Review: "The Queens of Crime," Marie Benedict

 

By Liz Soares

It’s 1930, and mystery writer Dorothy L. Sayers is determined to get more women into London’s legendary Deduction Club. She and fellow member Agatha Christie, using some subterfuge, manage to get Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and the Baroness Emma Orczy inducted.

But the haughty men in club ignore them. So Sayers comes up with a plan. The “Queens of Crime” will solve their own, real-life mystery. Then the men will have to give them their due.

And so begins a delightful romp. Mystery writers solving a mystery—how could this mystery aficionado not swoon?

May Daniels, a young English nurse, has gone missing on a day trip to France. The Queens go to Boulogne to investigate. While they’re there, her body is found. A syringe is nearby, and the police are quick to pin her death on a drug deal gone bad. But why is there a pool of blood beneath the body?

The Queens go to work, pulling investigative techniques from their own writings. Since Daniels disappeared after entering the ferry terminal restroom and no one saw her leave, it’s a locked room conundrum, a staple of the Golden Age of Mystery. Costumes are donned; identities are disguised. There is a final gathering of suspects, of course, where the killer is revealed.

Benedict paints a fascinating picture of the Queens. Dorothy is intrepid. Agatha keeps pace with her, but she’s quiet and dowdy, as if she prefers to keep a low profile after her very high profile “disappearance” in 1926. The Baroness is older and extremely status-conscious, but her connections open doors. She and the brusque Ngaio, who favors pantsuits, often spar verbally. Margery is the youngest. Her attractive appearance proves helpful when the Queens need to snare a suspect.

Yes, traps are set.

The Queens dine at the famous Simpson’s in the Strand and mingle with theater folk in London’s West End. Dorothy and Agatha attend a gala at the posh home of Agatha’s pretentious sister. They confront a suspect at the elegant Savoy Hotel. They hire Pinkerton detectives for security and travel by train. The thirties ambience is thick and most enjoyable.

The Queens quarrel from time to time. Everyone wants to be involved in every move. But there is no doubt that they are friends to the core. When Dorothy is attacked, the Queens not only rally round her, they vow to protect her most precious secret.

These women want to support each other and their goal of finding justice for May Daniels.

Marie Benedict is the author of a number of other novels; I also thoroughly enjoyed her The Mystery of Mrs. Christie and The Mitford Affair. Although Benedict doesn’t write series, I can’t help but hope the Queens will be back to solve another case.

Review: "The Mitford Affair," Marie Benedict

By Liz Soares

Diana Mitford was the “it girl” of high society in 1930s Britain. Regarded as a great beauty, she had married Bryan Guinness who was not only an heir to the ale fortune, but the Second Baron Moyne. Diana had two lovely sons and moved in the poshest circles.

But she was infatuated with Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists. Though he was married as well, she was by his side at his many raucous rallies. Eventually, they would marry—in Joseph Goebbels’ living room.

Her younger sister, Unity, tall and awkward, becomes equally enamored of the movement and eventually moves to Germany, where she becomes part of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle.

Meanwhile, a third sister (there were six), Nancy, pokes fun at the fascists in her novels. As World War II begins, she becomes increasingly concerned about Diana and Oswald’s clandestine activities. Clementine Churchill is the women’s cousin, and Nancy relates her fears to Winston. He convinces Nancy to seize the evidence that will stop her sister and brother-in-law from endangering British security.

You’d be right to think you can’t make this kind of stuff up. The Mitford Affair is a novel, but it is solidly based on the truth.

The attraction of fascism to Britons (and many Americans) during this time is understandable. Most people feared communism, and fascism was its antithesis. The Great Depression had ruined so many lives. Mosley offered a way out, a supposed path to economic security. Those who flocked to the BUF rallies did not have the benefit of hindsight; they didn’t know where German fascism would lead.

Still, the lengths to which Diana and Unity went in pursuit of love, power and identity is mind-boggling. Not surprisingly, it did not end well for them.

Marie Benedict writes historical novels about well-known women. I thoroughly enjoyed her The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, which was based on the Queen of Crime’s disappearance for several days in 1926. Dame Agatha likely left home because she was distraught over her husband’s affair with another woman. Love is a powerful and complicated emotion—as Diana and Unity demonstrate with fascinating but deplorable aplomb in “The Mitford Affair.”