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Unusual Suspects

June Mystery Releases

Hello mystery fans! Another month is in the books and it’s time to roundup mysteries, thrillers, and crime books that have just released and are thus ready for you to go forth and read them. (TWs are in review links)

Warn Me When It’s Time (Charlie Mack Motown Mystery #6) by Cheryl A. Head

Here’s a great series for detective fans, which just released the sixth installment and follows a team of investigators in Detroit. You get not just one PI but a whole team! If you want to start at the beginning check out Bury Me When I’m Dead (Review).

cover image of Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

If you’re a fan of dark academia, private school settings, secret societies, social thrillers, and twisty reads this is a great pickup. Bonus: the audiobook narrators, Jeanette Illidge and Tapiwa Mugweni, are excellent.

cover of dead dead girls

Dead Dead Girls (Harlem Renaissance Mystery #1) by Nekesa Afia

If you’re looking to start a new historical mystery series, like fictional serial killers, noir-ish, and want a Harlem Renaissance setting here’s your next read. (Review)

The Box in the Woods (Truly Devious #4) by Maureen Johnson

This is a rare case where this is the fourth book in a series but it is a standalone because the first three were written as a contained trilogy. The Box In The Woods is perfect for fans of the mystery genre and horror tropes as you race to try and solve the mystery! This book is the experience I’m always looking for when reading mysteries. (Review) If you want to read the trilogy start with Truly Devious.

The Night Hawks (Ruth Galloway #13) by Elly Griffiths

For fans of Ruth Galloway’s series there’s a new release! The series follows a forensic archaeologist who lives near Norfolk in a salt marsh. If you want to start at the beginning pick up The Crossing Places, where Ruth helps with a missing child case and finds herself and her remote life put in grave danger. Griffiths is also the author of The Stranger Diaries (Review) and The Postscript Murders (Review) so there is plenty of great mysteries to read in her catalog.

The Bombay Prince (Perveen Mistry #3) by Sujata Massey

If you like historical mysteries, this is a series you should absolutely be reading. Set in the early 1900s, it follows Perveen Mistry, India’s only female lawyer. If you want to start at the beginning, mostly for full character backstory, pick up The Widows of Malabar Hill. (Review)

Bath Haus cover

Bath Haus by P.J. Vernon

For domestic thriller fans, here’s a page-turner that follows Oliver and Nathan and a night gone terribly wrong for Oliver at a bathhouse, and the need to keep Nathan from finding out, which only creates more problems and tension… The book has alternating narrations between Oliver and Nathan, and the audiobook selected two narrators, Michael Crouch and Daniel Henning, to portray them so if you audio pick up that format.

Hostage by Clare Mackintosh

If you’re looking for a thriller and aren’t afraid to fly here’s a twisty one about a flight attendant on an inaugural groundbreaking flight who ends up having to choose between saving her daughter or everyone on the plane when she finds a threatening note…

Homegrown Hero (Jay Qasim #2) by Khurrum Rahman

Here’s the sequel to East of Hounslow (Review), which picks up after the cliffhanger ending and follows Jay Qasim, the most reluctant spy–because MI5 forced him into helping. If you want a character to root for and love, grab this series–it reminds me a lot in tone to a show I really enjoy, Man Like Mobeen.

audiobook cover image of Dream Girl by Laura Lippman

Dream Girl by Laura Lippman

Lippman has an extensive catalog to dive into–including a PI series and recent standalone releases Lady in the Lake (Review) and Sunburn (Review)–and has a new psychological suspense starring a novelist, which has some Misery vibes…

Runner (Cass Raines #4) by Tracy Clark

If you’re a fan of PI mysteries, this is the fourth in a Chicago set series you should absolutely be reading. If you want to start at the beginning, pick up Broken Places (Review), and if you want to jump into the series with Runner here’s my review.

Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams

The author of No Exit (Review) is back with a new thriller! (TW suicide) Lena Nguyen doesn’t believe that her estranged twin sister died by suicide, so she’s shown up to interview the state trooper whose story doesn’t seem to line up with the bit of facts that are known.

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

Here’s a fascinating read about the language of cults and how it’s used to not only get and keep power for cult purposes, but also how the language is used throughout our society, including in marketing. (Review)


Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See upcoming 2021 releases. Check out this Unusual Suspects Pinterest board and get Tailored Book Recommendations!

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

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