Hello mystery fans! This week I have for you a mystery that punched me in the gut, a great procedural, and a vicious thriller.
Sponsored by Hangman by Jack Heath, new from Hanover Square Press.
An addictive debut thriller starring an FBI consultant with a peculiar taste for crime and punishment…
A boy vanishes on his way home from school. His frantic mother receives a ransom call: pay or else. Enter Timothy Blake, an FBI consultant with a knack for solving impossible cases but whose expertise comes at a price: every time he saves a life, he also takes one. But this kidnapper is more cunning and ruthless than any he’s faced before. And he’s been assigned a new partner within the Bureau: a woman linked to the past he’s so desperate to forget.
Impactful Missing Girl Story (TW: child abuse/ sexual assault)
Monday’s Not Coming
by Tiffany D. Jackson: Claudia doesn’t understand where Monday Charles can be. Junior High has started and Monday isn’t there. Nor did she reply to Claudia over the summer, which is strange because they are best friends. They rely on each other for a lot and are inseparable. So what is happening? Claudia keeps getting answers that seem like lies from Monday’s family… Told in multiple timelines you get to know Claudia and Monday as friendship, class, girlhood, abuse, and the secrets we keep even from our best friends are explored. (The timelines are told in chapters labeled like “before before” “after” etc so it may feel confusing but don’t worry about getting confused just go along for the ride.)
Great Procedural (TW: stalking / suicide)
Dead Loudmouth
(Loon Lake Mystery #16) by Victoria Houston: Let’s start with: don’t be scared about the #16. You can 100% jump in here and not feel lost at all, it reads as a standalone. Police Chief Lewellyn Ferris is called when two people are found dead in a strip club. The question is whether this was an accident that lead to a pretty embarrassing way to die, or murder. At just over 200 pages this is a quick, satisfying procedural that not only takes you into the process of solving the case but also follows the community. I rank this read as highly successful considering I have zero interest in fishing, and I loved the fishing community setting.
Cruel AF (TW: revenge porn/ Heads-up a character deals with fat shaming throughout the entire novel.)
Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent: This one starts off with the crime: “My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.” And my brain went EXCUSE ME?! And then I read the entire novel in one sitting, which may not have been the wisest move since I needed to wash my brain out with unicorn rainbows after. You get the crime right out of the gate and then watch characters affected by said crime like the victim’s family, the murderer’s son… The novel is basically a page-turner of trains careening towards each other as you wonder what the wreck is going to look like–I was unable to look away! That’s all I’m giving you because if you like vicious thrillers you want to know as little as possible beforehand.
Recent Releases
Murder at the Grand Raj Palace (Baby Ganesh Agency Investigation #4) by Vaseem Khan (TBR: A delightful series about a retired detective and his baby elephant sidekick!)
Who Is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht (TBR: Historical fiction with a female spy.)
Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier (TBR: I downloaded the audiobook after seeing “dark, twisted, thriller.”)
Bearskin by James A. McLaughlin (Just started reading: So far feels like a gritty crime novel where the MC’s past is probably gonna come find him while he tries to solve a mystery in a remote forest preserve.)
Secrets, Lies, & Crawfish Pies (A Romaine Wilder Mystery #1) by Abby L. Vandiver (Humorous, good start to a cozy mystery series: Review)
Run for Your Life by Silvana Gandolfi, Lynne Sharon Schwartz (Translator) (I’m a huge fan of Restless Books and I’ve been looking forward to this thriller about a Sicilian boy and the Mafia.)
See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt (Paperback) (Lizzie Borden retelling: Liberty’s podcast review and written review.)
AND Book Riot is giving away $500 to the bookstore of your choice! Eat a four-leaf clover and enter here.
Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.
Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canaves.
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