MCM Reads: The Briar Club

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn is the perfect cozy night read

Who doesn’t love a good murder mystery?

But The Briar Club is so much more than that. The story centers around Briarwood House, a all-female boarding house in Washington D.C. in the 1950’s. The opening chapter only tells the reader there’s a dead body in the house, specifically in the room of mysterious widow Grace March.

Each chapter is a different perspective of one of the women, all based on historical figures or types of women who made up our nation’s capital in the years following WWII, McCarthy’s Red Scare and the golden era of the housewife.

To bring the women of the boarding house together, Grace March holds weekly dinners in her room with window brewed sun tea. This is where the women share secrets, create unlikely bonds and set themselves up to be either the victim or the suspect.

The characters range from a pretty English housewife who desperately wants to continue her nursing career, a baseball star who is on leave from the All American Girls Baseball league, an older woman who fled Europe during Hitler’s reign and a woman who is hiding her homosexuality. This book does include tough themes like domestic violence and discrimination.

I love how the author, Kate Quinn, did extensive research about the people and places she included in this story. She weaves the story with such detail about the time period, creating a vibrant perspective of 1954. It truly transports you back in time in a very charming way.

This plot kept me guessing the entire time. At times, I completely forgot it was a murder mystery at all. As a reader, you get immersed into these women’s lives and personal struggles. It’s a perfect cozy read for these cooler evenings.