The results are in for the 2021 Historical Mystery Reader Survey. Thanks to all the readers–over one thousand!–who took the time to share their reading habits. The survey results bring some interesting information about historical mystery readers to light.
Historical mystery readers are an intellectual bunch. They like to learn and think.
The number one reason for reading historical mysteries was to learn about history and/or other cultures followed closely by a desire to take part in an iIntellectual puzzle and use the “little gray cells” instead of forensics to solve a whodunit.
Recent time periods are favorites of historical mystery readers.
Historical mystery readers tended to be drawn to the 1920s and 1930s time period. The Interwar years came in as the number one most popular time period. The Victorian era was second, while books set in the Regency and Edwardian periods were third and fourth most popular.
Historical mystery readers are avid readers.
Thirty seven percent of historical mystery readers read between five and ten books a month, while over twenty five percent reported they read at least one to four books a month. Nearly twenty percent of the respondents said they read more than fifteen books each month. That’s a lot of books!
Historical mystery readers also love other genres.
The most frequently read genre besides Historical Mystery was Suspense at fifty one percent, followed by Romance at forty percent, then Biography at thirty four percent. Other high ranking genres included Fantasy and Thriller.
Favorite comments on why historical mystery readers love the genre.
My favorite section was the “other” section under “Why do you read historical mysteries?” In case one of the preset responses didn’t match the reasons a reader was drawn to historical mysteries, I added an open comment line and those were some of my favorite responses. They included:
“Intrepid women . . . leading edge women.”
“Imagine myself as a grand society lady.”
“I like the way people are the same no matter where they live.”
Those brief comments sum up our love of historical mysteries. We love to get the inside story on life during other times. We like to imagine living in those times—especially the glamours bits! And it comes back to the fact that despite differences in culture or time period, we all have hopes and desires and mysteries in our lives.
Happy reading and click here to give your response for next year’s survey. The 2022 Historical Mystery Readers survey will run from now until next September. Results will be posted next year on Historical Mystery Day, September 29, 2022.
Learn more about Historical Mystery Day here.
Historical details provide an extra layer of interest to a mystery
Yes, I agree!