8 Outstanding British Mysteries Where a Real Person is the Fictional Sleuth
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Given that there are only so many ways to commit and solve murders, it's understandable that authors are constantly looking to innovate and put a new spin on the traditional format. In this post, we'll take a look at a selection of outstanding British novels in which real people become fictionalised versions of themselves to investigate crimes.
The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz
This is the first in a series of novels in which screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz (Foyle's War, Magpie Murders) becomes the “Watson” figure to the fictional detective Daniel Hawthorne. In the first novel, a wealthy older woman heads to a funeral parlour to plan her own service…only to be murdered just a few hours later. Hawthorne is a disgraced former police detective whose talent has made him a valuable consultant – and Horowitz serves as his biographer. With five books in the series and plans for more, there's plenty to enjoy if you find you like the style and premise.
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The Murder of Patience Brooke by JC Briggs
Dialing things back a few years, this Victorian era mystery features Charles Dickens as an unintentional amateur sleuth. After setting up a sanctuary for fallen women, he's horrified to find the matron's assistant, Patience Brooke, hanging outside the property. In the interest of protecting the home's reputation, he begins his own investigation to ensure the culprit is found quickly. Working alongside his friend, Superintendent Sam Jones, he begins a search that will take him into some of Victorian London's worst slums. To date, there are eleven books in the series.
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Oscar Wilde & a Death of No Importance by Gyles Brandreth
TV presenter and former MP Gyles Brandreth (Great Canal Journeys) brings us this fun series in which Oscar Wilde plays the sleuth. Set in Victorian London, the first novel sees Wilde getting help from friends Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Sherard as he investigates the death of a young artist's model. Based primarily in London, it also takes us to Oxford, Edinburgh, and Paris.
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A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson
As one of the greatest crime novelists of all time, it's no surprise that someone has fictionalised Dame Agatha Christie as an amateur sleuth. In the first novel of this series, Christie is preparing to board a train, preoccupied with thoughts of her husband's affair. That's when she's blackmailed by someone who says, “You, Mrs. Christie, are going to commit a murder. But, before then, you are going to disappear.”
This begins her infamous ten-day disappearance, and kicks off a series of detecting adventures for the author.
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The Windsor Knot by SJ Bennett
This unique series follows the late Queen Elizabeth II as a queen who occasionally plays Miss Marple with the help of her Assistant Private Secretary. It's hard to say how long the series will be able to continue, given that they start with her preparing for her 90th birthday, but it's a fun, light series that allows us to imagine a very different sort of Queen Elizabeth.
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An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson
Mystery fans will know Josephine Tey as the author of some of the Golden Age's finest mysteries – but in this series, she becomes an amateur detective while traveling to London to catch the final week of her play, Richard of Bordeaux. When a young woman she befriended on the train is murdered, DI Archie Penrose is convinced the killing is connected to the play, and that Tey might be the next target.
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Too Bad to Die by Francine Mathews
This one's a slight deviation from some of the others in that it's more thriller than classic mystery – but there are still plenty of elements of mystery involved. It's 1943, and intelligence officer Ian Fleming is bored in a desk-bound position that leaves him too much time to create stories in his head. The boredom ends quickly, however, when the Tehran Conference sees Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Josef Stalin meeting to finalise the D-Day invasion.
Fleming gets a tip that Hitler's top assassin has found a way into the conference, so he decides to go undercover to prevent a catastrophe. What follows is a story that's strikingly similar to many of James Bond's missions.
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Jane & the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron
This long-running mystery series imagines author Jane Austen as an amateur investigator, and while that very easily could have gone wrong, the author has clearly done serious research into Austen's life and circumstances to add a touch of realism. In the first book of the series, she becomes entangled in a dangeous investigation when her friend Isobel is accused of adultery and murder after the mysterious death of her husband. It recently wrapped up with book 15, Jane and the Final Mystery.
Start Here: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)
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