Historical Fiction Stars - Mystery, Suspense, Thrillers and Crime Fiction: 2010

A list of some historical crime fiction titles receiving starred reviews.

Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram Book Magazine, unless otherwise noted.

Historical fiction is loosely defined on this page - a book set 25 years ago may qualify for inclusion.

• Paganini's Ghost
  Author: Adam, Paul
  $ 25.95 ISBN: 9780312383855 Date: 2010
  LJ PW
  Violinmaker Giovanni Castiglione searches for a long-lost instrument that was possessed by famed violinist Niccolo Paganini. Full of remarkable history and musical lore, Paganini's Ghost will enchant music lovers and Italophiles alike.
  Updated 11.4.09
  
• Deadly Inheritance
  Author: Beaufort, Simon
  $ 28.95 ISBN: 9780727868565 Date: 2010
  PW LJ
  Murder, intrigue and marriage in the Welsh Marches of old . . . When Sir Geoffrey's unpopular brother, Henry, is murdered, he unwillingly inherits Goodrich Castle in the Welsh Marches. Immediately, his sister pushes him towards a marriage that will provide an heir and stability for the family. But when Geoffrey survives attempts on his own life, he wonders whether they are linked to Henry's death, to his potential brides, or even to the rumoured murder of the Duchess of Normandy, as a Welsh revolt against the English looms. - Publisher Marketing
  Updated 4.1.10
  
• Strange Images of Death
  Author: Cleverly, Barbara
  $ 25 ISBN: 9781569476321 Date: 2010
  PW
  Cleverly maintains the high standards set by earlier Sandilands tales, blending a sophisticated whodunit with full-blooded characters and a revealing look at her chosen time and place.--Publishers Weekly, starred review.
  Updated 2.25.10
  
• When Winter Returns
  Author: Haines, Kathryn Miller
  $ 15 ISBN: 9780061579578 Date: 2010
  PW
  Back from their USO stint in the South Pacific in the fall of 1943, Rosie Winter and her best friend, Jayne, head upstate to visit the home of Jayne's recently deceased fiancE. But what they find leaves Rosie wondering if the man ever existed to begin with. As Rosie searches for the truth behind his identity--and a way to help heal Jayne's broken heart--she faces an unpleasant homecoming of her own. The newspapers are filled with tales of saboteurs infiltrating the East Coast. Her ex, Jack Castlegate, is also back in Manhattan, nursing severe war injuries, under scrutiny for desertion, and engaged to a gorgeous WAC private. Rosie and Jayne's friend Al is in hiding and no one seems willing to help him out. Desperate to make things right, Rosie finds herself telling lie after lie to protect her friends and herself. But as her deceit mounts and lures danger out of hiding, she starts to wonder if they weren't all safer on the warfront than they are on the home front. - Publisher Marketing
  Updated 3.18.10
  
• The Divine Sacrifice
  Author: Hays, Tony
  $ 25.99 ISBN: 9780765319463 Date: 2010
  LJ PW
  This new mystery from the author of The Killing Way continues the story of King Arthur's conselor, Malgwyn ap Cuneglas, a soldier who lost his arm in battle but was saved by his kind.
  Updated 2.25.10
  
• 31 Bond Street
  Author: Horan, Ellen
  $ 26 ISBN: 9780061773969 Date: 2010
  Booklist
  The sensational murder of Dr. Harvey Burdell in his lower Manhattan townhouse was the biggest news story in the U.S. before the Civil War. Deftly interweaving fiction and fact, 31 Bond Street is a clever historical narrative that blends romance, politics, and intrigue.
  Updated 3.18.10
  
• If the Dead Not Rise: Bernie Gunther
  Author: Kerr, Philip
  $ 26.95 ISBN: 9780399156151 Date: 2010
  PW Kirkus
  An instant classic in the Bernie Gunther series, If the Dead Rise Not features twisted intrigue, tight plotting, quick-witted one-liners, and, most significant, a richer, wiser Bernie Gunther.
  Updated 2.25.10
  
• The God of the Hive
  Author: King, Laurie R.
  $ 25 ISBN: 9780553805543 Date: 2010
  Booklist
  In the mesmerizing, powerful conclusion to the blockbuster hit The Language of Bees, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are each on the trail of exposing a ruthless villain. Will being apart help them solve a devilishly difficult mystery, or make them easier targets?
  Updated 2.23.10
  
• Occupied City
  Author: Peace, David
  $ 25.95 ISBN:9780307263759 Date: 2010
  Kirkus PW Booklist
  From the author of Tokyo Year Zero comes a fierce, exquisitely dark novel that returns readers to post-World War II occupied Japan: a Rashomon-like retelling of a murder (based on an actual event), its aftermath, and the hidden wartime atrocities that led to the crime.
  Suggested Reading: All Stars
  Updated 2.28.10
  
• Eight for Eternity
  Author: Reed, Mary & Eric Mayer
  $ 24.95/14.95 paper ISBN: 9781590587027/9781590587188 Date: 2010
  PW
  In January 532 mobs ruled Constantinople, capital of the Roman Empire. Against a murderous backdrop lit by raging fires, John, Chamberlain to Emperor Justinian, must find those seeking to use the Nika Riots to dethrone the emperor. But are the ringleaders still in the city -- or even alive? Porphyrius, the most famous charioteer of his time, may know more than he tells about the mysterious disappearance of two men under imperial guard. What roles are a pair of brothers with a distant claim on the throne playing? Does a headstrong young girl hold the key to the mystery? With the fate of the empire at stake, will General Belisarius and his armed troops side with the rioters or remain loyal to Justinian? To some the riots portend the end of the empire, to others the end of the world itself. John must untangle a web of intrigue in a city where death holds court at every corner before the escalating violence in the streets removes all hope of finding those he seeks. - Publisher Marketing
  Updated 2.25.10
  
• Vienna Secrets
  Author: Tallis, Frank
  $ 15 ISBN: 9780812980998 Date: 2010
  PW
  In the dangerous, dazzling Vienna of 1903, an ingenious doctor and an intrepid detective again challenge psychotic criminals across a landscape teetering between the sophisticated and the savage, the thrilling future and the primitive past.
  Updated 2.25.10
  
• The Winter Thief: Kamil Pasha
  Author: White, Jenny
  $ 24.95 ISBN: 9780393070170 Date: 2010
  Booklist
  Exploring the dark obsessions of the most powerful and dangerous men of the dying Ottoman Empire, The Winter Thief also reflects the mad idealism of those turbulent times.
  Updated 1.28.10
• The Mapping of Love
  Author: Winspear, Jacqueline
  $ 25.95 ISBN:9780061727665 Date: 2010
  LJ
  In this latest installment in the New York Times-bestselling series, Maisie Dobbs must unravel a case of wartime love and death--an investigation that leads her to a doomed affair between a young cartographer and a mysterious nurse.
  Updated 2.25.10