Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / HistoricalDetectiveFiction

Go To

1[[quoteright:349:[[Literature/TheWesternMysteries https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pk3_widows_5931.jpg]]]]
2
3When MysteryFiction meets either HistoricalFiction or PeriodPiece--a mystery set in historical time. This enables the work to draw notice from both aficionados of mysteries and of historical fiction, and the attention to detail that is required in a good mystery can be put to good use in an environment that is both familiar and foreign at the same time.
4
5At the same time, this makes good historical mysteries into a very hard genre to master--both historical and mystery fiction are noted as very demanding in the research needed. One of the challenges is that is often forces the detective to use the skill and assumptions of his time period, rather than modern investigative techniques. In settings where professional detectives would be anachronistic, the investigator is often an AmateurSleuth.
6
7----
8%%Please keep examples in alphabetical order by name of the work.
9!!Examples
10
11[[foldercontrol]]
12
13[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
14* ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'' is a PerspectiveFlip of the original ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' stories... and as it's written in the 21st century, solidly historical fiction. While Sherlock is not always the focus of the story, murders, plotting, and mysteries usually are.
15[[/folder]]
16
17[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
18* ''Film/TheBlackDahlia'' (2006) is a fictionalized tale based on the real-life 1947 Elizabeth Short murder. It was adapted from a novel by Creator/JamesEllroy.
19* ''Film/{{Chinatown}}'' and its sequel ''Film/TheTwoJakes'' take place in the 30s near LA.
20* ''Film/EnolaHolmes'' and its [[Film/EnolaHolmes2 sequel]]. The first film takes place at the time of the voting of the Representation of the People Act 1884 (or "Reform Bill") which extended suffrage in UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain. It's actually a pretty important plot point.
21* TheFilmOfTheBook of ''Film/TheNameOfTheRose'' (1986) has Sean Connery as William of Baskerville, a monk investigating mysterious deaths in a fourteenth-century abbey.
22* ''Film/LAConfidential1997'' is a mystery that takes place in 1950s Los Angeles.
23* ''Film/TheLimehouseGolem'': A SerialKiller investigation in pre-UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper London.
24[[/folder]]
25
26[[folder:Literature]]
27* The ''Literature/AmeliaPeabody'' series blends mystery, romance, and comedy in its stories about crime solving Egyptologists. The series spans a thirty-eight-year period from 1884 to 1923, with most of the stories taking place in Egypt.
28* The ''American Girls'' series had a spinoff line actually called "American Girls History Mysteries" featuring characters unconnected to their main lines, but having the same little section about the historical part in the back. The main lines have spin off mysteries too.
29* David Liss's ''Literature/AConspiracyOfPaper'', is the first of a series of novels about Benjamin Weaver, an ex-boxer and thief-taker living in the London of the early 1720s. The mysteries revolve around historical subjects such as the South Sea Bubble and the General Election of 1722.
30* The ''Literature/AristotleDetective'' series by Margaret Doody has the historic philosopher Creator/{{Aristotle}} help his fictional student Stephanous solve mysteries and navigate Athenian politics during the age of UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat.
31* The ''Literature/BenjaminJanuary'' books by Creator/BarbaraHambly tells the story of a free man of color (also the title of the first book) who investigates crime in the city of New Orleans of the 1830s, between working as a pianist and a surgeon.
32* The ''Literature/BenSnow'' series by Creator/EdwardDHoch is a series of [[TheWildWest American Old West]] mysteries set around the turn of the 20th century. These tales are carefully researched historical pieces, sometimes including real historical characters such as Butch Cassidy.
33* The ''Literature/BrotherCadfael'' series is about a medieval British monk who frequently ends up investigating crimes.
34* ''Literature/TheCharlotteAndThomasPittSeries'' is set in UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain, and was first begun by Anne Perry in the 1970s.
35* ''Literature/TheCrownerJohnMysteries'' is about the newly appointed King's Coroner for Devon in the late 12th Century.
36* ''Literature/DameFrevisse'': Benedictine nun Dame Frevisse living in St. Frideswide's convent during the UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses. She is witness to and must solve murder mysteries that occur in her small English village (which partially belongs to the RealLife figure of Lord Lovell).
37* ''Literature/DeathComesAsTheEnd'', by Agatha Christie, is set in Egypt circa 2000 BC. Published in 1944, it's the UrExample as the first full-length novel in the genre.
38* ''Literature/DetectivesInTogas'' is a KidDetective series set in AncientRome.
39* The ''Literature/ElizabethanTheatre'' series by Edward Marston, featuring Nicholas Bracewell, stage manager (and amateur detective) for one of Elizabethan London leading theatrical companies.
40* ''[[Literature/EnolaHolmes The Enola Holmes Mysteries]]'' stars Enola Holmes as the 14-year-old kid sister of Literature/SherlockHolmes. While the original Sherlock Holmes stories would not be considered historical fiction because they are contemporary to the time they were written, these stories were written in the 21st century.
41* The Literature/ErastFandorin cycle of novels, set in Imperial Russia, and sometimes Imperial Japan.
42* Alan Bradley's ''Literature/FlaviaDeLuce'' is a British girl in the early 1950s, solving murder mysteries in a fictional town near London.
43* Alan Gordon's ''Literature/FoolsGuild'' series, which follows Feste, the jester from Shakespeare's ''Theatre/TwelfthNight''.
44* The ''Literature/GarethAndGwen'' series in Medieval Wales.
45* The ''Literature/HopeStaplefordMysteries'', set before and during World War 1.
46* ''Literature/HolmesOnTheRange'': Follows a SherlockHomage character in the TwilightOfTheOldWest
47* ''Literature/JudgeDee'' is a series of novels about a Tang dynasty official in 7th century AD China, who solves various mysteries ranging from domestic crimes to conspiracies against the throne.
48* The ''Literature/JulianKestrel'' series of mystery novels by Kate Ross, featuring the eponymous Regency dandy and his Cockney valet Dipper.
49* The Justin de Quincy mysteries, by Sharon Kay Penman, are set during the rule of UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionheart (though mostly while he is away crusading, and Eleanor of Aquitaine and his brother John are jockeying for power in England).
50* ''Literature/TheLadyGraceMysteries'' revolve around Grace Cavendish, a young lady-in-waiting to UsefulNotes/ElizabethI, solving crimes and mysteries involving the royal court. Elizabeth secretly appoints Grace as her Lady Pursuivant, making her an Elizabethan equivalent of a detective. The books are set in 1569 and 1570.
51* Jakub Szamalek's Polish series about Leochares, an ancient Greek detective living in Athens in the 5th century BC.
52* ''Groucho Marx, Master Detective'' and its sequels by Robert Goulart, which portrays Grouch as an Amateur Sleuth in 1930s Hollywood.
53* The ''Literature/MarcusDidiusFalco'' series, set in {{ancient Rome}} at the time of the Emperor Vespasian.
54* The ''Literature/MatthewHawkwood'' series is about the exploits of Matthew Hawkwood, a Bow Street Runner in Regency London.
55* The ''Literature/MistressOfTheArtOfDeath'' series is set in Plantagenet England (the 1170s, specifically).
56* The ''Literature/MrAndMrsDarcyMysteries'' series follows Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy as they solve the crimes they encounter.
57* The ''Literature/MonkSeries'' by Creator/AnnePerry is set in VictorianLondon in the 1850s through the 1860s. The title character, William Monk, is at various times in the series a police detective or a PrivateDetective.
58* ''Literature/MurderAtColefaxManor'' is set in the rarely-used county of Cornwall in late 1800s UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain.
59* ''Literature/MurderMostUnladylike'' is a series of books set from [[TheThirties September 1935 to December 1936]] about two teens detecting.
60* ''Literature/TheNameOfTheRose'' by Creator/UmbertoEco is the story of the monk William with his novice sidekick Adso as they visit a famous monastery and investigate several mysterious deaths there.
61* ''Literature/OniheiHankachou'' is set in Edo-era Japan where the Tokugawa Shogunate has the Arson and Theft Control office, a team of officers appointed to investigate crimes of arson and robbery against civilians and officials alike.
62* Creator/KerryGreenwood's ''Literature/PhryneFisher'' novels are set in and around Melbourne (Australia) in the 1920s.
63* Creator/AnnePerry's ''Literature/PittSeries'' is set in VictorianLondon in the 1880s through the 1890s. Thomas Pitt starts out as an ordinary UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard Inspector at the famous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_Street_Magistrates%27_Court Bow Street police station]] and eventually works his way up to the head of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_branch Special Branch]]. His wife, Charlotte Pitt, is a well born lady who sometimes uses her social status to assist her husband by investigating parts of upper-class female society that are not easily accessible by police officers.
64* Andrew Pepper's ''Literature/APykeMystery'' [[http://www.goodreads.com/series/44584-a-pyke-mystery series]] features the titular character as a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_Street_Runners Bow Street Runner]] turned private investigator, who works in the 1840s, at the time when the new railways are opening up Britain as never before.
65* ''Literature/TheRomanMysteries'' is a KidDetective series by Caroline Lawrence, set in UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire.
66* ''Literature/TheRomanMysteryScrolls'' is a sequel to ''Literature/TheRomanMysteries'', intended for younger readers.
67* ''Literature/RomaSubRosa'' is a DetectiveFiction series by Steven Saylor, about a PrivateDetective called "Gordianus the Finder." Like the ''SPQR Series'', it takes place during the final years of UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic.
68* The Literature/SageAdair Historical Mysteries follow an undercover labor activist in the Pacific Northwest at the turn of the 20th century.
69* ''Literature/SanoIchiro'' revolves around the trials of a samurai of the [[JidaiGeki Edo period]] who serves as the [[TheExoticDetective shogun's personal investigator]]. It plays fast and loose with many {{Historical Domain Character}}s of Japanese history.
70* ''Literature/SarahBain'' follows an amateur female detective in Victorian England.
71* Simon Hawke's ''Literature/ShakespeareAndSmythe'' mystery series includes ''A Mystery of Errors'', ''The Slaying of the Shrew'', ''Much Ado About Murder'', and ''The Merchant of Vengeance''. They're all about Creator/WilliamShakespeare and a friend solving mysteries which bear strong parallels to Shakespeare's.
72* ''Literature/TheSilenceOfBones'' by June Hur takes in Joseon Dynasty Korea - 1800, that is - and focuses on a young damo (female police officer) assisting an experienced inspector in a politically-charged crime. It foreshadows the Catholic persecutions of 1801 and features/mentions several [[HistoricalDomainCharacter real-life people]], such as Queen Regent Jeongsun, priest Zhou Wenmo, and Lady Kang Wan-Suk.
73* The ''Literature/SisterFidelma'' mysteries by Peter Tremayne, where the sleuthing protagonist is a lawyer nun in 7th century Ireland.
74* ''Literature/SisterPelagia'' by the same author as Erast Fandorin series, described as "Father Brown, Russian-style".
75* The ''Literature/{{SPQR}}'' series by John Maddox Roberts follows the sleuthing and political career of Senator Decius Caecilius Metellus during the final years of UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic.
76* ''Literature/TheTournament'', being based around a murder plot in the 16th century. The two short stories involving Roger Ascham also count, with him investigating the disappearance of a prostitute in one and a threat towards [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethI Queen Elizabeth]] in the other.
77* ''Literature/TheWesternMysteries'', also known as ''The PK Pinkerton Mysteries'', is a KidDetective series by Caroline Lawrence set the TheWildWest.
78* The ''{{Literature/Shardlake}}'' series by C J Sansom has the lawyer Matthew Shardlake solve mysteries in the Tudor court of Henry VIII.
79* The ''Literature/YashimSeries'' by Jason Goodwin is set in UsefulNotes/{{Istanbul}} during the 1830s.
80[[/folder]]
81
82[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
83* ''Series/TheBletchleyCircle'': four former World War II codebreakers solve crimes in 1952 London.
84* ''Series/{{Cadfael}}'' is a TV adaptation of the ''Literature/BrotherCadfael'' book series.
85* In BBC America's 2012 ''Series/{{Copper}}'' Kevin Corcoran is an Irish immigrant living in the Five Points neighborhood of New York City during the 1860s. He returns from fighting in the American Civil War to find that his daughter is dead and his wife has disappeared. Robert Morehouse, Corcoran's former commanding officer, uses his family's connections to arrange for Corcoran to be appointed a detective in the New York Police Department.
86* ''Series/FoylesWar'' is BritishSeries about a Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle. It is set during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
87* The ''Series/FrankieDrakeMysteries'' were set in 1920s Canada.
88* ''Series/{{Grantchester}}'' is set in the 1950s and often deals with how World War Two continues to affect an entire generation.
89* ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'' started a TV adaptation of the ''Literature/PhryneFisher'' novels by Kerry Greenwood, set in the late 1920s, although some later episodes have plots not based on the novels.
90* ''Series/MobCity'' is set after the end of World War II.
91* ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' is set in Canada in the late nineteenth/start of the twentieth century.
92* ''Series/ParisPolice1900'', set in Paris at the turn of the twentieth century.
93[[/folder]]
94
95[[folder:Video Games]]
96* ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseMysteriesOfThePast'' is a PoliceProcedural taking place during the late 19th century in the fictional city of Concordia, which is heavily inspired on New York.
97* ''VideoGame/TheInvisibleHours'', an EnvironmentalNarrativeGame set in a GenteelInterbellumSetting.
98* ''VideoGame/LANoire'' takes place in Los Angeles in the forties and even has the option to set the game to monochrome to fit the FilmNoir feel.
99[[/folder]]
100
101[[folder:Visual Novels]]
102* ''VisualNovel/{{Misericorde}}'' is a murder mystery set in an English monastery in the late 1400s.
103[[/folder]]
104
105[[folder:Web Original]]
106* The ''Theatre/MrsHawking'' series is about a Victorian society widow who solves mysteries in order to help women in Victorian England.
107[[/folder]]

Top