Although Lady Antonia Fraser is best known as an historian with a strong interest in biography and women's studies, she has also written a series of elaborately plotted mystery novels featuring television commentator Jemima Shore, works reflecting the author's background and scholarly interests. Fraser has said that the mystery writers she most admires are principally women, and her own mysteries are influenced by them: the intricate plots of Dorothy Sayers, the carefully researched backgrounds of Elizabeth Peters, the business insights of Emma Latham, the exposure of village nastiness amid picturesque rural settings of Agatha Christie and Ruth Rendell, the psychological complexities of P. D. James, and the dry, dark humor of Patricia Highsmith. Critics have described Fraser's works as witty, droll, stylish, sophisticated, and literate, and they praise her skill at deftly bringing together history, scholarship, theater, and detection. Fraser aims for straightforward mystery stories against a variety...