The Rap Sheet’s Top Historical Crime Novels

by Ace Atkins

Atkins (Wicked City, 2008, etc.) writes so well that some readers—but not all—will forget to ask if that’s enough to... Full review >

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by Laura Wilson

Wilson (Telling Lies to Alice, 2004, etc.) kicks off this new series with memorable portraits of witheringly evasive... Full review >

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by J. Sydney Jones

A well-appointed period mystery with interesting roman à clef notes that remains appealing despite the sometimes flat-footed... Full review >

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by Richard E. Crabbe

Though some stretches of incredibility crop up as this extensive plot unfolds, superb detail and abundant action make this a... Full review >

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by Kris Nelscott

Powerful stuff, with a role for every major black actor in Hollywood. Despite an opening two pages that should have been... Full review >

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by Loren D. Estleman

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by Jed Rubenfeld

An intriguing literary mystery mixing fact and fiction. Full review >

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by John MacLachlan Gray

Smart, but echoing too familiarly. Full review >

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by Linda L. Richards

Stop-and-go detection, inconsequential complications and a heroine who alternates between tough-cookie smarts and... Full review >

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by Tom Bradby

Tense and rather lush, expertly working the wonderful setting without overplaying the cultural clash: eerily well suited to... Full review >

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by Eddie Muller

Pungent, poignant, wonderfully atmospheric—an absolute knockout of a first novel. If it doesn’t get at least short-listed... Full review >

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by Louis Bayard

Who says they don’t write ’em like this anymore? Long may Bayard reign. Full review >

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