The Great War. It was supposed to be the war to end all wars. The troops were supposed to be home by Christmas.
Instead, it was a war unlike the ones that preceded it with new weapons to kill and maim other human beings.
It’s a time of intrigue and deception as spies from all sides (and those who haven’t taken sides) try to gather as much information as they can to help their countries (or wherever their loyalties lie) step up.
Also, women found new roles in society, often filling in for the men who were fighting overseas.
For mystery writers past and present, it has been a fruitful place to set their own mysteries and thrillers. Here are five mysteries set during or immediately after the war ended up to 1919, all written by women.
Most include a female detective, often a widow to find out whether a murder or suspicious event has larger earth-shattering implications.
he focus will be on the narrow time from the start of the war to 1919 since there are many books written for the interwar periods before WWI and WWI.
Betrayal at Ravenswick: A Fiona Figg Mystery
This one has been aptly described as Downton Abbey meets Agatha Christie. Brilliant Fiona Figg is reeling from the infidelity of her husband.
She thought she was the apple of his eye, but learned the bitter truth. She tries to find a way to get out of her spiral so she throws herself into her job at the War Office and volunteer work at a local hospital.
When she gets the opportunity to spy on a suspicious but appealing South African war correspondent, she takes up the challenge to find out if there is more to the man than meets the eye.
But then when someone dies unexpectedly, Figg has to figure out where her priorities lie: solving the murder or keeping her identity and mission secret.
It’s the first in the nine-book Fiona Figg series.
Murder in Belgravia: Book One in the Mayfair 100 series (Mayfair 100 Crime Series 1)
It’s the war that starts to upend customs including women in the workplace. Chief Inspector Peter Beech comes up with a radical idea: a group of women to investigate crime under the name Mayfair 100.
Of course, he has to do this a bit under the table, but they can bring in results in a way that others have failed and tried. The inciting case: a murdered lord and his long-abused spouse.
Did she kill him in self-defense? Bring in the dream team: Dr. Caroline Allardice, legally trained Victoria Ellingham, PC Bill Rigsby, and Arthur Tollman, a police officer.
It’s the first in the six-book Mayfair 100 series; the most recent one The Holborn Murders came out in 2024.
A Front Page Affair (Kitty Weeks Mystery Book 1)
It’s 1915 New York and Capability “Kitty” Weeks wants to be a star reporter.
But despite the big stories from the war, she’s only allowed to publish seemingly frivolous stories about recipes and society gossip.
And her chance arrives in the most unexpected ways: a man is found murdered at a society picnic. Kitty thinks that the police are more keen on closing the case, rather than finding the murderer.
Plus, her father is under government scrutiny for his business dealings and clearly is suspected of possible misfeasance. She decides to try to use her investigative skills to find the real murderer and clear her father’s name.
It’s the first of two books in the Kitty Weeks series.
This Side of Murder (A Verity Kent Mystery Book 1)
The war may be over, but people’s lives, like Verity Kent’s, are changed forever. She’s a widow after her husband Sidney died in the war overseas.
As she tries to manage her grief and her new role in a post-WWI England, she gets a letter that suggests that Sidney was a traitor and the story she was told about his death was false.
Plus, the letter has knowledge about Verity’s work with the Secret Service during the war, a secret she kept from everybody.
She decides that she must get to the bottom of this letter to find out if her husband had really betrayed her and their country and who this mysterious letter writer could be.
She accepts an invitation to an engagement party of one of Sidney’s best friends and finds that there are many nefarious actors at work.
It’s the first in the seven book Verity Kent series with the 7th book The Cold Light of Day published in 2024.
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club
Last but not least, we have the classic WWI book that brings the terrible legacy of war into everyday society.
Lord Peter Wimsey, the brilliant yet troubled war veteran, is trying to find peace in the world by solving crime.
In this case, he has a troubling challenge: find out when General Fentiman died at the Belladonna club since the answer will impact who actually inherits the man’s fortune thanks to a recent change in law.
But nothing is ever clear cut, especially time of death; pieces do not add up. Wartime PTSD plays a vital role in the book.
