The Four Queens of Crime by Rosanne Limoncelli

Set in 1938 in England, THE FOUR QUEENS OF CRIME by Rosanne Limoncelli is an intriguing debut novel featuring four famous mystery writers: enlists Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham. They have been invited to a charity gala being hosted at the estate of Baronet Sir Henry Heathcote. The party seems a fabulous success, but the next morning a dead body is discovered, and the writers eventually help the police sift through multiple personal and professional motives to unmask the killer. THE FOUR QUEENS OF CRIME received starred reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. Mystery readers may also have fun comparing this to the recently published The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict. I thought that Limoncelli did a better job of giving each of the writers a more distinctive character (she certainly relied less than Benedict on describing their outfits). I also liked how Limoncelli included other real people (Detective Chief Inspector Lilian Wyles, Lady Stella, even Home Secretary Sir Samuel Hoare) in her story and included a helpful character list. I am looking forward to more mysteries from this author and hope that as she develops her craft, she becomes more confident in subtly showing/pointing her readers to conclusions and clues rather than “telling” them. This cozy is an entertaining escape – enjoy!