The Queens of Crime Audiobook By Marie Benedict cover art

The Queens of Crime

A Novel

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The Queens of Crime

By: Marie Benedict
Narrated by: Bessie Carter
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About this listen

This program is read by actor Bessie Carter, best known for her role as Prudence Featherington on the Netflix series Bridgerton.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Mystery of Mrs. Christie—a thrilling story of the five greatest women writers of the Golden Age of Mystery and their bid to solve a real-life murder.

London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. They call themselves the Queens of Crime. Their plan? Solve an actual murder, that of a young woman found strangled in a park in France who may have connections leading to the highest levels of the British establishment.

May Daniels, a young English nurse on an excursion to France with her friend, seemed to vanish into thin air as they prepared to board a ferry home. Months later, her body is found in the nearby woods. The murder has all the hallmarks of a locked room mystery for which these authors are famous: how did her killer manage to sneak her body out of a crowded train station without anyone noticing? If, as the police believe, the cause of death is manual strangulation, why is there is an extraordinary amount of blood at the crime scene? What is the meaning of a heartbreaking secret letter seeming to implicate an unnamed paramour? Determined to solve the highly publicized murder, the Queens of Crime embark on their own investigation, discovering they’re stronger together. But soon the killer targets Dorothy Sayers herself, threatening to expose a dark secret in her past that she would do anything to keep hidden.

Inspired by a true story in Sayers’ own life, New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict brings to life the lengths to which five talented women writers will go to be taken seriously in the male-dominated world of letters as they unpuzzle a mystery torn from the pages of their own novels.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

©2025 Marie Benedict (P)2025 Macmillan Audio
Biographical Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Mystery Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Exciting

Critic reviews

"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

What listeners say about The Queens of Crime

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Terrific book. So well plotted and written

I loves that the author was able to devise a plot that was presented as a storyline with a terrific back story

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Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves.

Another page turner from Marie Benedict, one of my favorite authors. I read this as historical fiction the genre the author is known for. If you read this as a mystery toy maybe disappointed.

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Another absolutely fabulous book

I just love Marie Benedict’s books and how she weaves non-fiction events with fiction to story tell what could have happened in those unknown instances. I also love to hear how she comes about the story she decides to tell and what pieces are true & which ones are fiction. I love that she brings to light women that may even be unknown to the reader such as it was with me and this equal of Agatha Christy - Dorothy L Sayers.

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Nicely done mystery with familiar names

I enjoyed this storyline and the sleuthing quite a bit! I like to look up the names and places in historical fiction and learn more about it all when reading it. It’s important to realize that the murder case is real, but the “Queens of Crime” as an investigative group are not, and neither is the resolution. Isn’t it fun to imagine them together, though? Be sure not to skip the author’s notes at the end. One element did run me the wrong way - that Dorothy was always the one leading the other also-brilliant women to the correct deductions. That I do have some trouble imagining to be the case with this group of intelligent women.

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Very nice!

Good twists and great characters. I whipped through this audible quickly and couldn’t wait to continue it each time it stopped. It was a nice book to listen to throughout the day!!

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Intriguing

Five real, brilliant, female, mystery authors showing what women are capable of. Fascinating thought processes in unraveling a real murder. Important message about don’t mess with women! Benedict’s best book yet. I did this as an audiobook and loved the accents.

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Completely enjoyed.

Pleasure to hear a story about my favorite authors of the inter - war era especially Dorothy L Sayers

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Marie Benedict does not fail to deliver a good female focused story!

I love that it was based on a true story & that it detailed women’s bold actions in a time when this was very courageous to pursue the murders. The intrigue, the determination of the female characters. Marie Benedict always delivers a good story!

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The flow in the language and the clever wit

Historical fiction almost always engages me to look further into the characters and the real event the writing is based upon. Besides the author’s descriptions of her fellow Queens it was interesting to dig deeper in and learn about each of them. They had arrived to writing crime/detective novels from such different upbringings.
The narrator is perfect for this book where the flow in the British language, quick thinking and wit stands out.
Despite being based on a historical event the story is glued together by entertaining imagination. I enjoyed the moxie in the author’s writing and recommend the book.

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Fun read with the Queens

Enjoyed the book and getting to know the Queens of Crime in the early 30s. The who and how dunnit were worked out fine, using a variation of the locked room technique that made the Queens so popular. Interesting characters and themes. Bessie Carter did a phenomenal job of narration.

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