The Best Historical Fiction of 2025 (CRIMEREADS)

By Molly Odintz: "As the new Gilded Age continues, income inequality soars, and more and more public institutions are dismantled for private riches, historical fiction can read as rather contemporary. Perhaps that is why the 18th and 19th centuries feature so prominently in the list below (although if we must be burdened with the policies of these eras, we could at least gain access to their hats). Strongly represented is also the intersection of space, culture, and politics, with heavy use of symbolism to connect private environments to the wider world."