Rosemary Simpson is the author of two previous historical novels, The Seven Hills of Paradise and Dreams and Shadows, and two previous Gilded Age Mysteries, What the Dead Leave Behind and Lies that Comfort and Betray. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Historical Novel Society. Educated in France and the United States, she now lives near Tucson, Arizona.Simpson's newest Gilded Age Mystery is Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets.
One of her six favorite historical crime novels set during The Gilded Age:
The Alienist, by Caleb CarrRead about the other entries on the list.
Set in 1896. Another classic of modern writing set in the Gilded Age, author Carr explores the new world of psychology, and especially psychological profiling, as Dr. Laszlo Kreizler delves into the mind of a serial killer who sexually mutilates his victims. The trio of alienist/psychiatrist Kreizler, journalist John Moore,and secretary Sara Howard work with Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt to uncover corruption in the police department and capture the killer who is savaging young male prostitutes, most of whom are impoverished immigrants. As murder follows murder, the team put together by Roosevelt expands to include NYC Detectives Marcus and Lucius Isaacson. The new sciences of fingerprinting and handwriting analysis are combined with Kreizler’s psychological research into the criminal mind to create a portrait of the unknown assassin. The reader is drawn into the frustrating complexity of criminal investigation before DNA and modern technologies were even dreamed of, and the descriptive details of time and setting are captivating and convincing. The Alienist was made into a 2018 ten episode TV series, which begs for comparison with the book.
--Marshal Zeringue