...two reading recommendations: Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time, and Elizabeth Peters' The Murders of Richard III.
(How crazy-cool is that story, by the way??)
Anyway, if you're familiar with Elizabeth Peters, you'll know what to expect of The Murders of Richard III: loads of mysterious hijinks while also being smart, funny, romantic, and entertaining. AND it has the added bonus of being one of the too-few Jacqueline Kirby books... she's a librarian with a Mary Poppins-ish handbag and martial arts know-how. In this one, she goes to a Ricardian weekend and a series of pranks TURNS DANGEROUS.
The Daughter of Time, meanwhile, is a bit more serious: it's one of Josephine Tey's far-too-few mysteries. In it, Inspector Alan Grant is laid up in the hospital with a broken leg, totally bored, and so his actress friend brings him pictures of historical figures who were embroiled in unsolved mysteries... and with the help of a young historian, he starts researching Richard III. It's seriously tragic that there are only, like, eight Tey mysteries—they are all totally, totally different and all totally, totally awesome. (My favorites, btw, are this one, The Franchise Affair, and BRAT FARRAR, which is OMG-FAINTWORTHY-SWOON-CENTRAL.)
“The Daughter of Time” is my everyone-must-read-once book. It changed the way I see the world. Every time I come across a copy in a used bookstore, I acquire it, so that I can give it away.
I’m with you on “The Franchise Affair” and “Bratt Farrar,” too. I never get tired of re-reading them.
Posted by: Margaret S. | 04 February 2013 at 01:00 PM
Yay! Always so happy to see love for Tey. :)
Posted by: Leila | 04 February 2013 at 01:20 PM
Love Tey and especially those three book!! Also really like Miss Pym Disposes, for the character studies and writing rather than the actual plot.
Posted by: Genevieve | 04 February 2013 at 03:30 PM
@Genevieve: YES! Love that one, too. I will never stop wishing for More Tey.
Posted by: Leila | 04 February 2013 at 03:59 PM
Ooh, Josephine Tey. Can you believe I only discovered her in grad school??? It's time to dig out my old books...
(Seeing a theme in the comments here. Dare I suggest we could do a FAINWORTHY-SWOON Reread???? Just lemme know when...)
Posted by: tanita | 04 February 2013 at 04:45 PM