It was much easier to get away with nefarious deeds in eras past. Crime fighters didn’t have the aid of DNA testing or security cameras, and it was relatively easy for a guilty party to slip away, change their name and evade justice entirely—all of which makes the sleuths in these three historical mysteries even more impressive.

An Artless Demise, the seventh installment of Anna Lee Huber’s Regency-era series, brings Kiera Darby back to London after scandal sent her to Scotland. Newly married to her partner in investigation, Sebastian Gage, Kiera hopes their return will be without incident. But when the killing of a young migrant boy resembles the methods of notorious criminals Burke and Hare, who sold their victims’ bodies to medical schools, polite society can’t help but recall Lady Darby’s late first husband, who purchased corpses from body snatchers in order to further his study of the body. Kiera tries to keep a low profile, but when a gentleman is similarly murdered in Mayfair, she and her husband are hired to investigate.

Huber highlights the simmering chemistry between the main couple, reminding readers of their physical and intellectual compatibility. Because the plot relies on the emotional toll of Kiera’s abusive first marriage and the criminal activity of her late husband, this installment—more so than other books in the series—will be best enjoyed by readers familiar with the first book. However, a solid whodunit and the atmospheric London gloom anchor the novel well, even for a new readership.

Inspectors Ian Frey and “Nine-Nails” McGray are summoned to a remote estate in Oscar de Muriel’s Loch of the Dead. The islands of Loch Maree are rumored to harbor healing powers or evil curses, depending on who’s telling the tale. The detectives are tasked with protecting Benjamin Koloman, the illegitimate son of one of the estate’s heirs, by his mother—who believes her son is in grave danger. After the unexpected death of the father he never met, Benjamin has been invited to take his place among the wealthy Kolomans. But does the close-knit clan really want him there, or is there something darker afoot? Frey and McGray deal with murder and metaphysical mayhem as the family’s past gradually comes into the light.

McGray and Frey are constantly bemoaning the other’s shortcomings in entertaining, relatable asides, although it’s clear a mutual respect has blossomed. McGray’s sincere belief in the supernatural is a unique twist on the hardened sleuth archetype, and Frey’s funny, fussy adherence to decorum grounds the reader in the time period. The mystery itself is delightfully gruesome and unhinged right up to the heart-pounding conclusion. Readers who love bickering banter and want a historical mystery with a twist will be pleased.

The intrepid Maisie Dobbs returns in The American Agent, set during World War II and the terror of the London Blitz. When Catherine Saxon, an ambitious American journalist, is found murdered, Maisie is enlisted to assist. Also working the case is Mark Scott, the American agent who helped Maisie get out of Munich two years prior. Maisie must balance her determination to find the killer with the suspicion that Mark isn’t telling the whole truth. As Londoners face the fire with stiff upper lips, Maisie homes in on the truth. 

Jacqueline Winspear captures the juxtaposition of the utter chaos and eerie normalcy of the Blitz with cinematic style. Maisie is much in the mold of a Golden Age sleuth, with a sharp eye and almost unrealistically good instincts. The looming question of whether she will be able to balance motherhood with her dangerous career is brilliantly relevant both to the era Winspear writes about and the current era. A straightforward yarn with excellent historical detail, The American Agent will satisfy fans and newcomers alike.

Who doesn’t love a good mystery? Especially ones featuring smart, savvy female detectives. Readers who want to dig in to suspenseful and compelling crime tales with inspiring (and daring!) protagonists should add these two titles to their TBR piles.

Borrowed Time, Tracy Clark’s second novel, is a follow-up to 2018’s well-received Broken Places but also stands on its own as an entertaining introduction to a new author on the mystery beat. Protagonist Cass Raines is a 34-year-old African American ex-cop-turned-PI. She’s still recovering from her previous case by lying low and delivering summonses in amusingly creative ways. She also hangs out at her favorite diner, complete with crotchety owner and no-nonsense waitress, plus a goofy 20-something delivery guy named Jung.

And that’s where the trouble begins, as Jung’s wealthy, terminally ill friend Tim Ayers has just died. The police quickly ruled it suicide, but Jung thinks it was murder and wants Cass’ help. She demurs but is reluctantly intrigued when she realizes Tim is estranged from a well-known Chicago family with enough political pull for a cover-up—and when bizarre things start happening after she asks just a few preliminary questions.

Strange goings-on escalate into dangerous ones, and Clark takes readers on a suspenseful, often wild ride as Cass pushes for truth and justice. Fans of Sue Grafton and Sarah Paretsky will delight in the snappy first-person narration and wry wit—and fans of mysteries in general will be happy to discover a writer who deftly combines clever crime-solving, stress-inducing action sequences, nail-biting suspense and lots of love for Chicago.

In fellow Chicagoan Charlie Donlea’s newest mystery, Some Choose Darkness, two highly intelligent women—both regarded as odd, both frequently underestimated—join forces across the decades in an unusual take on the serial-killer cold-case trope.

Five young women go missing in Chicago during the summer of 1979, presumed murdered by a man dubbed The Thief. Angela Mitchell battles debilitating OCD as she works to solve the case. The amateur sleuth has an unrelenting sense that she can find the truth, and she does—but alas, she goes missing before she can serve as a witness. However, thanks to her work, The Thief is jailed for her murder. Forty years later, in 2019, he is eligible for parole.

Also in 2019, we meet Rory Moore, a forensic reconstructionist, bar none, who’s taking a rest period between cold cases and focusing on restoring antique porcelain dolls. Her boss at the Chicago Police Department brings her a damaged doll that doubles as an effort to lure her back to work. It belongs to a man whose 22-year-old daughter was found dead in Grant Park in 2018.

Rory begins to restore the doll—and then learns her father has been The Thief’s lawyer all these years. This revelation kicks off a determination to solve the cold cases from 1979, including that of Angela Mitchell. Suspense builds, clues mount and danger lurks seemingly everywhere as the story nimbly toggles between then and now, revealing the indelible marks the past can leave on the present. Also worthy of note: both women’s neuroatypicality is described in often moving, always respectful detail.

As secrets are revealed and mysteries unfold, many paths are explored and seeming dead ends sprout gasp-inducing new possibilities. Wannabe detectives will enjoy feeling as if they’re investigating and risk-taking right along with Angela and Rory in Donlea’s twisty-turny mystery.

It’s all fun and games until someone takes a flying cat to the head. Two new cozy mysteries feature cats who are characters in their own right (and who occasionally get airborne as the situation demands), along with the punniest of titles.

Librarian and archivist Charlie Harris is well-known around Athena, Mississippi, as the man walking a 35-pound Maine Coon cat on a leash. Even folks who don’t know Charlie recognize Diesel the cat. When Charlie decides to audit a medieval history class, the only student close to his age is a woman whom he overhears in a fight with their professor and who then comes to Charlie’s office asking if he’ll be her study buddy. Charlie says no, and just a few days later his classmate has turned up dead, kicking off the central mystery of Miranda James’s The Pawful Truth.

Not only is Charlie dealing with one—then two—murders, he’s also a doting grandfather who also has a new kitten that needs training. He has boarders and a housekeeper who make his house not just a home but a family, though one of them might be a suspect. His research background gives him a leg up where investigation is concerned, and of course it’s easy to gain folks’ confidence if your enormous cat likes them (but if Diesel is wary, watch out). Athena is both modern and old-fashioned. Vestiges of the old South remain, and race relations can be tricky to navigate. All this makes for a rich stew featuring an independent senior leading a full, engaging life. Far from pawful, this is a treat.

Christin Brecher debuts a new series centered on a unique profession in Murder’s No Votive Confidence. Stella Wright owns a candle shop on Nantucket Island where she teaches classes to locals and makes custom candles for special occasions. She’s thrilled to have designed a two-foot unity candle for a wedding that will be all anyone talks about on Memorial Day weekend, but her excitement is quickly snuffed out when the bride-to-be’s uncle is found murdered—and the unity candle is the weapon. To save her business, Stella must solve the crime. Murder’s No Votive Confidence is a whodunit in a gorgeous setting with a burgeoning love triangle to complicate things. What’s not to love?

The victim’s cat, Tinker, has a way of turning up in Stella’s path and subtly steering the investigation, but details about the candle-making process and the struggle to keep a small business afloat make Stella’s predicament believable. Her long-standing grudge against/crush on a local cop is stirred up when a reporter starts to court her, though one of their dates ends up with the pair stuck in a tree. Yet she keeps an eye on who’s acting strangely and keeps building a theory of the case, even as it leads her into dangerous territory. Stella may burn the candle at both ends, but readers will love her for it.

Fans of both the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his older brother, Mycroft, will be more than pleased with these offerings from basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and author/screenwriter Nicholas Meyer.

Abdul-Jabbar, in his third venture with screenwriter Anna Waterhouse, presents another adventure from the Holmes brothers’ early years with Mycroft and Sherlock: The Empty Birdcage. The 19-year-old Sherlock deems his time at Downing College as “insufferable,” so he is happily distracted by the apparent randomness of a series of crimes across Great Britain dubbed the 411 killings. There are no discernible commonalities among the victims; only a note from the killer ties the crimes together. Meanwhile Mycroft, alongside his friend and confidant Cyrus Douglas, is embroiled in a quest to find the missing fiancé of the woman he loves.

As in their first adventure, Mycroft and Sherlock, the Holmes brothers spend much of this latest novel following the clues in their separate cases before coming together. Both storylines are equally fascinating as Abdul-Jabbar and Waterhouse capture the flavor of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Victorian London and his characters to a tee. Readers may yearn for the brothers Holmes to be united even sooner so their brilliant minds can spar with one another, but it’s a satisfying adventure nonetheless.

Sadly, Mycroft only plays a minor (albeit important) role in Meyer’s The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols, but it’s enough to set Sherlock and his dutiful companion, Dr. John H. Watson, on a suspenseful cross-country race to debunk a global conspiracy. While Sherlock is still in his teens in The Empty Birdcage, the detective has just turned 50 as Meyer’s latest adventure starts.

In 1905, Mycroft encourages the intrepid duo to launch an investigation into the discovery of a manuscript (and actual historical hoax) known as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The papers purportedly represent the minutes of a secret council advocating nothing less than complete world domination on behalf of Jews. 

Holmes’ mission: Determine who drafted the papers and expose them as a hoax. The quest takes Holmes and Watson from Baker Street to Paris, and then to Russia aboard the fabled Orient Express. The danger and mystery intensify with each turn of the page, as unsavory characters dog their every step. Even Holmes’ beloved Stradivarius violin isn’t safe. Though Holmes ultimately manages to identify the man who falsified the papers and coerces him to confess, the mere publication of the papers will fuel the conspiracy for decades to come.

Meyer may be best known for his screenwriting and directing duties on three Star Trek films, but he is no stranger to Holmes pastiches either, as he previously “discovered” unpublished Watson manuscripts in the form of his novels The West End Horror and The Canary Trainer. Meyer’s familiarity with Doyle’s characters clearly works to his advantage, as he packs an abundance of suspense, intrigue and Holmesian flavor into this latest tale.