Books like “A Study in Scarlet Women”

What to read after “A Study in Scarlet Women” by Sherry Thomas: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
The House of Silk
Anthony Horowitz · 2011
Same genre: “Historical mystery” and “Detective fiction”
- Victorian London Atmosphere
- Eccentric Detective
Sherlock Holmes is asked to guard a London art dealer who is being followed, and the case opens onto two mysteries: a gang known as the House of Silk, and a crime so dangerous that Watson can only set it down years later, in a final untold adventure.
2
The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter
Theodora Goss · 2017
Same genre: “Historical mystery”
- Victorian London Atmosphere
- Found Family
Mary Jekyll, orphaned and poor, sets out to find her father's old colleague, the missing Doctor Hyde. Instead she gathers a family of young women who are the daughters or creations of famous scientists, from Moreau and Jekyll to Rappaccini. Together they investigate a series of murders in Victorian London.
3
The Great Train Robbery
Michael Crichton · 1975
Similar setting: “Victorian London Atmosphere”
- Victorian London Atmosphere
In 1855 a polished thief plans to steal a shipment of gold being carried by train from London toward the Crimea. He gathers a crew, copies the four keys to the safes and studies the timetable, while a police informant threatens to expose the scheme.
4
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle · 1892
Same genre: “Detective fiction”
- Victorian London Atmosphere
- Eccentric Detective
Twelve stories follow London's most observant detective and his friend Dr Watson as they untangle impossible crimes, strange clients and quiet suburban mysteries from their rooms on Baker Street.
5
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
Jesse Q. Sutanto · 2023
Same genre: “Detective fiction”
- Eccentric Detective
- Found Family
Vera Wong runs a quiet, failing tea shop in San Francisco's Chinatown. Finding a dead man on her floor, she decides the police will bungle it, takes charge of the case and invites the victim's circle to tea, feeding them and questioning them until the truth spills out.
6
The Moonstone
Wilkie Collins · 1868
Same genre: “Detective fiction”
- Eccentric Detective
- Dual Identity
A priceless yellow diamond looted from an Indian temple is left to Rachel Verinder on her birthday, and vanishes the same night. Family, servants, doctors and a famous detective each tell their part of the story as suspicion moves from one person to another.
7
The Maid
Nita Prose · 2022
Same genre: “Detective fiction”
- Eccentric Detective
- Found Family
Molly Gray, a hotel maid who likes everything neat and exact, finds a wealthy guest dead in his bed. Her odd manner and a string of misunderstandings make the police treat her as the main suspect, so she begins her own careful investigation to clear her name.
8
The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie
Jennifer Ashley · 2009
Similar setting: “Victorian London Atmosphere”
- Victorian London Atmosphere
Lord Ian Mackenzie is brilliant, eccentric and widely believed to be mad. Widow Beth Ackerley looks past the rumours and sees the man beneath. Drawn together in Victorian London and the Highlands, they must face his family's secrets and a danger that has haunted him since childhood.
9
Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens · 1838
Similar setting: “Victorian London Atmosphere”
- Victorian London Atmosphere
- Found Family
An orphan raised in a workhouse runs away to London, where the thief Fagin takes him into a band of child pickpockets. Kind strangers try to rescue him while the criminals want him back for their own plans. The novel follows his search for a home and the mystery of his birth.
10
The Thursday Murder Club
Richard Osman · 2020
Same genre: “Detective fiction”
- Eccentric Detective
- Found Family
Four friends in a retirement village meet weekly to look over unsolved crimes, until a murder happens on their doorstep. As the bodies add up, they use a lifetime's worth of skill and nosiness to work the case the police cannot close.
11
Clockwork Angel
Cassandra Clare · 2010
Similar setting: “Victorian London Atmosphere”
- Victorian London Atmosphere
- Found Family
In Victorian London, Tessa Gray is kidnapped by the Dark Sisters and learns she is a shape-shifter. Rescued by the Shadowhunters, she is drawn into a fight against a powerful enemy while navigating her feelings for two brothers, Will and Jem.
12
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett · 2020
Similar plot moves: “Dual Identity”
- Dual Identity
Twin sisters from a small Southern town where everyone is light-skinned choose opposite lives: one returns to raise a Black daughter, the other passes as white and hides her past. Across the decades, their daughters' paths unexpectedly cross.