Historical Thriller Books

The best historical thriller book reviews. Historical thrillers feature suspenseful situations set in specific time periods, in which the survival of fictional characters are threatened by the real circumstances of prior historical eras and places.

Miriam in the Shadows, an Electrifying World War II Spy Thriller

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The Bottom Line: An electrifying World War II spy thriller that is deeply atmospheric, propulsive and profoundly human. Set during World War II, Miriam in the Shadows opens as Jewish Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent Miriam Maduro plunges toward Nazi-occupied northern France. Her mission is to infiltrate a heavily fortified enemy installation linked to Germany’s secret rocket program and sabotage it from within. The task is made all the more harrowing […]

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Red Mound, an Archeology Thriller With a Huge Payoff

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The Bottom Line: Red Mound digs up dread by inches, then delivers a shocking finale that readers won’t soon forget. B.D. Smith’s Red Mound opens with an archaeological mystery already sealed in dread. Centuries before the main action, a temple mound in the lower Mississippi Valley, in what is now eastern Arkansas, is ritually sealed, its central chamber protected by ceremony and clean white sand.

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The Unlikely Huntress, an Explosive New Spy Thriller by Stephen Maitland-Lewis

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The Bottom Line: Atmospheric and explosive, The Unlikely Huntress builds dread in whispers and delivers its punches with startling force Stephen Maitland-Lewis returns to the harrowing world he built in Legacy of Atonement with a powerful sequel, The Unlikely Huntress. Set nearly a decade after the events of the first novel, ten years have passed since young Giselle Faber, then a recent graduate in her first job, stumbled into a

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Vatican Daughter is the Year’s Best Conspiracy Thriller

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The Bottom Line: Voted the Year’s Best Conspiracy Thriller in the 2025 BestThrillers.com Book Awards. The novel begins in Vatican City, where newly elected Pope Joseph Morris slips into the papal garments. Just before stepping out to greet the adoring throngs in St. Peter’s Square, he asks one of the assisting clergy, Cardinal Roselli, to hear his confession. And much to Roselli’s surprise, the Pope discloses

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Swallowing the Muskellunge, a Lyrical Historical Fantasy Thriller by Lawrence O’Brien

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The Bottom Line: A historical fantasy with teeth, told with startling elegance and lyricism. Swallowing the Muskellunge is the story of London Oxford, an ex-slave navigating a world where freedom can be threatened by violence, the whims of powerful men and forces he cannot name. London commits his family to a precarious northbound winter caravan of sleighs headed toward a “promised land” in what would

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Justice for Emerson is the Year’s Best Mystery Novel

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The Bottom Line: Voted the Year’s Best Mystery Novel in the 2025 BestThrillers.com Book Awards. Karen E. Osborne’s chilling new novel opens at the headquarters of a local not-for-profit organization 45 minutes North of New York City. If you’re the kind of reader who warns characters about the dangers of dark basements, prepare to get started in the very first chapter. Aria, the organization’s 50-year-old CEO,

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Midnight Burning is the Year’s Best Historical Thriller

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The Bottom Line: Voted the Year’s Best Historical Thriller in the 2025 BestThrillers.com Book Awards. Midnight Burning fuses authentic history with exhilarating storytelling. Its seamless mix of fact and fiction feels both inventive and uncannily real, creating a narrative that surprises even as it rings true. The result is a bold, original thriller about a slice of American history that has largely been forgotten. Levine plunges

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Echoes of Fortune: Shadows Over Cozumel, by David L. Leng

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The Bottom Line: Leng’s world of sunken secrets moves fast, hits hard and lands every shot.  The second installment in David R. Leng’s Echoes of Fortune series deepens the mythology of lost American civil war secrets while plunging its characters into far more perilous waters. What begins as a Thanksgiving dive vacation for three Americans quickly turns into a deadly struggle against history itself. Shadows Over Cozumel finds historian Jack

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The Best Lucy Foley Books in Order (Updated!)

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Looking for a list of Lucy Foley books in recommended reading order? You’ve come to the right place. Bestselling British author Lucy Foley is a favorite among fans of contemporary mystery and crime fiction and critics alike. She also writes historical fiction. Further, one of her short stories is included in a collection of Agatha Christie fan fiction focusing on Christie’s iconic character Mrs. Marple.

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The Seventh Wonder, a High-Stakes Archeology Thriller by Andrew Siditsky

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The Bottom Line: A fast-moving, high-stakes archeology thriller that is perfect for fans of Dan Brown, Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child.  The Seventh Wonder opens in 270 B.C.E., as a Macedonian warship approaches the ancient city of Alexandria. The crew believes they are seeing the impossible – the legendary lighthouse of Alexandria, thought to have been destroyed. Just minutes after its menacing appearance, the ship bursts into flames.  

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