Hello mystery fans! In these hellscape times I try to find a balance between fighting back against our rights being stripped from us and things that bring me absolute joy. This week the sequel trailer to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (which I adore with all my being) released and I am so excited to watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
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Bookish Goods
New Releases
I’ll Stop the World by Lauren Thoman, Mindy Kaling (Introduction)
For fans of past murder mysteries, coming-of-age stories, and a dash of sci-fi time travel! In the current world, Justin Warren feels like his life has been shaped by his grandparents’ suspicious deaths which Justin wasn’t alive for. But he’s about to get an up close look at the past finding himself in 1985 – 20 years before his birth. Not only are his grandparents alive in this time, but he meets and teams up with Rose Yin – a fellow high schooler, but you know decades apart – because Rose and Justin’s future, and his ability to go back to his time period, rely on them solving the murder of his grandparents before it happens.
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan
For readers of true crime, history, and narrative nonfiction! This is a look at the history of the Ku Klux Klan, D.C. Stephenson’s rise to Grand Dragon in Indiana, and how judges, politicians, ministers, and many in power joined as members controlling the state. Until Stephenson assaulted Madge Oberholtzer, and her deathbed confessional and court case led to Stephenson being sentenced to life in prison.
Looking for more new releases? Check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
I have two opposite mystery novels but both center a creative “obsession:” one wanting to be a famous singer and the other fully immersed in everything Shakespeare.
Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson
This opens with a crime without context: Enchanted Jones has no memory and is in a room covered in blood and a dead body. Then we go back to before, and watch as 17-year-old Enchanted Jones wants nothing more than to be a famous singer and how people prey on young women with big dreams. It’s a ripped-from-the-headlines type story.
(TW sexual assault and attempted, on page/ partner abuse/ emotional abuse, manipulation)
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
The novel opens with Oliver – one of seven students who attended the Dellecher Classical Conservatory and ate, slept, breathed everything Shakespeare – being released from jail for murder. A detective comes to ask if he’ll now finally reveal what really happened ten years ago at the Conservatory…
News and Roundups
Riot Roundup: The Best Books We Read January-March 2023
Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose is GMA Book Club pick for April
The Night Agent Leads Netflix Top 10 for Second Week in a Row
Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See upcoming 2023 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 Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy — you can find me under Jamie Canavés.
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