While I fully realize that Christmas in Dicken’s England or colonial Williamsburg would have been fun only if of the upper class, I never the less have a soft spot of historical fiction of the Christmas variety. Here are some nostalgic favorites that are a mix of mystery, romance and even some time travel novels.
Historical Fiction: Christmas Books–
Silent in the Sanctuary: A Historical Romance (A Lady Julia Grey Mystery Book 2) and Twelfth Night (The Lady Julia Grey Mysteries) by Deanna Raybourne. Though Silent in the Sanctuary is labeled as a romance, I would classify it as a mystery. Fresh from a six-month sojourn in Italy, Lady Julia returns to Sussex to find her father’s estate crowded with family and friends. But the homecoming celebrations quickly take a ghastly turn when one of the guests is found brutally murdered in the chapel. Lady Julia resumes her unlikely and intriguing partnership with Nicholas Brisbane. And on the 12th Day of Christmas… To mark the passing of another decade, the esteemed—and eccentric—March family have assembled at Bellmont Abbey to perform the Twelfth Night Revels.
The Twelve Clues of Christmas (The Royal Spyness Series Book 6) by Rhys Bowen. Scotland, 1933. While her true love, Darcy O’Mara, is spending his feliz navidad tramping around South America and her mother is holed up in a tiny village called Tiddleton-under-Lovey with droll playwright Noel Coward, Georgie is stuck at Castle Rannoch thanks to a snowstorm. Things take a deadly turn when a neighborhood nuisance falls out of a tree.
Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas (Being a Jane Austen Mystery Book 12) by Stephanie Barron. Christmas Eve, 1814: Jane Austen has been invited to spend the holiday with family and friends at The Vyne, the gorgeous ancestral home of the wealthy and politically prominent Chute family. Jane, however, discovers holiday cheer is fleeting. One of the Yuletide revelers dies in a tragic accident, which Jane immediately views with suspicion.
Murder Goes Mummming (The Madoc and Janet Rhys Mysteries Book 2) by Alisa Craig (aka Charlotte Macleod). Madoc Rhys is a Mountie—and his keen sense of detection tells him it’s time to ask Janet Wadman to marry him. They have just gotten engaged when Christmas rolls around, and Janet’s boss invites them to his family estate for a last holiday fling before Janet leaves her job. After a long helicopter ride, they are at Graylings, ancestral home of the Condryckes, a family so strange that Canada’s shortest Mountie fits right in. There is a psychic old woman, an erudite butler, and a family patriarch who is the spitting image of an English country squire. And when the elderly Mrs. Condrycke is found murdered, Janet will be glad she brought Madoc along. Though civilization is far away, when there is a Mountie in the house, justice is close at hand.
Historical Fiction: Christmas Books continued…
Ghosts & Garlands: A “Stitch in Time” holiday novella (A Stitch in Time) by Kelley Armstrong. Victorian novelist Miranda Hastings is in London for a modern-day Christmas with the man she loves, and they want to see everything. Luckily, they have friends who are going to make sure they get their wish. They’re sent on a whirlwind holiday adventure, following their friends’ mysterious messages until an encounter with a ghost who was part of an infamous gang of highwaymen. Also: S
A Christmas Party: A Seasonal Murder Mystery/Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer. A colorful assortment of guests at a festive holiday house party discover there is a killer in their midst when their universally reviled host is found dead—in a room locked from the inside. Georgette Heyer is known as the Queen of Regency Romance but she also writes a darn good mystery.
Upon the Midnight Clear: A Lady Emily Christmas Story (Lady Emily Mysteries) by Tasha Alexander. While most of London society has fled to their country estates for the holidays, Lady Emily and her family are enjoying a few days in the city. On a shopping trip to Hamley’s Toy Shop, a kind-hearted stranger gives Emily’s son a Christmas cracker—but when he opens it to reveal a cryptic clue inside.
More favorites will come to mind as Christmas approaches.
I have two historical Christmas Mysteries:
Mayhem Mansion (A Kenneth Mayhew Mystery book 1). Armistice Day 1918: Christmas is a peaceful time in Quiet Corner — except at Mayhem Mansion. There is no peace in Kenneth Mayhew’s ancestral manse with a restless ghost playing tricks on the family. Christmas guests will be arriving soon and Kenneth’s Aunt Agartha has assigned him the task of laying their ghost to rest before the Yuletide revels.
Death in a High Place (Jane Blackthorn Mysteries Book 1). 1921– The War is over, alcohol is proscribed and women have the vote. Jane Blackthorn should be happy but the holidays are looming and the young widow has no desire to spend them with her matchmaking family. An invitation from an old college friend arrives to save her. The college ski club is having a reunion at a hunting lodge in Canada and Jane decides that some clean living in the great outdoors is just what she needs. But it is apparent from the moment of her arrival that something is very wrong at the Beauvert Ski Lodge and she is shocked to discover that one of her old classmates is dead in a suspicious accident. Trapped by a blizzard, they are at the mercy of a killer that no one else believes in and it is left to Jane to save the day.
Please feel free to leave book suggestions in the comments below. If you prefer your Christmas to be a bit more cozy, visit Best Christmas Cozy Mysteries for other suggestions.
