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Unusual Suspects

Six Thrillers For the Start Of Fall

Hi mystery fans! I’m currently watching Who Is Erin Carter? (Netflix) which is a ridiculous thriller–meaning very entertaining–and I just started the new Apple TV+ show Still Up (too soon to have an opinion). I’m also currently building my next super excited-to-read list, which I love making.

You have a few more days to enter to win free books! Book Riot’s editorial team is writing for casual and power readers alike over at our latest newsletter, The Deep Dive, and during the month of September, all new free subscribers will be entered to win Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, plus five mystery books from The Deep Dive. To enter, simply start a free subscription to The Deep Dive. No payment method required!

Bookish Goods

a pair of leggings with Sephen King book covers as the print

Stephen King Leggings by ConstantReaderShop

Love leggings and Stephen King? Available up to 2XL in size. ($40)

New Releases

thieves gambit book cover

Thieves’ Gambit by Kayvion Lewis

For fans of fun YA, heists, and competitions!

Ross Quest is a thief because it’s the only life she’s ever known–her mom trained her for this life. But even though Ross is really good at heists, she wants her own life and to not be controlled by her mom. So she’s planning another life for herself until her mom is kidnapped, and Ross needs a billion dollars to save her. Enter the Thieves’ Gambit, a competition that pits thieves against each other in international heists. Quickly, Ross learns that she may be good, but there’s a lot of talent out there. She’s also been raised to rely only on her immediate family and be suspicious of everyone else, which is immediately put to the test with a past friend turned enemy and a potential romantic interest. Can she trust any of the other contestants as friends or more? Can she save her mom? Can she have the kind of life she wants, and what exactly even is that life?

Come for the fun action heist scenes (aplenty!) and stay for the dive into family and found family.

cover image The Traitor

The Traitor (Alias Emma #2) by Ava Glass

For fans of British spy series!

Emma Makepeace and her handler Ripley work for MI6 in a section that’s so secret it’s not listed as existing. So it’s especially troubling when an operative is found dead in a suitcase in his apartment. Now Emma is digging into what the murdered operative was looking into (Russian oligarchs), but if he was murdered because of his case, how is Emma going to fair?

If you want to start at the beginning, pick up Alias Emma.

Looking for more new releases? Check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

This round, we’ve got two books where there is an agency in charge–or that thinks it is.

cover image for East of Hounslow

East of Hounslow (Jay Qasim #1) by Khurrum Rahman

The agency is MI5, except in this case, the “agent” is a young man in West London who wants nothing to do with MI5 but gets blackmailed–after pot selling and his prized BMW being taken–by MI5 into going undercover into a terrorist cell. He is naturally the most reluctant spy in history. This is a great balance of thriller, mystery, and coming of age with humor.

Waleed Akhtar does a wonderful narration on the audiobook.

(TW mass shootings, terrorist attacks/ child deaths/ past attempted suicides mentioned)

cover image for Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder

Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder (Marion Lane #1) by T.A. Willberg

Miss Brickett’s Investigations & Inquiries is a secret organization located in tunnels under London in the 1950s where people send notes requesting assistance from their detectives. Marion Lane is in training there when a member of the agency is murdered, pointing fingers at one of their own. Soon, Marion is willing to put herself in danger to prove they have the wrong killer…

Karen Cass does a delightful narration on the audiobook.

(TW past suicide mentioned kind of as reveal, brief detail)

News and Roundups

Myriam Gurba visits The Stacks to discuss her new essay collection Creep: Accusations and Confessions

Student Groups Against Book Bans

15 Mystery Comedy TV Shows That Will Make You Laugh and Keep You Guessing

Stream It or Skip It: Haunted Harmony Mysteries: Murder in G Major on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Tasks Tamera Mowry-Housley with Solving a Double Murder with an Irish Ghost

The 17 Best Mystery And Thriller Books For All Readers

The Stephen King Murder Mystery On Streaming That Makes You Question Everything

Six thrillers for the start of fall

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See 2023 releases and upcoming 2024 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 Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy — you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

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