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Unusual Suspects

20 of the Best Classic Murder Mystery Books of All Time

Hello mystery fans! I love a courtroom drama, and Prime has a new one with a hell of a cast: The Burial. Let’s hope the studios finally do the right thing and the actor’s strike can end.

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Bookish Goods

a compact mirror with a library card image on the outside

Vintage Library Card Compact Purse Mirror by JoyfulMoose

Cute idea, would make a nice gift! ($16)

New Releases

cover image for Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal

Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal (A Caribbean Kitchen Mystery #3) by Raquel V. Reyes

For fans of cozy food mysteries and travel, looking for tropical weather!

Miriam Quiñone already has her to-do list full — as a mother with another child on the way and a food anthropologist with a popular cooking show — when she finds herself in multiple mysteries! When visiting her parents’ rental properties in Punta Cana, she discovers someone is damaging their property. In Puerto Rico, filming a special episode of her show, she travels around the island until the host of her rental is attacked! There are lots of mysteries to solve between cooking and eating delicious food!

If you want to start at the beginning, pick up Mango, Mambo, and Murder!

cover image for A Death in Malta

A Death in Malta: An Assassination and a Family’s Quest for Justice by Paul Caruana Galizia

For readers of true crime memoirs.

In the ’90s, Daphne Caruana Galizia became Malta’s first woman newspaper columnist, and her focus became the massive corruption of the government. Nothing ever made her back down, even challenging the Maltese government, “Do your worst, you bastards, until the only option left to you is to take out a contract on my life.” After years of threats to her and her family and attempts on their lives, Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated by explosives in her car.

Paul Caruana Galizia, one of her three sons, recounts his childhood, his mother’s life, her career, legacy, assassination, and the family’s continued fight for justice in this true crime memoir. He also narrates the audiobook.

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

Riot Recommendations

Here are two backlist titles that are for fans of character focused crime books, leaning into the literary and psychological.

cover image for Untamed Shore paperback

Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

For fans of recent historical and slow-burn suspense.

Set in 1979 Baja, California — which is littered with dead sharks — we meet 18-year-old Viridiana. She’s grown up aware that her mom is anchored to her father and stuck in an unhappy life because of a pregnancy, so Viridiana’s mother’s insistence on Viridiana marrying her ex and working in the family shop is not going over well. It’s why Viridiana thinks it’ll be great to take a job with wealthy tourists, including moving into their rental. What could go wrong…?

(TW domestic abuse/past suicide mentioned, detail)

cover image of Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Translator)

For fans of remote settings with murders.

Janina lives in a remote Polish village and brings us into her constant thinking and chatting as a nature lover, hater of SUVs and their evil drivers, her philosophical beliefs on many topics, and her love of astrology. Because of her personality and being a single elderly lady, no one, including the police, wants to listen to her thoughts on who killed Big Foot — her human neighbor — or the bodies soon discovered…

(TW hunting, animal cruelty)

News and Roundups

20 of the Best Classic Murder Mystery Books of All Time

The Biggest Show on Netflix Right Now Is Based on a Comic You Can’t Buy

64 Psychological Horror Movies That Will Seriously Mess With Your Head

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley Will Stream on Netflix in 2024

14 New & Upcoming Book-to-Screen Adaptations

90 Recent Books to Read This Native American Heritage Month

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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