“We’re pretending to be British,” my little girls told me. “What do British people do?”
“I think they drink tea, visit great country houses, and murder people,” I said. This is when I realized that my obsession with murder mysteries had gone a bit too far. It’s not that I love murder, mind you, but I love that the classic British mysteries are about solving puzzles and honoring justice. Also, this is the only literary genre that is guaranteed to explain everything. I absolutely love it, and I hope you find something that you love too.
(Please note that I don’t recommend this book list for kids under 13. All of these books have crime or violence and deception. Most of them have some British profanities.)
Grab your tea and crumpets, friend, and get ready for a historical British mystery booklist, arranged chronologically by author:
The Murders of the Rue Morgue (1841) by Edgar Allen Poe. This is where British detective fiction is believed to have begun. Poe creates the first fictional detective, C. Auguste Dupin, who must discover who left a bloody crime scene behind in Paris. The brilliant formula Poe uses for this story has been successful in detective fiction ever since.
The Woman in White (1859) by Wilkie Collins. Charles Dickens mentored Wilkie Collins. While not generally well-read now, Collin’s The Woman in White is considered one of the first great British detective stories, although it feels like a Gothic novel. It’s far-fetched and cheesy but fun.
The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone shares some of the cheesiness of The Woman in White, but it established more of the ground rules of detective fiction and clearly laid out police procedure in the plot.
The Big Bow Mystery (1892) by Israel Zangwill. This novel is remembered as one of the early locked-room mystery, though The Murders at the Rue Morgue is considered the very first. You can see the main features of detective fiction in this book, including some excellent plot twists, but it’s missing a truly quirky and fascinating detective, a feature that becomes a staple in later novels.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1898) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is Doyle’s first and best of his collection of stories about the iconic Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr. Watson. Holmes made popular the role of physical evidence and deduction in crime investigation.
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) by Arthur Conan Doyle. Poor Arthur Conan Doyle became so sick of Sherlock Holmes, he tried to kill him off. Luckily for us, the public demanded Holmes’ resurrection, and Doyle continued to write short stories and even novels about Holmes. This is the best of the four novels Doyle wrote about Holmes and Watson.
The Innocence of Father Brown (1911) by G. K. Chesterton. If Sherlock Holmes solves crime with physical evidence, Father Brown solves crime based on understanding the spiritual states of the suspect. Read this, not for the likelihood of the crimes or of their solving, but for the creativity and insight of the brilliant Chesterton.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) by Agatha Christie. There’s a reason this clever and prolific woman was made a dame of the British empire for her many, many murder mysteries. She is considered the best known of the four “queens of crime,” and if you haven’t read any of her books, you’re missing out. She’s known for not one, but several beloved detectives. If you want to read about the debut of her most beloved detective, Belgian Hercule Poirot, read The Mysterious Affair at Styles. If you’ve already read this one, consider reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd or Cards on the Table. While Holmes used physical evidence and Father Brown considered the spiritual evidence, Poirot focuses on the psychology of the suspects.
Whose Body? (1920) by Dorothy Sayers. Sayers is considered another of the four “queens of crime.” Her detective Lord Peter Whimsey uses his status, wealth, and impeccable manners to cooly solve murders of all kinds. Eventually, Sayers introduced the character Harriet Vane, and her relationship with Whimsey drives the books almost as much as the murders they investigate.
The Red House Mystery (1922) by A. A. Milne. Did you know that the author of Winnie the Pooh wrote a murder mystery? While not at the level of the queens of crime, Milne holds his own in this fun story, and his writing style is, of course, excellent.
The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) and The Body in the Library (1942) by Agatha Christie. Like Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie came to loathe the popular detective she had created. Doyle tried and failed to kill of Sherlock Holmes. Christie created a rival for the arrogant Poirot with better success: Enter Miss Marple, a fussy old maid who can solve mysteries because of her deep understanding of human nature. The Murder at the Vicarage is Miss Marple’s debut, but The Body in the Library is her best novel. If you find yourself unable to get enough Agatha Christie, keep going with her detective duo Tommy and Tuppence, who debuted in The Secret Adversary in 1922.
A Man Lay Dead (1934) and Colour Scheme (1943) by Ngaio Marsh. Of all the authors on this list, Marsh is my favorite, and she is usually considered the fourth of the “queens of crime.” She has the classic feel of Agatha Christie, but is an even better writer. Enjoy her detective Roderick Alleyn and recurring characters Inspector Fox and artist Agatha Troy in their 32 novels. A Man Lay Dead is the first, but Colour Scheme is one of the best written.
Black Plumes (1940) by Marjorie Allingham. This author is known for her detective Albert Campion, who debuted in 1930 in Mystery Mile, but I prefer this stand alone novel about the wealthy Ivory family when nefarious happenings start affecting the successful family art gallery. The main character is a charming young woman named Francis, but even more gripping is Francis’s brilliant grandmother, the family matriarch Gabrielle. Allingham is justly the third “queen of crime.”
Brat Farrar (1949) and The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey. This author also wrote under the psuedonym of Gordon Daviot, although neither were her real name. Tey is known for writing books that don’t necessarily fit the mold of crime novels. Her books feel more like novels that develop into murder mysteries. Tey’s best known detective is the dapper Alan Grant, but consider reading the stand alone novel Brat Farrar, about a young man who falsely claims he’s the lost son and heir of a wealthy family. Seem far-fetched to have a long-lost look-alike? Yes, unless you know that this is inspired by the very real Tichborne Case that distracted Victorian England for years. The Daughter of Time was voted the greatest crime novel of all time by the Crime Writer’s Association in 1990. It has Tey’s Alan Grant investigating the centuries’ old deaths of the princes in the tower. Note: If you try to look up Josephine Tey’s books, you will probably pull up the novels of modern author Nichola Upton who uses Tey as a character in her own mystery fiction. I tried one of Upton’s books, but I prefer Tey’s.
Happy Reading!