Favorite Wartime Mystery and Thriller Authors: Part 1
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By Carol Pouliot
I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite authors writing mysteries and thrillers set in the period of World War 1 through World War 2. It encompasses a wide range of mysteries—traditional murder mysteries, spy thrillers, and suspenseful stories filled with secrets. Happy Reading!
Rhys Bowen (Stand Alone Titles)
All the elements of a gripping novel—family secrets, love and betrayal, hidden agendas—pull the reader into In Farleigh Field. A soldier falls to his death when his parachute fails, landing in a field at Farleigh Place, home of Lord Westerham and his five daughters. Ben, an MI5 agent secretly in love with one of the daughters, is assigned the mission of investigating the dead soldier to discover if he was a German spy heading to a rendezvous with a British traitor living nearby.
Rhys’s other wartime novels incldue: The Tuscan Child, The Victory Garden, The Venice Sketchbook, Where the Sky Begins.
See our “Inside Scoop” with Rhys to learn more about this fantastic author.
Pam Jenoff (Stand Alone Titles)
War widow Grace avoids Grand Central station at all costs, until one day a blocked road and a detour force her to cut through the train station to get to work on time. She stops to sit on a bench and spies an abandoned suitcase underneath the seat. Quite out of character, Grace opens the case and finds a dozen black-and-white photographs, each of a woman, each with a name written on the back. The name Trigg is etched on the case. Overtaken by curiosity and a sudden need to know, Grace determines to learn who these women are. In alternating chapters, The Lost Girls of Paris vividly describes the courageous feats that World War II covert agents Josie and Marie, and their handler Eleanor Trigg, carried out for the war effort. A fast-paced hunt for the truth.
In 1942, Hannah Martel narrowly escapes death but loses her unborn child and witnesses her husband’s murder. After fleeing Nazi-occupied Berlin, Hannah is turned away from what was supposed to be a port of sanctuary and is forced to return to Europe. Moving in with her affluent cousin, Hannah joins the Résistance in Brussels, putting her entire family in jeopardy. Code Name Sapphire is a suspenseful story of love, loyalty, betrayal, and survival.
Susan Elia MacNeal (Series Author)
It’s May 1940. Winston Churchill is Britain’s newly elected prime minister. Having taken Poland, the Nazis are marching across Europe. If Hitler takes France, England is next. Mr. Churchill’s Secretary (Book 1 of The Maggie Hope Mysteries) introduces Maggie Hope, a young woman who’s whip-smart, resourceful, and courageous. Sadly, none of that matters. Because in 1940s Britain she qualifies to be nothing more than a typist. Soon, however, her code-breaking skills and cleverness come to Churchill’s attention. Maggie’s life as a spy has begun. The next five books in the series are: Princess Elizabeth’s Spy, His Majesty’s Hope, The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent, Mrs. Roosevelt’s Confidante.
Bradford Morrow (Stand Alone Titles)
The Prague Sonata presents a wonderful and absorbing puzzle. Otylie, a young Czech musician, receives a sonata manuscript from her father who tells her it's a treasure to be guarded at all cost. During the war, Otylie breaks it into three pieces to save it from the Nazis. Fast forward to the year 2000. An elderly Czech woman in New York City gives musicologist Meta Taverner part of an original musical score, asking that she reunite this piece with the other two, making the sonata whole again. Although there is no signature, Meta believes the manuscript dates from the eighteenth century and was composed by a master. Meta leaves her life in New York for Prague in search of the impossible. This sweeping novel delves into life in Prague during the Great War, World War II, and The Velvet Revolution. Suspense on every page.
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