Happy Friday, readers!
I continue to make my way through this year’s Edgar Nominees celebrating the best books in the crime genre. Only four of the thirteen total titles in the “Best Novel” and “Best Fact Crime” categories were authored by women; today’s newsletter features two of those.
The first is a novel about hysteria research and treatments in 1800s Paris; the second is a true crime memoir about how an amateur sleuth broke the biggest cold case of our lifetimes. Both were very good.
Let’s jump in.
The Madwomen of Paris by Jennifer Cody Epstein
Published: 2023 | Pages: 317
Jennifer Cody Epstein was a total unknown to me before the Edgar nominees were announced back in January. She writes in the historical fiction genre, but it seems that The Madwomen of Paris is her first time adding a twist of crime into the story.
Set in 19th-century Paris at a women’s asylum, the story focuses on a groundbreaking doctor as well as the women he’s studying and “treating” for hysteria. The doctor, Jean-Martin Charcot, was a real historical figure who pioneered a lot of neuroscience and neuropathy. Unfortunately, he also convinced a lot of people that women are prone to suffering hysteria — a diagnosis and area of study that was later (much later) debunked as being fully outside the realm of real science.
The doctor’s aura of misconduct is present throughout, but the real stars of the narrative are the women in the asylum. Laure, a former patient who’s become a nurse, is charged with attending to Josephine, a new patient who arrived bloody and unaware of what happened to her.
Though it’s a slow burn at first, the story picks up in the second half and the mystery about why Josephine is at the asylum is slowly revealed. It’s never a barnburner, but I was consistently intrigued enough to keep turning the pages.
The sense of place, the historical accuracy, the believability of the characters, the puzzle of the crime — all of it really worked for me by the end, even though the build-up was a little too slow at first. If you’re into historical fiction or medical/science-y stories, The Madwomen of Paris is one to add to your list.
I Know Who Are You by Barbara Rae-Venter
Published: 2023 | Pages: 242
The case of the Golden State Killer ran cold for decades without a single prime suspect ever in the crosshairs. Then Barbara Rae-Venter came along. She put her investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) expertise to good use and, within a few months, Joseph DeAngelo was behind bars for good.
From the comfort of her own home, she used DNA samples, a variety of online ancestry tools, finely tuned deductive problem solving, and hours upon hours of intense focus to build out the family trees that eventually identified DeAngelo. This pioneering area of study is basically a genealogy hobby on steroids.
Though the marketing and packaging of the book focuses on the Golden State Killer, Rae-Venter brings readers on a full-scale tour of her post-retirement career as an investigative genealogist. She started out helping adoptees find blood-related family members but soon moved into assisting police officers with violent crime cold cases.
She has identified both perpetrators and victims who had long been unknown, not only helping close case files but also providing comfort to families who had long been without closure.
Beyond the raw facts of the crimes that Rae-Venter investigated, she also engaged in a really interesting exploration of the field’s ethics. In recent years, privacy concerns have made this type of work much harder. She advocates for an approach that allows for particularly heinous crimes to bypass some of those concerns. Rae-Venter astutely breaks down the difference between privacy and anonymity, showing that the greater good can well be worth small breaches of confidentiality — just like the sacrifices we make at airports and large events.
If you’re at all into true crime, I Know Who You Are should be on your TBR (to be read) list. And if you’re an aspiring amateur sleuth, it may give you the inspiration you need to dig even deeper.
Thanks so much for reading. I deeply appreciate the time and inbox space.
-Jeremy
Thank you, Jeremy, for these two really good book reviews. I love that both books are broader in scope and thought than just crime puzzles can be. Like: "Rae-Venter astutely breaks down the difference between privacy and anonymity."
So, while crime and mystery are not genres I'm particularly drawn to, I have liked Tana French, and will certainly keep Madwomen and I Know Who in mind.
I had to double take the first book - ‘The Mad Woman of Paris’ sounds awfully similar to a book I read a few years ago (translated from French) called ‘The Mad Woman’s Ball’ by Victoria Mas! The plot sounds identical? I might have to read the Epstein one as research to see if there’s any foul book play going on. Either way - if you haven’t read ‘The Mad Woman’s Ball’ perhaps you’d like it!