Gas-Light Mysteries at the B&N Review

My occasional series on historical mysteries continues at the Barnes & Noble Review, with part III concentrating on the Victorian era:

While every historical era has its unique appeal as a setting for tales of crime and detection, the 19th century is exceptional — it brought about so much change on social, political, geographical, and technological fronts that the mix proves to be an irresistible one to mystery writers. How can quality crime fiction not be produced with available subject matters as the Industrial Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, the creation of organized police forces, the dawn of forensic science, and the rise and fall of Romanticism?

No wonder many of the best examples of 19th-century historical mystery emerge from, or are set in, England during the six-decade rule of Queen Victoria.

Read the rest here.