Category: Historical Mysteries

A few years ago, Laura Jensen Walker and I discovered that we both have roots in Racine, Wisconsin’s Danish community. In fact, we were born in the same hospital, St. Luke’s–but not at the same time! Our friendship was sealed when we discovered a common passion for Danish Kringle and the British Isles. What more could one ask for?

Laura and I finally met in person last year at Left Coast Crime, and I had the privilege of reading an ARC of her latest novel, Death of a Flying Nightingale. The novel is a departure for her. Welcome to Miss Demeanors, Laura!

“Sexual repression, dark alleys, great detectives, ornate prose,” says author James McCreet (“Why we all love a Victorian Murder,” The Guardian, 15 May 2011). “No wonder the 19th century is our template for crime fiction. A murder is somehow more quintessentially English when committed on the cobbles of a foggy East End alley. If there’s a silhouetted top hat, a rustle of crinoline and a scream cut short with straight razor, all the better.”
I couldn’t agree more. Here are my Top Ten Reasons why Victorian England is the perfect setting for murder: