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Panama by Eric Zencey - An outstanding semi-historical murder mystery novel set in Paris at the turn-of-the-century. Zencey is a professor of history at Goddard and brings Henry Adams and Panama Canal shenanigans of the French to life.
The Alienist by Caleb Carr - Another murder mystery, but this one is in turn-of-the-century New York.
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson - A whodunit set in the San Juan islands in Puget Sound off the coast of Washington that explores some issues a little beyond the normal murder-mystery as it delves into Japanese/American relations shortly after the Second World War. Compared to the typical thriller, this and the two prior books spend more time setting the scene, describing the period, and developing the characters.
The Horse You Came In On by Martha Grimes - Scotland Yard's superintendent Richard Jury comes to America to investigate the murder of young Philip Calvert, who worked in Philadelphia's Barnes Foundation and finds two other murders and a newly discovered (but bogus) story attributed to Edgar Allan Poe. This may be even too complicated for the
audio version, but we were amused as we drove to Cape Cod. If you like Martha Grimes, check out
The Old Silent,
The Dirty Duck, and
The Old Contemptibles.