Hello mystery fans! Thanks to a group chat I have been pushed to finally start watching The White Lotus (Max) — I hate almost everyone and am rooting for many murders.
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Bookish Goods
New Releases
Unnatural Ends by Christopher Huang
For fans of alternative sibling POV, historical mysteries (1921), and murder mysteries with a will.
Sir Lawrence Linwood’s three adopted children — each in a different part of the world with their own careers (archeologist, journalist, engineer) — have returned home to the family estate in Yorkshire because he’s been murdered. Now Caroline, Roger, and Alan discover that their father’s will has a strange provision: whoever solves his murder will inherit the estate…
This is high up on my TBR list (I’ve been hoping for an audiobook!) since I really enjoyed his previous historical mystery, A Gentleman’s Murder.
Night Will Find You by Julia Heaberlin
For fans of past mysteries and procedurals that turn to a “psychic” for help.
Vivvy Bouchet grew up with her mom and sister. Since childhood she’s had OCD and seems to have her mom’s psychic gifts. The difference is her mom called herself such and saw clients and Vivvy instead grew up to be an astrophysicist. But the boy whose life she saved as a kid, from a vision, is now a cop and he’s connected her with a case of a missing child. The detective on the case does not believe in psychics nor Vivvy but the child has never been found and her mother, in prison, continues to claim she’s innocent. Can Vivvy help? Or will ending up on an extremist podcaste’rs radar cause even more damage to the case?
I got sucked in from the opening hook of this novel and rearranged my to-do list for the day to be able to spend more time listening to the audiobook and its wonderful narrator, Karissa Vacker (The Banker’s Wife, Take Your Breath Away, Young Rich Widows). Definitely one of the best mysteries of the year.
(TW mentions eating disorder, detail/ murdered child/ brief mention past suicide attempt, detail/ mentions rape case/ mentions still birth/ past parent death of cancer/ OCD/ mentions all kinds of cases with brief mentions of every kind of violence/ past child abuse)
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Riot Recommendations
I accidentally read a galley not realizing it is a 2024 title and now I’m in the predicament of knowing this book doesn’t come out for a long time but wanting everyone to read it now because it’s fantastic. So I’ll say now that Listen For The Lie by Amy Tintera will absolutely be one of 2024’s best mystery books thanks to the sarcastic humor, fictional true crime podcast, hilarious grandma, and an MC who you can’t help but root for even if she herself isn’t sure if she’s a murderer or not…But since you can only prebuy it or tell your library to make sure to put it on their buy list, it would be cruel of me to make that a recommendation below. So instead I found two more books with fictional true crime podcasts that you can go grab right this second. The first is on the character-driven side and the second a thriller.
More Than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez
For fans of past and present stories, dual POV, fictional true crime writer, and murder mystery.
We follow two women, past and present, when Cassie Bowman, a true crime blogger, decides to write about Lore Rivera to finally make it big. The case: Rivera was secretly married to two men, until one shot the other dead…
(TW domestic abuse/ maternal mortality / mentions miscarriages, infertility/ ableism/ earthquake that killed many/ alcoholism)
Girl, 11 by Amy Suiter Clarke
This book should have been a hit — it nails so many tropes and is a real page-turning thriller. I’m not sure if the cover image or the comma in the title threw things off from readers finding this but if you read fictional serial killers, like true crime podcasts, and/or were a fan of Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, you should run to this novel.
Elle Castillo went from being a social worker to really popular true crime podcaster. For her new season she’s decided to tackle a serial killer case that has haunted her for a long time. But things start off bad when she follows a tip from a listener and finds the listener dead…
(TW infertility briefly recounted/ child murders/ child abuse/ sex offender investigated, crime not on page/ panic attacks/ past murder faked as suicide recounted, detail)
News and Roundups
Latinx Horror and Crime Fiction to Check Out in 2023
The Washington Post: Classic mysteries are having a moment. Here are a few of my favorites.
How Clue Went From Box Office Flop To Cult Hit
A mystery sparks Rina Ayuyang’s graphic novel about California’s Filipino farm workers
Maggie Moore(s) is based on a true story — the family of murder victims speak out
Jon Hamm confirms he was originally meant to star in Gone Girl
Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See upcoming 2023 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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