Hi, mystery fans! The Great British Bake Off Holiday episodes for 2023 have arrived on Netflix! I, for one, am hoping 2024 is the year of gentle reality shows—I miss the pottery and flower ones!
Bookish Goods
Ban Bigots Not Books Shirt on etsy by njdApparel
As we slide into a save-our-democracy election year here’s one of many important issues, on a t-shirt. ($17)
New Releases
The Final Curtain (Kyoichiro Kaga #10) by Keigo Higashino, Giles Murray (Translator)
For fans of Japanese detective series which are completed!
This is a great series that follows Tokyo police detective Kyoichiro Kaga and as the reader you get to watch each clue found and mulled over as he slowly solves the cases. This time around the mystery is a head scratcher of a case that connects to Kaga’s personal life. His cousin, Shuhei Matsumiya, also works for the police, and although there is no evidence, he starts to suspect two unrelated cases have to have some connection: the murder of an unhoused person and a strangled cleaning contractor found in a closet. And that’s before one of the murder victims has an item that is tied to Kaga’s mother’s death a decade prior…
If you want to start at the beginning pick up Malice.
Death in the Dark Woods (Monster Hunter Mystery #2) by Annelise Ryan
For fans of fun mystery series with an amateur sleuth!
Morgan Carter lives in Wisconsin where she owns a bookstore and is a cryptozoologist, believing in plausible existability. Basically, she isn’t certain that creatures like the Loch Ness Monster exist she just doesn’t think it can fully be ruled out. So naturally when a man is found dead from a vicious attack in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest— following sightings of Big Foot— Morgan is asked to help investigate…
If you want to start at the beginning of the series pick up A Death In Door County!
Riot Recommendations
Here are two horror books from this year that work for mystery and thriller readers—whether you already read horror or are looking to dip a toe into the genre.
Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (aoc)
For fans of the film industry and cult followings!
Tristán and Montserrat are living in Mexico City in the early ’90s and are intrigued by the mystery surrounding film-noir filmmaker Abel Urueta, and his abandoned opus. Montserrat is a film editor and Tristán is her soap actor best friend, who she’s in love with. Naturally when Tristán’s new neighbor is none other than Urueta they get sucked into the mystery, which Urueta claims is an actual curse and asks for help filming the missing scene of his opus… What could go wrong?!
Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward
For fans of books within books and fictional serial killers!
Wilder Harlow returns to Maine to write about a serial killer who use to leave polaroids of his victims. It’s a case he’s been obsessed with since the late ’80s when he vacationed with his family in Maine and made two friends, all of whom were traumatized that summer…
News and Roundups
Killers of the Flower Moon Isn’t for an Indigenous Audience. It’s for the Wolves
Tirzah and Erica discuss the state of YA cozy mysteries and mention a few to TBR on Hey YA!
The Bullet Swallower Is a Can’t-Miss Mexican Thriller
Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building Is Making the Leap to ABC
Slow Horses Gallops Ahead with Thrills and High Stakes Comedy
How Eileen’s Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway brought the twisted queer thriller to life
‘That’s authoritarianism’: Florida argues school libraries are for government messaging
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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