure I know of a novel about any of the undergrounds, though. It sounds like it would be a great setting.