Ten historical crime novels that trace the history of New York City

Stacie Murphy began writing A Deadly Fortune in March of 2017 as a way to force herself to stay off Twitter in the evenings. (It didn’t work).

At CrimeReads, Murphy tagged "ten novels—ranging from the early 18th century to the middle of the 20th, some standalones and others part of wonderful series—" that trace the history of New York City. One title on the list:

A Dangerous Engagement, Ashley Weaver

While the other six novels in Weaver’s Amory Ames series are set in England, A Dangerous Engagement draws Ames and her husband Milo across the Atlantic to attend the wedding of a friend. When one of the wedding party winds up dead, Amory and Milo investigate, plunging headfirst into the unfamiliar environment of 1933 New York City. Speakeasies, gangsters, and the lingering effects of the stock market crash are all in evidence throughout the novel, and the fact that the main characters are British gives Weaver an opportunity to highlight cultural differences and details about New York that would be out of place from a native narrator.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Page 69 Test: A Dangerous Engagement.

--Marshal Zeringue