The historical mystery or historical whodunit is a subgenre of two literary genres, historical fiction and mystery fiction. These works are set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the central plot involves the solving of a mystery or crime. Though works combining these genres have existed since at least the early 20th century, many credit Ellis Peters's Cadfael Chronicles (1977–1994) for popularizing what would become known as the historical mystery. The increasing popularity and prevalence of this type of fiction in subsequent decades has spawned a distinct subgenre recognized by the publishing industry and libraries. Publishers Weekly noted in 2010 of the genre, "The past decade has seen an explosion in both quantity and quality. Never before have so many historical mysteries been published, by so many gifted writers, and covering such a wide range of times and places." Editor Keith Kahla concurs, "From a small group of writers with a very specialized audience, the historical mystery has become a critically acclaimed, award-winning genre with a toehold on the New York Times bestseller list."
Susan Elizabeth George is an American writer of mystery novels set in Great Britain.
Sara Paretsky is an American author of detective fiction, best known for her novels focused on the protagonist V. I. Warshawski.
Jeff Abbott is a U.S. suspense novelist. He has degrees in History and English from Rice University. He lives in Austin, Texas. Before writing full-time, he was a creative director at an advertising agency. His early novels were traditional detective fiction, but in recent years he has turned to writing thriller fiction. A theme of his work is the idea of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary danger and fighting to return to their normal lives. His novels are published in several countries and have also been bestsellers in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Germany, France and Portugal. He is also Creative Director at Springbox, a Prophet company.
John Dunning was an American writer of non-fiction and detective fiction. He was known for his reference books on old-time radio and his series of mysteries featuring Denver bookseller and ex-policeman Cliff Janeway.
Mignon Good Eberhart was an American author of mystery novels. She had one of the longest careers among major American mystery writers.
Margaret Maron was an American writer, the author of award-winning mystery novels.
Kerry Isabelle Greenwood is an Australian author and lawyer. She has written many plays and books, most notably a string of historical detective novels centred on the character of Phryne Fisher, which was adapted as the popular television series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. She writes mysteries, science-fiction, historical fiction, children's stories, and plays. Greenwood earned the Australian women's crime fiction Davitt Award in 2002 for her young adult novel The Three-Pronged Dagger.
Louise Penny is a Canadian author of mystery novels set in the Canadian province of Quebec centred on the work of francophone Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec. Penny's first career was as a radio broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). After she turned to writing, she won numerous awards for her work, including the Agatha Award for best mystery novel of the year five times, including four consecutive years (2007–2010), and the Anthony Award for best novel of the year five times, including four consecutive years (2010–2013). Her novels have been published in 23 languages.
Leslie S. Klinger is an American attorney and writer. He is a noted literary editor and annotator of classic genre fiction, including the Sherlock Holmes stories and the novels Dracula, Frankenstein, and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as well as Neil Gaiman's The Sandman comics, Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbons's graphic novel Watchmen, the stories of H.P. Lovecraft, and Neil Gaiman's American Gods.
Jeffery Hughes "Jeff" Andrus was an American author, best known for having written The Proverb (2004), adapting Pope John Paul II's 1960 play The Jeweler's Shop, Doc (1971), As Summers Die, and the Tracer Family mystery fiction series. Additionally, Andrus wrote and made a cameo appearance in the 2004 Award-Winning short film The Proverb along with Scott Waara and Nancy Stafford.
Virginia Rudd Lanier was an American mystery fiction writer, author of a series featuring bloodhound trainer Jo Beth Sidden.
Kate Ellis is a British author of crime fiction, best known for a series of detective novels, which blends history with mystery, featuring policeman Wesley Peterson.
Bouchercon is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher; it is also the inspiration for the Anthony Awards, which have been issued at the convention since 1986. This page details Bouchercon XXX and the 14th Anthony Awards ceremony.
Sue Henry was a writer of mystery thriller fiction. She was also a librarian, college administrator, instructor at the University of Alaska.
Jane Rubino is an author of mystery novels set in New Jersey, featuring entertainment reporter ‘Cat’ Fortunati Austen as an accidental detective. The books feature Cat's close knit Italian-American family and the diverse people of New Jersey. Cat is a widow and a relationship with homicide detective Victor Cardenas develops in the books.
Karen MacInerney is an American novelist who writes several series: a cozy mystery series about a bed and breakfast owner in an island community off the coast of Maine, a cozy mystery series about a homesteader in rural Texas, a cozy mystery series featuring a bookseller in coastal Maine, a paranormal series with a strong streak of humour, about an accountant trying to ignore the werewolf gene she has inherited from her father, and a humorous mystery series about a suburban mom who decides to become a private investigator. She is a graduate of Plano Senior High School and Rice University. She currently resides in Austin, TX.
Lillian O'Donnell was an American crime novelist notable for being one of the first to introduce a female police officer as the lead character in a book series.
Indemnity Only is a mystery novel written by Sara Paretsky.
G. M. Malliet is an American author of mystery novels and short stories. She is best known as the author of the award-winning Detective Chief Inspector St. Just mysteries and the Rev. Max Tudor mysteries. The first book in her US-based series, Augusta Hawke, appeared in 2022.
