Six historical mysteries set in the early modern era

Jane Bitomsky is an award-winning author of historical fiction. Her debut historical mystery novel is Death by Misadventure.

Bitomsky has a PhD in early modern English history, a BA (Hons) and an LLB (Hons) from the University of Queensland. She’s published in academic journals, and volunteers as a baker (specialising in brownies and cheesecake) for New Zealand charity Good Bitches Baking.

At CrimeReads Bitomsky tagged six favorite historical mysteries set in the early modern era, including:

Katherine Howe, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

Who doesn’t love witches?

This is a time-split narrative, which jumps between the life of Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin in the 1990s, and Deliverance Dane, a woman accused of witchcraft in 1690s Salem. In her quest for a dissertation topic, Connie comes across a bible in her late grandmother’s derelict house, which bears Deliverance’s name, and reveals that her ancestor practised witchcraft during the Salem witch trials. On further research, Connie discovers that Deliverance had a spellbook (i.e. physick book), and she sets out to trace through time where the missing spellbook could be now. However, she is not the only one looking for the spellbook.

A seamless interplay of time periods, riveting portrayal of the female victims of the Salem witch trials, and it was fascinating to read about the author’s relation to two of the witches in this story.

Read about another title on the list.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is among Alyssa Palombo's five spooky novels set in real places and Entertainment Weekly's ten wickedly great books about witches.

--Marshal Zeringue