by Lauren Belfer This tale has the backdrop of Niagara Falls with Louise Barrett, a school mistress of a prestigious school, gets involved when she overhears something she shouldn’t. Soon two people are dead and it is raising a lot of suspicions. This literary tale will weave the history and fiction of the times. by John MacLachlan This story takes place in 1852 London where a man has killed and mangled five prostitutes; a reporter decides to ward off his bill collectors by writing a series of articles about the monster’s execution. The characters come alive in this story of suspense. by Matthew Pearl The story will take you on a historical adventure with the Boston Police who are on the trail of a series of murders, one in which a priest is buried alive and one man is eaten by maggots. The Dante Club, a group of scholars, knows this is a copy of Dante’s Inferno and soon is on the case. by Mark Frost When Arthur Conan Doyle, a young doctor, attends a séance that ends in murder; he soon is involved with the crime. This fast paced book, with a supernatural tone, soon pairs him up with Jack Sparks, who is on secret assignment for the queen. by Jed Rubenfeld This turn of the century setting brings Dr. Freud and Jung into New York for a talk at the university, when a young woman is murder and a second one is attempted on another young lady who can’t remember what has happened. Stratham Younger, a young doctor, asks Dr. Freud for help on the case. The characters come to life as real people of our past. by Reggie Nadelson This novel moves through New York and London with Artie Cohen, a PI, on a case of a beheading in a swank Manhattan coop. Artie’s girlfriend Lily is concerned this case may stir up some of her secrets. This is the third in the series with some developed characters but is a good one to start with if you are a fan of Carr’s. by Andrew Taylor This story, a multi- layered literary tale, takes place in 1819, in London, where a man is found dead and another one goes missing. The events lead us to an American boy, Edgar Allan Poe, who has been brought to England by his stepfather who has an important role in the story. by Rennie Airth Inspector John Madden from Scotland Yard is called in on a case when a household is slaughtered in a Surry village. Though still haunted by the death of his wife and child in WWI, he soon recognizes this is the work of a madman. The dark tone and topic of the book will be reminiscent of Carr’s work. by Julian Symons Sheridan Haynes, an actor who plays Sherlock Holmes in a T. V. series, who has an obsession with Sherlock Holmes, takes on the role when London has some unsolved murders. This story is a little lighter but should pull you quickly into the mystery of who’s done it. by Jack Finney This tale has a twist, illustrator Simon Morley who lives in the 20th century, is convinced by the government to go under hypnotism to go back to 1880’s New York to solve a crime. It gets complicated when he falls in love with 1880’s New York and his landlady’s daughter. This is a lighter twisted tale. by Alan Moore From Hell takes you on the tale of Jack the Ripper, who in this story is thought to be William Gull, physician to the Royal family. The story focuses not so much on whom, but combines the facts and fiction into a compelling read.
Non-Fiction
by Erik Larsen This non fiction book reads very much like a fiction novel which takes place at the turn of the 20 th century. This is the true story of Henry H. Holmes, a doctor, a mass murder and Daniel Hudson Burnham, an architect, who is famous for many structures in New York. The book unfolds following each of these men’s lives. This moves quickly back and forth between the story lines.