Hello, mystery fans! This weekend, I’ll be watching Echo on Disney+, which was one of my most anticipated shows this year since I’ve really enjoyed what the streamer has done with other Marvel characters getting series. If you haven’t already watched, I recommend Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Hawkeye, WandaVision, Moon Knight, and Loki. It’s totally worth getting the streamer, even for just one month, and marathoning those shows.
2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!
Bookish Goods
Raccoon Reading Book Tote Bag by FrayedInkDesign
I swear I’m not turning this into a raccoons reading newsletter, but also I couldn’t not share this. ($16)
New Releases
Better the Blood (A Hana Westerman Thriller #1) by Michael Bennett
This is a new-in-paperback release this week to read if you missed it in 2023! For fans of procedurals, fictional serial killers, Indigenous mysteries, multiple POVs including the killers, and armchair traveling to New Zealand!
Detective Hana Westerman works for the Auckland police and is a mother to a teen activist daughter and ex-wife to a superior officer when a new case develops: a killer announces revenge on six British soldiers’ descendants tied to the brutal murder of a Māori chief in the 1800s. Not only will Hana have to stop the killer, but she’ll also have to deal with the past, including her own…
The audiobook is narrated by New Zealand actors Miriama McDowell and Richard Te Are.
Northwoods by Amy Pease
For fans of murder mysteries with multiple POV procedurals!
This is a solid mystery that will satisfy many tropes: struggling detective (PTSD, alcoholism), small town, multiple POVs including from the sheriff, murder mystery + missing person mystery. It’s a great mix of following the clues of the mysteries mixed in with town life and the struggling characters’ personal lives.
Eli North has PTSD from war and is self-managing it with alcohol, which is obviously going terribly. Drunk, he stumbles across the body of a teen boy who appears to have drowned. He ends up being put on the case by his mother, who is the town sheriff and is trying her best to help Eli. She feels guilt over the death of the boy, whose mom is an addict, because she feels that as sheriff, she didn’t do enough. Added into the murder mystery is a missing teenage girl, a “miracle” drug from a pharmaceutical company, and Eli trying to do right by his son and ex-wife. If there is a sequel, I am definitely reading it.
(TW teen death/ PTSD, alcoholism/ drug addiction, drug overdose/ panic attacks/ suicidal ideation, attempted suicide/ past domestic, child abuse)
Looking for more new releases? Check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
Thought I’d give some mystery options if you were joining in and working your way through this year’s Read Harder challenge. The first task is “Read a cozy fantasy book,” so I have two that blend cozy mystery with fantasy!
Murder in G Major (Gethsemane Brown Mysteries #1) by Alexia Gordon
For fans of amateur sleuths, music, and ghosts!
Gethsemane Brown is a musician who moves from the US to Ireland to teach schoolboys in an orchestra. What she ends up with is a lovely cottage that has a ghost who needs Gethsemane to solve the actual case where he was accused of the murder-suicide of his wife and self. This is a fun series with snarky humor and a great pairing between Gethsemane and her ghostly first “client” turned friend and sleuthing partner.
Caught Dead Handed (Witch City Mystery #1) by Carol J. Perry
For fans of psychics and cozy mysteries!
Lee Barrett returns to her hometown of Salem, Massachusetts, but finds no jobs as a reporter and settles as the host for a late-night show for horror movies. She’ll be the call-in psychic because the last one was murdered — cue ominous music. She plans on faking her way through the job, but then strange things start to happen, including the past host’s cat having powers and visions of real events…
News and Roundups
Readers’ Most Anticipated Mysteries & Thrillers of 2024
The Dictionary, Guinness World Records Among Books Banned in Escambia County, Florida
Amanda Knox set to produce true crime drama about her wrongful conviction
Browse the books recommended in Unusual Suspects’ previous newsletters on this shelf. See upcoming 2024 releases and mysteries from 2023. 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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