Bestselling author Marie Benedict to launch new book at The Lindsay Theater

Marie Benedict found her calling writing novels that unearth the seldom-known stories of history’s amazing women. The Sewickley resident’s latest work — “The Queens of Crime” — will be released on Feb. 11, and she’s kicking off a more-than-20-city book tour on Feb. 8 with a launch event at The Lindsay Theater and Cultural Center, in partnership with Penguin Bookshop.

“One of the goals of my writing is to give these women a second chance at having their stories told, a second chance at having their legacies known and discovered and a second chance for us to really learn from them,” Benedict said in an interview.

“The Queens of Crime” revolves around five female writers in what Benedict calls the “Golden Age of Mystery.” In 1930 London, these women — who include Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie — set out to prove that they deserve just as much recognition as their male counterparts by solving a real-life murder. The book is based on historical events from Sayers’ life.

“The more I started to dig into their world, I mean, these women are unbelievably fascinating. And as I peeled the layers back, you know, they were all friends. They were part of this thing called the Detection Club and then separately this little group called the Queens of Crime. I actually learned that they were involved in solving a real-life murder, and once I heard that, it was like I had to find out more. That’s really the premise,” Benedict said.

After spending a decade as a commercial litigator at a New York City law firm, Benedict realized she wanted to shift gears. A lover of literature and history since childhood, she ventured into the archives to find often-unpulled threads of stories that captured her imagination.

When searching for her calling, she hearkened back to the books given to her by a beloved aunt who taught at Carlow University.

“She was a poet, and she was definitely a little bit of a rebellious nun. And it was kind of her job to keep me occupied with a stack of books. … I never perceived myself as a writer of these amazing works of fiction, but her books planted a seed. I planted a seed of a love of history and a love of the sort of unknown corners in history, in particular, women’s perspectives,” Benedict said.

Those books included “The Mists of Avalon” by Marion Zimmer Bradley, as well as books by Christie and Sayers.

Benedict has published more than a dozen novels, both under the Benedict pen name and her legal name, Heather Terrell. They include “The Other Einstein,” the story of Albert Einstein’s first wife, who was herself an accomplished scientist; “Carnegie’s Maid,” which is about Andrew Carnegie’s mother’s maid and the part that she played in creating the public library system we know today; and “The Mystery of Mrs. Christie,” her first foray into the world of the legendary mystery writer, whom she revisits in “The Queens of Crime.”

She has appeared several times on the New York Times bestseller list with 2019’s “The Only Woman in the Room,” 2020’s “Lady Clementine,” 2020’s “The Mystery of Mrs. Christie,” and 2021’s “The Personal Librarian” and 2023’s “The First Ladies,” both of which were co-authored with Victoria Christopher Murray.

“That’s the best part about what I do. It’s in part shining the light on these women so we can all see them, but also, utilizing fiction to get into those nooks and crannies. And in some cases — as in this case — restore justice because of what didn’t always happen during their lifetimes,” Benedict said.

A native of Pittsburgh’s South Hills, Benedict chose Sewickley when she moved back to the region in 2004. She has spent these two decades falling in love with the area.

“Having lived for 20 years outside of Pittsburgh before we came back to have our family here, there’s just something about Pittsburgh, right? And for me personally, Sewickley … as somebody who loves history, this entire town is steeped in history, every house has a story to tell, every street, every store, and I just absolutely love that part of Sewickley.”

Especially as a writer, becoming part of Sewickley’s community has meant forming a longstanding relationship with local institution Penguin Bookshop. Several of Benedict’s previous book launches took place at the shop, and she is partnering with them again on Feb. 8 for the event that will be held at The Lindsay Theater and Cultural Center.

The event will include Benedict sharing some of her research into the history of the “Queens of Crime.” Ticketed attendees will receive a copy of the book three days in advance of its Feb. 11 release.

“I feel so lucky to have Penguin Bookshop as my partner for so many events and for so many years. I love Penguin Bookshop for so many reasons, but first of all, it’s women-owned, which is fantastic. It has been for decades. I’ve been lucky enough that they’ve been such wonderful partners, whether there are events in their store, whether they come to events that I’m doing in the larger community. I feel like we have a really synergistic relationship,” Benedict said.

This time around, she’s also joining with The Lindsay Theater to host the event. She’s feeling excited about this new partnership.

Carolina Thor, the CEO of The Lindsay Theater and Cultural Center, is also looking forward to the book launch event.

“We’ve partnered with the Penguin Bookshop in the past, resulting in very successful events. When they reached out about this book launch for such a beloved local author, we were delighted to host!” she said.

Penguin Bookshop owner Susan Hans O’Connor is appreciative of Benedict’s outreach in the community, and the work that she does to bring “airtime” to unsung women in history.

“We consider ourselves a feminist bookstore, and we are about telling stories. It’s just a great alignment of values and of how we see the world and what’s important in the world,” she said.

The bookshop and The Lindsay Theater have a history of joining together for community events, especially because they share such close proximity — they’re just around the corner from one another.

“We’ve been partnering with The Lindsay since they have been in the town. We have done small and large events over there. We’re very committed to community partnerships. We think that they are very important, not just for the community at large, but for the individual businesses and establishments. Because we are having so many people, we can’t fit everybody in the Penguin Bookshop,” Hans O’Connor said.

She added: “It’s a beautiful venue, and Carolina and her team over there are also wonderful partners. (They’re) super professional and also understand, appreciate and value what the Penguin Bookshop does, and their mission and values are also aligned with ours. … So with us and Marie and Lindsay, it’s like a perfect trifecta.”

The book launch will be at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, at The Lindsay Theater and Cultural Center in Sewickley. Tickets can be purchased at penguinbookshop.com.