Fall is the perfect time to cozy up on cool nights with a book and a hot beverage. You might want a mystery to solve or a historical to immerse yourself in, but why choose when we have four historical mysteries that combine the best of both!
Author Patricia Raybon has written four “history mysteries” that feature strong female characters, intriguing plots, and authentic settings. Whether you enjoy World War II novels and deciphering codes or you like 1920s–era stories and solving murder mysteries, you’ll love these books!
The Sedalia Code
by Patricia Raybon
Laurette Lowe hopes her job teaching math at a prestigious Black finishing school in Sedalia, North Carolina can help her rise above her dirt-poor beginnings and the suffocating limits of the Jim Crow South.
But a chance encounter with Army Lieutenant Nev Pierce threatens to derail her plans. When Nev requests that she decipher a cryptic message from an Italian POW, Laurette discovers something neither could have imagined: an enemy plot to assassinate the U.S. president.
With time running out, Laurette and Nev enlist a small circle of allies from the school in a cunning and courageous ploy, boldly risking their futures and lives to stop a deadly threat no one else sees coming.
All That Is Secret
by Patricia Raybon
The first in the Annalee Spain series, All That Is Secret finds Professor Annalee Spain in Chicago when she receives a mysterious telegram calling her to Denver to solve the murder of her estranged father.
Though searching for answers in a city ruled by the KKK could lead to danger for a young Black woman, Annalee launches an investigation into the crime. Along the way, she comes across two surprising allies: Eddie, a young boy searching for his father; and Jack, a handsome pastor.
All the while, Annalee follows clues that land her among Denver’s powerful elite. But when her sleuthing unravels sinister motives and deep secrets, Annalee confronts the dangerous truths and beliefs that could make her a victim too.
Double the Lies
by Patricia Raybon
A Christianity Today Book Award winner, Double the Lies is the second in the Annalee Spain series. This time, amateur sleuth Annalee Spain is the number one suspect in a murder she didn’t commit.
When Annalee offers her handkerchief to a woman crying in the library, the last place she expects to see it is next to the body of a murdered man. With just days to solve the murder before she’s framed, Annalee searches for clues among the Denver elite in a mountain lodge.
But where she expects to find answers, Annalee only discovers a house full of suspects and secrets.
Truth Be Told
by Patricia Raybon
The last in the series, Truth Be Told follows Annalee Spain as she searches for the truth behind a dead stranger . . . and the truth of who her mother really is.
Annalee throws herself into solving the case of the unknown woman. She follows clues to three seemingly disconnected places—a traveling carnival, a Black civic club, and a prestigious seminary—and wonders if she’s on the right track.
As she comes closer to solving the case, Annalee also needs to confront her hidden past to be ready to face the future.