THE QUEENS OF CRIME

MARIE BENEDICT is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Mitford Affair, Her Hidden Genius, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, The Only Woman in the Room, Lady Clementine, Carnegie’s Maid, The Other Einstein, and with Victoria Christopher Murray, the Good Morning America Book Club pick The Personal Librarian and the Target Book of the Year The First Ladies. All have been translated into multiple languages, and many have been selected for the Barnes & Noble Book Club, Target Book Club, Costco Book Club, Indie Next List, and LibraryReads List. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

“In this excellent novel, Benedict vividly brings to life real Golden Age mystery novelists … Fans of Benedict’s previous novels and those who enjoy historical whodunits will find this hard to put down.” —Library Journal, starred review

“Mystery fans may know the classic novels by the real queens of crime; now, thanks to historical-fiction star Benedict’s cleverly realized portraits of women committed to friendship and feminism, readers will know the wise, empathetic, and resourceful people who wrote them.” —Booklist, Starred review

“A shrewd speculative whodunit … Benedict easily brings each of her five distinct writer/sleuths to life, and honors their literary legacies by providing plenty of ingenious, fair-play clues to help careful readers follow along and solve the central mystery. This is a treat for fans of golden age whodunits.” —Publishers Weekly

“Benedict brings both the twisty mystery and the legendary ladies to life with impeccable style, taking us full circle from the Golden Age and back again.” —CrimeReads

“In this marvelous locked-room puzzle, we’re treated to a masterclass in solving mysteries from the grand dames of the form … A delight from beginning to end.” —firstCLUE

“I was riveted by this quintet of mystery writers… Smart, biting, and a tribute to female friendship and loyalty. An absolute delight!” —Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Spectacular

“Faithful to history and at the same time wonderfully inventive, The Queens of Crime is a brilliant, irresistible, and page-turning delight, as well as a rallying cry for what women can accomplish when we stick together. If I always had a new book by Marie Benedict, I would do nothing but read sixteen hours a day.” —Nina de Gramont, New York Times bestselling author of The Christie Affair

1. The novel opens with the main character and narrator, mystery writer Dorothy L. Sayers, speculating that “None of us is as we appear.” How does this notion permeate the novel? Does the dichotomy between perception and reality manifest in the characters and the events in the story?
2. Had you heard of Dorothy before reading The Queens of Crime? Aside from the famous Agatha Christie, were you familiar with the three other successful authors of detective fiction who play significant roles: Baroness Emma Orczy, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham? Which of the women, if any, did you find to be the most relatable?
3. The book offers a glimpse into the writerly existence, the mundane details like deadlines as well as the nature of inspiration. Did real life provide a spark for Dorothy’s novels? Were you surprised at the interplay between fact and fiction, and does it make you wonder about the origin behind other novels you’ve read?
4. The women at the heart of The Queens of Crime were successful writers, which was unusual for their time. What was the nature of each woman’s journey to writing, and who had to overcome the most in order to do so? How did their desire to receive just recognition for their accomplishments shape the course of the story?
5. In an homage to the great detective fiction of the sort penned by these women, The Queens of Crime is structured like a classic mystery novel. What did you learn as you unlocked each layer of the mysteries — from the puzzle of May’s murder to the nature of Dorothy’s secret?
6. The five “Queens of Crime” hailed from different social strata, economic backgrounds, and countries, and even their ages varied by decades. In light of these disparities, did you anticipate that they’d form a sisterhood? What, if anything, did they have to address in order to band together? Did their differences ultimately serve as a hindrance or a help?
7. During their investigation into May Daniels’s murder, Dorothy, Agatha, Ngaio, and Margery encounter widespread prejudicial attitudes toward certain groups of women, particularly “surplus women.” Did this perspective fuel either the murder or its resolution? How did you feel about this point of view?
8. How successful were the women as detectives? Did they find writing about detectives very different from playing the part? Did the identity of the murderer—and what it says about society at that time—surprise you?
9. Many of the characters in the novel harbor secrets, especially Dorothy and May. How do those hidden truths affect the trajectory of the story? Would these secrets hold the same power today?
10. Consider the legacy of Dorothy and the other “Queens of Crime.” While Agatha Christie’s fame continues to this day, the others’ renown does not. Is it possible to leave behind an important legacy, even if your name and narrative have disappeared into the past? Why might certain of the women have been forgotten, despite their popularity during their lifetimes?
11. How did you feel about the end of The Queens of Crime? Was justice done for May Daniels? Did Dorothy, Agatha, Ngaio, Margery, and Emma receive the appreciation from the Detection Club that they sought? Would such measures have been necessary today?

1. The Queens of Crime is inspired by the true story of five women crime writers coming together to form a secret society with the goal of earning the respect of their male counterparts. How did you first learn about the Detection Club and why did it interest you?

I first learned about the Detection Club, the group of pre-eminent British mystery novelists of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, while I was researching another novel, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie. In writing that book, I delved into the very real, eleven-day disappearance of Agatha Christie when she was a novelist on the rise, a mystery that has never been solved except through fiction. As I researched the life and legacy of the most successful novelist of all time, I immersed myself in Agatha’s world in the years before, during, and after her vanishing, in the hopes of piecing together her narrative. There, deep in the rabbit hole of research, I stumbled across her membership in the Detection Club and her friendship with many of its members, especially Dorothy Sayers. I became entranced with the idea of these brilliant minds — capable of crafting nearly-unsolvable puzzles — coming together in this organization, and when I discovered that the club contained a few other stellar female writers, I grew obsessed. I wondered how these women — dubbed the Queens of Crime by the press (I took some liberties imagining the women fashioned the name) — who’d overcome all odds to succeed might have banded together within the Detection Club to support one another. It was then that the idea of these five ingenious mystery writers solving actual crimes took hold.

2. What made you decide to tell the story from Dorothy Sayers’ perspective? Was your approach similar or different from writing your previous heroines, particularly Agatha Christie?

From my earlier research, I had been aware of the friendship between Agatha and Dorothy; after all, Dorothy had been involved in the nationwide search for Agatha when she disappeared. When I learned that their relationship continued after Agatha suddenly reemerged — and that they were part of the Detection Club together — I began to investigate Dorothy. I found this whip-smart, tenacious, bold, witty woman very appealing, and her books both cleverly suspenseful and ahead of their time, particularly Gaudy Night  which is widely considered the first feminist mystery novel. And when I discovered that Dorothy had indeed been part of a murder investigation — focused on the killing of the young English nurse May Daniels — my own plotting started. What if a mystery novelist became a detective, like the character in one of her own books? Might it give readers a look into the life and legacy of an extraordinary woman — as with my other novels — while using the woman’s preferred genre as a device to reveal the secrets of her own rise? Dorothy L. Sayers was perfect. When I proceeded using Dorothy’s perspective and layered in the other women into the mystery format, the book really took flight — transforming into something entirely new for me and, I hope, for readers. Not to mention, it gave me the wonderful opportunity to explore the importance of female friendships, so crucial then and now.

3. How did you approach the research for the novel? Did anything you learned surprise you?

Regardless of the time period or woman I choose, I take a similar approach to my research, gathering original source material pertaining to the woman first and then casting my net wider into broader aspects of the time and place she inhabits. For The Queens of Crime, I returned to the research I originally assembled, but then very quickly zeroed in on additional source material related to Dorothy, her novels (where I think I got a good sense of her thought processes), and that of the Detection Club and other women. Because the book also involved the actual murder of May Daniels, I examined everything I could find about the crime and that investigation, finding archived newspaper accounts especially helpful in putting together both the facts and the salacious coverage from the time period. If anything surprised me about what I uncovered, it is how public perception of women has not radically changed in the hundred or so years between the era of the novel and our own time. In this way, unfortunately, this story is both historic and modern.

4. Which of the Queens do you most identify with? 

This is such a hard question! Every one of the Queens is brilliant, formidable, strong, and fascinating in their own way, and I admire each one of them, albeit for different reasons. If I had to select one woman, I’d probably pick Dorothy. But that may also be true because I’ve spent so many months with her that I feel like we are old friends. Perhaps if I were to tackle another mystery through the lens of a different Queen, she might become my new favorite!