Books like 'The Painted Queen'
Readers who enjoyed The Painted Queen by Elizabeth Peters & Joan Hess also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical funny heroine sleuth victorian ancient times mystery suspense
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The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays by Oscar Wilde
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 81 ratingsLady Windermere's Fan/Salomé/A Woman of No Importance/An Ideal Husband/A Florentine Tragedy/The Importance of Being Earnest. 'To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness'. The Importance of Being Earnest is a glorious comedy of mistaken identity, which ridicules codes of propriety and etiquette... -
The River Girl by Tania Crosse
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsDartmoor, 1858. Elizabeth Thornton has every reason to want to escape from home — a ramshackle farm in the middle of nowhere on the wilds of Dartmoor. Since her father’s death, she’s been trapped here, in the clutches of her lascivious uncle. When a position opens up at Rosebank Hall, she jumps at the chance. She will be a domestic drudge at the beck and call of the house’s cantankerous master... -
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Right Ho, Jeeves: Jeeves & Wooster Series by P.G. Wodehouse
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsBertie returns to London from several weeks in Cannes spent in the company of his Aunt Dahlia Travers and her daughter Angela. In Bertie's absence, Jeeves has been advising Bertie's old school friend, Gussie Fink-Nottle, who is in love with a goofy, sentimental, whimsical, childish girl named Madeline Bassett…. -
Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsMarried at last, Lord Peter and Harriet find their honeymoon interrupted by a killer. .. It took several near-death experiences for Lord Peter Wimsey to convince Harriet Vane to be his wife, but she has finally relented. When the dapper detective marries Britain’s most popular mystery author—just a few short years after rescuing her from the hangman’s noose—the press could not be more excited... -
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Watching the Detectives by Julie Mulhern
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsEllison Russell wanted a decorator, not a corpse. Too bad she finds Mrs. White in the study killed with a revolver. Things go from bad to worse when she finds Mr. White in the dining room killed with a candlestick... -
Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsAn alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here. The great Dorothy L. Sayers is considered by many to be the premier detective novelist of the Golden Age, and her dashing sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey, one of mystery fiction’s most enduring and endearing protagonists... -
Four to Score by Janet Evanovich
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 118 ratingsStephanie Plum, Trenton, New Jersey's favorite pistol-packing, condom-carrying bounty hunter, is back - and on the trail of a revenge-seeking waitress who's skipped bail. With the help of 73-year-old Grandma Mazur, ex-hooker Lula, a transvestite musician named Sally Sweet, and the all-too-hospitable, all-too-sexy Joe Morelli, Stephanie might just catch her woman...Categorized as:
heroine sleuth suspense mystery contemporary 20th century historical love triangle humor -
Aurora by D.G. Rampton
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 16 ratings70,000+ readers have already discovered the Regency Goddesses Series. The books, which can be read in any order, are regularly in the U. S. top 20 for Historical Romance and Humor & Satire. ♥ an opposites-attract romance. ♥ a formidable hero. ♥ an irrepressible heroine. ♥ a menagerie of lovable characters... -
Women of Straw by Carole Llewellyn
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn 1865, Luton in Bedfordshire is famous for manufacturing straw boaters worn everywhere, although times and fashions are changing. Kate Devlin, the eldest of three children, helps her mother, Rose, run the Devlin plait-school at 10 Plaiters Way. The plait produced there is sold to the Stratton Hat Company, and Kate’s ambition is to become a hat-maker... -
Roseanna by Beverley Watts
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsFrom the highly acclaimed author of The Shackleford Sisters, Beverley Watts, comes an exciting new series featuring the next generation. The Shackleford Legacies are a delightful dance of romance, humour, mystery and fun. .. Lady Roseanna Atwood was not looking forward to the annual weekend garden party at Blackmore... -
The Incredible Winston Browne by Sean Dietrich
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBeloved writer Sean Dietrich—also known as Sean of the South—will warm your heart with this rich and nostalgic tale of a small-town sheriff, a mysterious little girl, and a good-hearted community pulling together to help her. Folks in Moab live for ice cream socials, baseball, and the local paper’s weekly gossip column... -
Death on a Winter's Day by Verity Bright
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsChristmas at the castle with holly, handmade gifts, snowflakes and… is that a body under the tree? Someone call Lady Swift! Winter, 1921. Lady Eleanor Swift, amateur sleuth and reluctant lady of the manor, has been invited to spend Christmas in Scotland, at the beautiful castle of her dear friends Baron and Baroness Ashley... -
Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThe ad men at Pym’s can sell anything—even murder. .. The iron staircase at Pym’s Publicity is a deathtrap, and no one in the advertising agency is surprised when Victor Dean tumbles down it, cracking his skull along the way. Dean’s replacement arrives just a few days later—a green copywriter named Death Bredon... -
Mrs. Wiggins by Mary Monroe
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe returns to the Deep South Depression-era town of her scandalous Mama Ruby series, in this tale of a woman determined to have a respectable life--and she'll do anything to keep it. .. The daughter of a prostitute mother and an alcoholic father, Maggie Franklin knew her only way out was to marry someone upstanding and church-going... -
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The Girl at Holly Cottage by Tania Crosse
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsA compelling tale of secrets and betrayal, friendship and trust, and the legacy of war. Originally published as Hope at Holly Cottage. Plymouth, 1954. The future seems rosy for Plymouth schoolgirl Anna Millington, as she prepares for teacher training college. But Anna’s life is not what it seems. Her family is hiding a cruel secret that resulted from the worst night of the Plymouth Blitz... -
Orphans of War by Sylvia Broady
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsKingston Upon Hull, 1941. German bombs are raining down on the city. Racing to the nearest air-raid shelter, Charlotte hears an almighty explosion. Her mother’s haberdashery shop has taken a direct hit, reducing the shop to a pile of rubble — and killing her mother outright. Suddenly sixteen-year-old Charlotte is all alone in the world... -
A Lesson in Murder by Verity Bright
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen Lady Swift is invited to her old school, she walks through familiar classrooms, finds her favourite books in the library… and surely that’s not a body? Time for a lesson in murder! Autumn, 1921. Lady Eleanor Swift is invited to her old school, St Mary’s, as a guest speaker... -
An Impossible Impostor by Deanna Raybourn
While investigating a man claiming to be the long-lost heir to a noble family, Veronica Speedwell gets the surprise of her life in this new adventure from the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-nominated author Deanna Raybourn. London, 1889. Veronica Speedwell and her natural historian beau Stoker are summoned by Sir Hugo Montgomerie, head of Special Branch...Categorized as:
mystery victorian suspense heroine sleuth historical ["to-read", "currently-reading", "mystery", "historical-fiction", "2022", "2022-releases", "series", "historical-mystery", "historical", "fiction", "adult", "wishlist", "romance", "coming-soon", "arc", "mysteries", "mystery-thriller", "upcoming", "next-in-series", "historical-romance", "not-yet-released", "to-be-released", "victorian", "netgalley", "audible", "kindle", "2022-tbr", "to-buy", "unreleased", "series-in-progress", "preorder", "2022-release", "giveaways", "february-2022", "requested", "veronica-speedwell", "2022-february", "2022-new-releases", "mystery-suspense", "wish-list", "february", "need-to-buy", "veronica-speedwell-series", "adult-fiction", "read-2021", "england", "arcs", "for-review", "2021", "edelweiss", "on-hold", "tbr", "waiting", "next-up", "unpublished", "not-released", "must-read-2022", "2022-to-read", "deanna-raybourn", "preordered"] regency contemporary -
Brilliance and Betrayal by Lynn Morrison, Anne Radcliffe
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe cruellest fate for a man…. Lord Peregrine Fitzroy once toyed with his peers with the ease of a man playing chess. His mother’s treason, however, reduced him to a pawn. Surviving accusations of her crimes came at a price. When a foreign prince falls ill at Peregrine’s first appearance since returning to English soil, he can’t help but suspect the poison was henbane... -
The French for Murder by Verity Bright
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA grand villa, croissants for breakfast and a dead body in the wine cellar… Lady Swift can’t seem to take a vacation from murder! Summer 1923. Lady Eleanor Swift is finally persuaded by her butler, Clifford, to take a villa in the south of France for the season. She plans to do what a glamorous lady abroad should: long lunches on the balcony followed by lazy afternoons lounging by the pool... -
The Lost House of Ireland by Susanne O'Leary
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsAn enchanting story about forgotten family secrets that will transport you to the charming village of Sandy Cove on the beautiful Irish coast. Allegra Casey is searching for a new beginning. So when she discovers an engagement ring buried in the sand near her home in Cape Cod, the last place she expects it to lead her is to the west coast of Ireland...Categorized as:
suspense mystery historical contemporary humor friends to lovers length-medium audiobook -
Kiss of the Lyon: The Lyon's Den Connected World by Meara Platt
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsHe was only supposed to win the high stakes game of chance, not a bride along with it. Lord Matthew Lyon is often called upon by the Crown because of his mathematical brilliance, and participating in a high stakes game of chance at the notorious Lyon’s Den should have been the easy part of his assignment. .. only it goes terribly wrong... -
The Hidden Hand: Love, Intrigue, and Gender Roles in Victorian Fiction by E.D.E.N. Southworth
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsEmma Southworth's 'The Hidden Hand' is a captivating novel that delves deep into the themes of mystery, romance, and intrigue. Set in the 19th century, this work of literature features a powerful narrative that keeps readers on the edge of their seats... -
Henrietta by Beverley Watts
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHenrietta Carew has always been practical, sensible, and generally immune to flights of fancy. Until she meets Raphael Augustin. King William IV's most dangerous intelligence agent is everything Henrietta shouldn't want - ruthless, secretive, and devastatingly handsome... -
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The Noble Guardian by Michelle Griep
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsA Cross-Country Trip through Regency England Brings Intrigue, Rogues, and High Adventure. The must-read conclusion to Michelle Griep’s Bow Street Runners Trilogy: Life couldn’t be better for Abigail Gilbert—but it’s been a long time in coming. Having lived with a family who hated her, it’s finally her time for love... -
Murder at the Country Club by Helena Dixon
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsKitty Underhay is playing doubles… with death. Kitty Underhay is accompanying her fiancé, Matthew Bryant, and Bertie, his new cocker spaniel, on an outing to Torbay Country Club. However, the delightful day soon turns to disaster... -
An Infamous Betrayal by Lynn Messina
Having solved the two murders that somehow fell in her path, Beatrice Hyde-Clare is on the lookout for a third. Through a absurd quirk of stupid fate, the shy spinster has fallen in love with the thoroughly unattainable Duke of Kesgrave and is desperate for something, anything, to occupy her mind. A dead body would do nicely... -
The Cairo Curse by Pepper Basham
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsClue meets Indiana Jones with a fiction-loving twist only Grace Percy can provide. Newlyweds Lord and Lady Astley have already experienced their fair-share of suspense, but when a honeymoon trip takes a detour to the mystical land of Egypt, not even Grace with her fiction-loving mind is prepared for the dangers in store...Categorized as:
mystery suspense victorian historical christian marriage of convenience humor length-medium -
Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsThe second Dorothy L. Sayers classic to feature mystery writer Harriet Vane, Have His Carcase. Harriet’s discovery of a murdered body on the beach before it is swept out to sea unites her once more with the indomitable Lord Peter Wimsey, as together they attempt to solve a most lethal mystery, and find themselves become much closer than mere sleuthing partners in the process. -
Something New by P. G. Wodehouse
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsOne thing that constantly disrupts the peace of life at Blandings is the constant incursion of impostors. Blandings has impostors like other houses have mice. Now there are two of them – both intent on a dangerous enterprise... -
A Matchmaker for a Marquess by Christi Caldwell
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBe prepared to smile, swoon, and sigh in Christi Caldwell's latest 'Heart of a Scandal' installment where a matchmaker firmly on the shelf is about to fall head over heels for her best friend's younger brother. She lived by a strict set of rules…. Meredith Durant believes those who won’t marry, matchmake, and she’s made a notable career for herself helping young women find the perfect mate... -
Charity by Beverley Watts
In this funny Regency romance series, the Shackleford sisters descend on a Regency society that doesn’t know what’s hit it…. While Charity Shackleford might be considered far more outspoken than her twin sister Chastity, she was much less inclined to make a complete cake of herself. Something her twin appeared to be doing with increasing regularity... -
Fall from Trace by Rebecca Connolly
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsGone, but not forgotten. .. Alex Sommerville should have been dead. To the world, he had been dead for almost five years, and with him, the secrets he had carried as Trace, the most elusive member of the London League. When a chance to escape finally comes, Alex finds just enough life left in him to take it, and races off to return to the woman he loves. . . -
Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsAn alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here. Mystery novelist Harriet Vane knew all about poisons, and when her fiancé died in the manner prescribed in one of her books, a jury of her peers had a hangman's noose in mind. But Lord Peter Wimsey was determined to find her innocent—as determined as he was to make her his wife. -
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In the Family Way: Another John Pickett Mystery by Sheri Cobb South
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWith a beautiful and clever wife, a growing investigative business, and a baby due any day, former Bow Street Runner John Pickett finally has a respectable life far removed from his beginnings as a juvenile pickpocket in the rookeries of St. Giles. Then his father returns from transportation to Botany Bay, and Pickett’s hard-won respectability threatens to collapse like a house of cards... -
Under the Harvest Moon by Collette Cameron, Caroline Warfield
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAs the village of Reabridge in Cheshire prepares for the first Harvest Festival following Waterloo, families are overjoyed to welcome back their loved ones from the war. But excitement quickly turns to mystery when mere weeks before the festival, an orphaned child turns up in the town—a toddler born near Toulouse to an English mother who left clues that tie her to Reabridge...Categorized as:
mystery victorian historical regency pregnancy military marriage of convenience humor -
The Ruby Dagger by Lynn Morrison, Anne Radcliffe
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDeadly intrigue meets royal expectations when murder comes for the crown. London, 1813. In the gilded corridors of St James's Palace, Lord Percy and Lady Grace face a mystery that could shake the throne itself. A murder and audacious theft of the Prince Regent’s ruby collar of state thrusts them back into a web of deception and treachery... -
Crowned and Dangerous by Rhys Bowen
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsNothing is simple when you’re thirty-fifth in line for the British crown, least of all marriage. But with love on their side, and plans to elope, Lady Georgiana Rannoch and her beau Darcy O’Mara hope to bypass a few royal rules. . -
Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsDorothy Leigh Sayers was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between the First and Second World Wars that feature English aristocrat and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey... -
A Scandalous Deception by Lynn Messina
As much as Beatrice Hyde-Clare relished the challenge of figuring out who murdered a fellow guest during a house party in the Lake District, she certainly does not consider herself an amateur investigator. So when a London dandy falls dead at her feet in the entryway of a London Daily Gazette, she feels no compulsion to investigate... -
God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen by Rhys Bowen
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsGeorgie is back and hanging the stockings with care when a murder interrupts her Christmas cheer in this all-new installment in the New York Times bestselling Royal Spyness series from Rhys Bowen. Georgie is excited for her first Christmas as a married woman in her lovely new home...Categorized as:
mystery suspense heroine sleuth christmas historical humor 20th century length-medium -
On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service by Rhys Bowen
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsWhen royal sleuth Georgie Rannoch receives a letter from her dearest friend Belinda, who’s in an Italian villa awaiting the birth of her illegitimate baby, she yearns to run to her side. If only she could find a way to get there! But then opportunity presents itself in a most unexpected way—her cousin the queen asks her to attend a house party in the Italian Lake Country... -
An Extravagant Duplicity by Lynn Messina
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsWhy, yes, the former Beatrice Hyde-Clare is distracted. Having settled comfortably into marriage to the Duke of Kesgrave, she is nevertheless surprised to find herself in an interesting condition. And it has to be that—the unsettling prospect of motherhood—that causes her to overlook the obvious clue that Roger Dugmore had indeed been killed in his sleep...Categorized as:
mystery heroine sleuth regency historical humor super rich hero poor heroine length-medium -
The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer
THE RUNAWAY. When Sir Richard Wyndham, an accomplished Corinthian, comes across a beautiful young woman climbing out of a window in a bid to escape, he finds the ideal opportunity to realise his own escape. Behind lovely Penelope Creed was the lavish life of a brilliant London heiress, and a proposed marriage to a man she loathed... -
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A Captain, a Corpse, and Miss Bridges by Claudia Stone
Miss Flora Bridges is well accustomed to village gossip—but while whispers of witchcraft she can endure, accusations of murder are quite another matter. When the trustee of her newly inherited fortune, the pompous Sir Ambrose Quill, turns up dead, every eye in Plumpton turns on her... -
A Bride's Guide to Marriage and Murder: A Brilliant Victorian Historical Mystery by Dianne Freeman
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 28 ratings“Pure unadulterated fun” ( Publishers Weekly ) for fans of Ashley Weaver, Deanna Raybourn, and Tasha Alexander, the Agatha Award-winning Countess of Harleigh Mysteries are a witty romp through the high society of Victorian England with a touch of romance, an independent female lead, and rich historical detail... -
The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer
". .. A long-lost family heirloom, a young heir falsely accused of murder, a band of smugglers, two utterly delightful Heyer heroines, a taciturn, but highly resourceful older gentleman - all play their parts in a tale funny enough to have you laughing aloud. ". Publishers Weekly. One of Heyer's funniest Regency romances, and one of readers' favorites... -
Fitzwilliam Darcy, Master Spy: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Jennifer Joy
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNo mission is impossible for this Agent of the Crown. .. until he meets his match! Fitzwilliam Darcy is the Crown's most formidable secret weapon—a Master Spy. His latest mission will test his limits when he's assigned to protect England's foremost code decipherer, Mr. Thomas Bennet… and his wife and five unmarried daughters...Categorized as:
mystery suspense regency friends to lovers contemporary humor historical length-medium -
Lancaster Burning Trilogy by Linda Byler
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Amish community of Lancaster is being terrorized by barn fires. David and Malinda Beiler’s barn was the first to go. When a second Amish barn burns for suspicious reasons, the Amish grow more restless...Categorized as:
mystery suspense heroine sleuth amish christian contemporary historical 20th century -
Not Half Plaid by Caroline Lee
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsFenella Oliphant has always thought it apropos she was named after an herb: Useful, subtle, and not much to look at. But here in the Oliphant Castle kitchens, none of that matters, because she’s in command…as long as she can keep from being distracted by the dangerously delicious beast who has planted his shapely arse beside her hearth and is offering unwanted advice...
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