Must-Read Historical Mystery Series

This is a character-driven mystery set along the Red River, one side in Minnesota one side in North Dakota, in 1970. Nineteen-year-old Chippewa woman Renee Blackbear, known as Cash, is tough because she’s had to be. After a car accident when she was a toddler she has spent her life mistreated and abused in white foster care homes and learned to work the farms doing the jobs assigned to men as a means for money and independence. Sheriff Wheaton, who dealt with the car accident case, has always looked out for her and calls her in to help him with a murder case.

A man’s body is found stabbed to death and Cash finds herself between her time as a pool shark and working the field looking into who the man was, and who would have killed him. While she tries to figure that out, and stay alive, we also see the history of her life, her relationship with Wheaton, and his attempt to get Cash to enroll in college.

I love that Cash’s character is tough, not because a writer just wrote that adjective for a woman character but because she’s had a difficult life and this has been her way to survive, and because of her refusal to take any more crap from people. I had actually started with the sequel in this series, Girl Gone Missing, which starts just at the end of this one; I was never lost while reading it, but I am glad I got to start at the beginning. I’d really like this to be a series that continues as Cash is a character I randomly think of and wonder about how she’s doing (characters are real!). And while I’ll read any amount of pages about Cash, I like that the novels so far are just over 200 pages, letting me curl up for an afternoon and get an entire story read that completely transports me to another place and time.

(TW alcoholism/ past suicidal thoughts briefly mentioned, detail/ past child abuse)

This is one of my absolute favorite series. Is it funny? Yes! Does it have a slow burn will-they-won’t-they? Yes! Does it distract from the mysteries? No! Does it totally make it more entertaining? Yes! Does it have adventure? Yes! Sleuthing? Yes! Amusing bickering? Yes! A woman who refuses to be told what to do? Double yes!

This time around Veronica Speedwell (lepidopterist) and Stoker Templeton-Van (natural historian)–when not hilariously bickering–end up roped into a missing Princess case. Apparently, it is frowned upon in this establishment for princesses to up and disappear. And by this establishment I mean 1889 England because this is a historical mystery. The goal is to keep the disappearance a secret because clearly the princess has just taken a break and will return, but no one can know she’s missing. Plus, there are important duties to attend to and that’s how Veronica ends up being talked into pretending to be the princess until they find her. Fun! Except this is a mystery and wow does Veronica have a knack for getting herself and Stolker into life or death situations. Throw in mountain climbing, diaries, do-I-have-to-marry-him, delicious desserts, I-think-it’s-a-murder, a grump and a cheerful go-getter, and literal LOL scenes and you’re in for a fantastically fun mystery.

If you’re debating jumping in here, I’ll say that you won’t be lost because Raybourn gives you all the necessary tidbits, but so much of the delight of this series is watching characters’ secrets be revealed and Veronica and Stoker’s relationship. Plus, why only want one great read when you can have 6?