Hello, mystery fans! At the end of 2023, I ran out of new podcast episodes, so I started looking for new ones and also decided to start at the beginning of podcasts that I was only listening to current drops since I’d started. Which is all to say, it’s how I discovered a really interesting story on how Tom Clancy became a big-name author (hint: it involved a president) on this episode of the Book Riot podcast: Accountability Pants. It’s also really interesting to listen to podcasts that have been around a while (a decade in this case!) to see the then and now (in this case, in publishing!). It’s also nice to take a little break from everything being on fire in the current timeline.
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
Books Are My Language sweatshirt by BellasCozyDesigns
I love when something works for a holiday and year-round. Also, you get options between sweatshirt and hoodie, and there are 11 colors to choose from. ($45)
New Releases
The Morning Show Murders by Al Roker, Dick Lochte
For fans of celebrities writing mysteries, amateur sleuths, food, and murder mysteries set in network TV!
Before having to become an amateur sleuth, Billy Blessing is already busy running a NY restaurant, regularly being on the morning show Wake Up, America!, and working on a new food competition show. That is, until he becomes the suspect of murdering the executive producer in his new show. What’s a suspect to do but become a sleuth and clear his name!
The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett
For fans of stories about cults, past mysteries, and fictional true crime reporters!
Years ago, three members of a cult died by suicide, and the baby they believed to be the Antichrist and its mother disappeared. The baby, now reaching its 18th birthday, gives a literary agent the idea to assign the case to a true crime reporter for a book deal. The problem is, no one knows anything about who the baby is, so Amanda Bailey has a massive investigation ahead of her, which we get to watch be pieced together with messages, interviews, recordings, screenplays, a diary, a novel…It’s all just one twist after another, starting with the fact that Amanda isn’t the only person on this assignment: Oliver Menzies, whom Amanda blames for ruining her career once, is also on the same case and writing his own book!
If you like inventive format and watching a case from beginning to end, I inhaled this one in a day.
This has a great multicast audiobook — which clearly states before each entry who is speaking and through what format — narrated by Annie Aldington, Nneka Okoye, Gareth Armstrong, Sid Sagar, and Kristin Atherton.
(TW past child endangerment, attempted harm/ past assumption of postpartum depression / past mass suicide, detail/ house fire/ past child abuse)
Looking for more new releases? Check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
Last year, two good deadly game YA novels were released — Thieves’ Gambit by Kayvion Lewis and Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington — which inspired me to write a post about dark academia and deadly games. Last week, I watched the new deadly game film Self Reliance, so naturally, my brain stayed in this space. With that in mind, here are two deadly game books.
A Killer’s Game by Isabella Maldonado
For fans of procedurals!
Dani Vega is an FBI agent who witnesses a murder in NY by an assassin for hire, Gustavo Toro. Rather than being taken into custody, Toro makes a deal that ropes Vega in. The problem is the operation they think they’re in charge of ends up luring 13 people, including Dani, into an isolated building where the puppet master promises only one will come out alive…
Hide by Kiersten White
For fans of horror!
Imagine being offered $50,000 to hide in an amusement park for a week and not get caught! This is the offer made to 14 people, including Mack, who is living in a homeless shelter. Mack is confident in her chances of winning — how hard is hide and seek anyways? — but soon, she’ll figure out that the stakes are her life…
News and Roundups
Andrew Scott is Talented Career Criminal Tom Ripley in First Teaser for Netflix’s Ripley
10 Best Harlan Coben Book Adaptations, Ranked
Louise Penny’s 19th Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Announced
Sparkly and Fun Stickers for Library Lovers
Anti-Book Ban Bill Introduced in Colorado
Ruth Wilson on her new series The Woman in the Wall
I’m Terrible At Murder Mystery Games, But I Love Murder Mystery Games
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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