Seven novels that delve into the great mysteries of Oxford

A. D. Bell lives in Oxford, haunting the city’s bookshops of a weekend, writing in their cafes and walking the winding paths of her characters.

Their debut, The Bookbinder’s Secret, features Lilian ("Lily") Delaney, apprentice to a master bookbinder in Oxford in 1901, who chafes at the confines of her life.

At CrimeReads Bell tagged seven novels that delve into the great mysteries of Oxford. One title on the list:

Charles Finch, The September Society

Published in 2008, this Victorian-set crime novel is a brilliant mystery set in and around the colleges. A student goes missing and his mother asks detective Charles Lenox to investigate the mystery. Things take a dark turn with the discovery of a body and a trail leads Lenox to a mysterious secret society.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue