20 February Mystery Books To Know

A modern reimagining of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov set in Haven, Wisconsin with the family Chao, and their restaurant Fine Chao, at the center. When the patriarch is presumed murdered, the family is on trial… You get comedy, tragedy, a multigenerational and immigrant story, and mystery.

The sequel to Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder (Review)! This is set in the 1950s with a secret organization that works under the streets of London (think a little bit Get Smart) that this time has to stop a serial killer. But there’s also trouble amongst the organization when a letter arrives saying a new recruit is not to be trusted…

If you’re looking to start a new PI series, here you go. SJ Rook is hired as a guard on a Hollywood shoot in Harlem thinking it’ll be an easy, just annoying job. Instead, after a week of ignoring ridiculous claims of murder threats, there’s a murder on the last night of filming—whoopsie!

For cozy mystery fans! Odessa Jones is reluctant to ever believe any of her visions so she ignores her feeling about a wealthy businessman—who just hired her—being bad news. So naturally he drops dead after eating her food, making her and the friends who helped her cook the suspects.

A mystery, not about murder, that takes you into the world of a classical musician whose violin has just been stolen—a priceless violin that has two families fighting over it… (Review)

*Rings bell for dark academia fans* Lia Setiawan ends up with a full ride to a prep school based on her running skills, but things are immediately off from the second she steps foot on campus. By the time a student is found dead, she’ll have to figure out what is going on while also trying to avoid the wrath of fellow students trying to keep her from excelling.

(TW suicide, detail/ talks about eating disorders/ disordered eating bc of stress, finance)

I am a huge fan of Mariko Tamaki’s graphic novels (This One Summer; Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me) so I’m really excited to read her YA novel. We have a dead boy, a cop investigating, and a girl with only questions. This character-driven mystery is told by the dead boy leading us through the events of his life that ended with him naked and frozen in a park.

For a fun contemporary, follow along as Hayden McCall, a Seattle teacher, wakes up after a one-night stand with Camilo Rodriguez alone in Camilo’s home. Soon he discovers Camilo has gone missing. After realizing the case won’t be taken very seriousl,y he teams up with Camilo’s friends to find out what is going on.

If you like psychological mysteries/social thrillers, pick this one up. Two Black girls are best friends: Farrah has Black parents and they are currently losing their middle class financial standing; Cherish was adopted by white parents who are very wealthy. As Farrah’s home life feels like it’s crumbling around her, she starts to find a new home in Cherish’s family. But the more she tries to find a footing, the more out of control things feel…

A modern PI story with a unique-ish twist: she’s an amateur sleuth working for a detective agency that only works based on referrals and investigates online dating. Want to know if that catch you just found is really a catch? In comes Claudia Lin. But it’s not that easy: she’s still learning the job, has a client die who’s not who they said they were, and her family wants her to have a totally different life. (I’m halfway through and loving it, especially Claudia Lin’s character.)

Calling all gothic mystery fans! Lena is desperate for work, so she overlooks a strange interview to take a job with a super wealthy family with a job offering that doesn’t actually state specifically what the job is. Then Lena learns her new employer is responsible for the current demise of her family and well…revenge must be the only thing on the menu.

Another utterly delightful entry into this Victorian era series featuring the crime solving team of Veronica Speedwell, a lepidopterist, and Stoker, a natural historian. They are a grump and sunshine pairing who this time must investigate whether a missing-presumed-dead man is actually back and living or a fraud. For funskies: someone in this book never revealed a very important thing in their past and surprise! It’s back! If you want to start at the beginning, pick up A Curious Beginning.

The sequel to Arsenic and Adobo! We’re back with Lila Macapagal starting where the first book ended. She’s working on opening a coffee shop, is judging a pageant, and well it’s a cozy so she’s on murder-solving duty again. If you’re a foodie you’ll love the descriptions in this one as Lila works really hard to create new recipes and perfect old ones. If you don’t like spoilers, I’d start with the first one—but you can start here and never be lost. If you were so-so on the first one, I would still definitely give the sequel a try. If you audio, I’d pick that format. The author provides content warning at the opening of the book: “PTSD, fatphobia, fertility/pregnancy issues, predatory behavior, unresolved grief, parental death (occurred in childhood), and dismissive attitudes toward mental health.”

Our “accidental” criminals are back! Finlay Donovan should be working on finishing her next novel which she hasn’t even started yet—she’s too busy with two young kids and trying to keep her ex-husband alive when she discovers an online post that has put out a hit on him. Enter chaos, hijinks, and fun as her and her babysitter enter the world of crime to stop crime (Review). If you want to start at the beginning, pick up Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Review).

For nonfiction, crime, history, and science fans. You’ll learn about eleven poisons by looking at murder cases where said poisons were used.

A sister arrives at her brother’s apartment where he said he’d be at waiting for her only to find he’s not. No one has seen him and no one appears helpful or concerned in this apartment building. Readers watch his sister try to figure out what happened while getting to know her brother’s neighbors, all while everyone looks equally potentially guilty. The audiobook has a multicast!

TW: diet culture, fatphobia/ brief mention past child abuse, not graphic/ potential partner abuse/ mentions past child predator, no details/ sexual harassment, flashing/ opiates/ mentions past statutory, not graphic/ date rape drug used, no assault/ stalking, obsession/ attempted suicide/ mentions past infertility/ forced prostitution/ brief mention of suicide, detail)

Joe Ide, who authored the IQ series, has taken on a giant of the mystery world: Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe. Here he has reimagined the iconic detective and placed him in current day Los Angeles. And you get not one but two cases: a Hollywood starlet’s missing daughter and a custody dispute kidnapping.

For Agatha Christie fans, here’s a new reimagining of what happened during the 11 days where Agatha Christie disappeared in real life (not to be confused with Marie Benedict’s The Mystery of Mrs. Christie). In this novel the focus is on Miss Nan O’Dea, Agatha Christie’s husband’s mistress…

The story of the man convicted and sentenced to death for murdering a teenager who conned his way out of prison in the ’60s only to gain fame and fortune and attempt murder again.

From the author of Darling Rose Gold: two sisters lives split lives when one moves to an island for a sounds-like-a-cult experience that allows no contact. Six months later her sister receives an email from the “cult” threatening to expose a secret…