Just finished Dennis Lehane's latest, THE GIVEN DAY. If you only know him through his books made into movies, GONE, BABY, GONE & MYSTIC RIVER, then you'll find this quite different. It's his first attempt at a historical novel, following several different characters from different walks of life during the tumult of the Boston Police Strike in 1919. A really good read.
Previous to that I read Jason Goodwin's THE BELLINI CARD, the third in his series of mysteries set in Istanbul & the Sultan's court in the 1830s. There were two previous books: THE JANISSARY TREE & THE SNAKE STONE and they all feature Yashim the Eunuch, who tends to the Sultan's harem & has a knack for getting to the bottom of some very murky goings on. This is a great combination of history & mystery writing.
In the same vein, try Steven Saylor's "Roma Sub Rosa" series of mysteries, set in ancient Rome, They now number twelve; the first was ROMAN BLOOD. Gordianus the Finder is the sleuth in all of them. If you like the HBO series, ROME, then you'll like Saylor's mysteries, plus his novel ROMA, which chronicles the first 5 centuries of the city's history through the experiences of one family.
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