Author: Jamie Canaves

Hello mystery fans! After reading a great mystery that is told in reverse chronology, I decided to roundup a few more mysteries told backwards.

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Sponsored by Book Riot’s 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2018 Giveaway

We’re giving away ten of our favorite works of nonfiction of the year! Click here to enter.

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Backwards Procedural With Great Puzzle Mysteries (TW rape/ suicide)

The Borrowed by Chan Ho-Kei, Jeremy Tiang (Translation): This was a great read that I think will appeal to many types of mystery fans. You get an apprenticeship; a procedural; lots of good, different-from-each-other, twisty puzzle mysteries; and a historical look at social/political changes in Hong Kong. It starts in the present day moving to the past, always following the same detective, Kwan Chun-dok, who had a thirty year career with a hundred percent success rate–I know! Seriously, so great. The opening is big, too. It’s a case of a dead man that takes place in the hospital room of a comatose detective, who is solving the case while in said coma, and one of the victim’s family members, also in the room, is the murderer. Watching the twists, and the unraveling is really fun, and you get six different mysteries that are all different–while tied together because of the detective and his career. I found it to be a super satisfying mystery and demand more of Ho-Kei’s work be translated, please!

Small Town Mystery Told Backwards (It’s been so long I’m sorry I don’t remember potential trigger warnings.)

All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda: So this one overall is a thriller with a premise that is common: Young woman returns back to her small hometown where there is a long-ago mystery still unsolved. But this one stands out in that a good chunk of this book is told in reverse chronological order. Nic returns home to the town where, as a teenager, her best friend went missing; her and her brother, boyfriend, and friend’s boyfriend were all the suspects. Hence her getting out of Dodge and not being happy about going back, especially since upon returning another girl disappears! And that’s when this story goes backwards–literally. While this is a twisty page-turner, my favorite part that resonated with me was watching Nic as an adult reviewing for the first time her childhood relationships.

Suspense and Friendship Mostly Told Backwards (TW suicide)

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart: Jules appears to be on the run, or hiding, when it seems she’s found and must run again. From there, we’re taken back to her friendship with Imogen and we start to see the pieces of her life stack together, while being told backwards. While this isn’t so much a mystery about what, because we’re usually told that–or you’ll possibly figure it out–it’s more about the who, how, and why until the next reveal in the story which I found interesting. While I did enjoy the narrator on the audiobook and recommend it, if you zone out during audiobooks or get lost easily go with the print.

Recent Releases

For Better And Worse by Margot Hunt (If you like revenge and domestic thriller page-turners.) (TW pedophile/ brief discussion about child suicide)

The Last Equation of Isaac Severy by Nova Jacobs (Paperback) (TBR: Literary mystery with a bookselling main character.)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canaves.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Hi mystery fans! The first season of Killing Eve is now streaming on Hulu and I recommend you run to this fantastic show starring a psychopath I’m obsessed with–don’t judge, there’s a very good chance you’ll end up feeling the same way.

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Sponsored by Book Riot’s 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2018 Giveaway

We’re giving away ten of our favorite works of nonfiction of the year! Click here to enter.

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From Book Riot And Around The Internet

The Creators of LETHAL LIT on Your Next Bookish Podcast Obsession

7 Indie Horror, Mystery, and Crime Novels for Music Lovers

‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ & The Complicated Matter Of Sexual Assault In Thrillers

A great round-table discussion with some excellent crime writers.

News and Adaptations

Eric Bana has been cast as Aaron Falk in the film adaptation of Jane Harper’s The Dry. Super excited for this adaptation! Jane Harper is one of the best crime writers and her mysteries, characters, and settings are perfect for film/series adaptations.

Excited for the adaptation of Tana French’s Dublin Murders? We are! But you’re going to need Starz to watch it since they bought the eight-episode drama based on In the Woods and The Likeness. I’m super curious to see how the first two novels got blended into eight episodes. As much as I have been refusing to get anymore streaming services/channels. I may have to do a Starz add-on to Hulu for this one. *grumbles in vieja*

Continuing in exciting news: Polis Books launched Agora Books, a new imprint focused on crime fiction that explores important issues of our time, including culture, race, gender, sexuality, society, economy, and politics in unique and different ways, from a roster of talented and diverse authors. The first three books that will publish in 2019 are Three-Fifths by John Vercher, the story of a biracial man who discovers a childhood friend has become a neo-nazi; Remember by Patricia Smith, a novel about woman forced to reconcile with a painful past; and The Ninja Daughter by Tori Eldridge, the tale of a woman who dedicates herself to becoming a modern day ninja after the murder of her sister. Guess who already begged for galleys?!

The BBC is working on an adaptation of David Burke’s The Spy Who Came In From The Co-Op: Melita Norwood and the Ending of Cold War Espionage.

Kindle Deals

If you want to start a GREAT procedural series Land of Shadows (Detective Elouise Norton #1) by Rachel Howzell Hall is $2.99!! (Review) (TW rape/ suicide)

Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson $1.99 and perfect if you want an impactful missing girl mystery. (Review) (TW child abuse/ sexual assault)

If you like slow burn suspense and Shirley Jackson, The Boy at the Keyhole by Stephen Giles is $1.99! (Review) (TW suicide)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canaves.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Hello mystery fans! We’ve made it to the end of this veeeeeeery long year, which you’ve probably noticed since everything is now dripping in holiday decor (Happy Hanukkah) and everywhere you look are Best Of 2018 lists. Since Best Of is really a “My favorite reads out of the books I read this year” I started thinking about the books that didn’t get the attention they should have so I’m going talk about some of those today. And if there’s a 2018 crime book you think didn’t get the love it should, email me at jamie@riotnewmedia.com and I’ll share the list in an upcoming newsletter.

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Sponsored by Book Riot’s 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2018 Giveaway.

We’re giving away ten of our favorite works of nonfiction of the year! Click here to enter.

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For Historical Mystery Fans

The Impossible Girl by Lydia Kang: New York in the mid-1800s you get grave robbing, anatomists, those obsessed with physical anomalies–and a young woman with two hearts! And if that woman would like to not end up on a slab for her hearts she better find out who is killing people with body anomalies. And that’s why she spends the night as a grave robber pretending to be her own twin brother. It’s awesome! (Full review)

A Death of No Importance (Jane Prescott Series #1) by Mariah Fredericks: A ladies’ maid for the rich in 1910 New York tries to figure out who murdered the fiancé of her mistress because it looks like either her mistress or her anarchist friend may be suspects–scandalous! This plays out amongst the upper-class while the city deals with anarchists and awful working conditions for the lower-class and has a great main character. (Full review) (TW pedophilia)

Psychological Suspense & Thriller

When You Find Me by P.J. Vernon: If you’re a fan of writers like Gillian Flynn just go pick this one up without knowing anything about it. Socialite Gray King returns home for the holidays and wakes up hungover, with no memory, and her husband Paul missing. Between Gray’s addiction, the small town secrets, family drama, and a stranger leaving a message claiming to know where Paul is you won’t be able to put this one down… (Full review) (TW alcoholism/ pedophile/ animal cruelty)

Death Notice by Zhou Haohui, Zac Haluza (Translator): Great cat-and-mouse thriller filled with tension and action! This follows a vigilante who is toying with the police by putting out a “death notice” and watching the police scramble to save the person before they get what the vigilante thinks they deserve. (Full review) (TW rape/ suicide)

 

Character Driven Mystery

Newcomer by Keigo Higashino, Giles Murray (Translator): If you’re a fan of character-driven novels this one is super interesting as each section follows a different set of characters that are living and/or working in a Japanese business district where a woman was murdered in her apartment. Detective Kaga, a very perceptive man, must navigate all of their secrets and drama to piece together what may be related to his actual case. This one also works for fans of cozy mysteries that are looking for something set outside of the U.S. (Full review)

British Procedural

Salt Lane (DS Alexandra Cupidi #1) by William Shaw: This was such a good from-beginning-to-end-procedural that has a complicated lead that you’re totally rooting for. Really one of the best procedures this year that I think no one heard about–which is a huge shame! DS Alexandra Cupidi not only has a difficult Jane Doe case but she’s just moved to a new town and department, her daughter is rebelling, and her mother keeps showing up. To solve this case, and survive her personal life, Cupidi is going to have to learn to keep her temper and quick mouth in check, and if she wants to stay alive she’s going to have to be less careless! (Full review) (TW rape)

Recent Releases

Love, Hopes, & Marriage Tropes (A Romaine Wilder Mystery Book 2) by Abby L. Vandiver (Currently Reading: This is a fun cozy mystery with a zany side character and humor centering around a funeral home.)

Into the Night (Gemma Woodstock #2) by Sarah Bailey (TBR: the followup to The Dark Lake — an Australian procedural I recently enjoyed and reviewed. Great for fans of complicated leads.)

Hong Kong Noir (Akashic Noir Series) by Jason Y. Ng (Editor), Susan Blumberg-Kason (Editor)

Broken Ground (Inspector Karen Pirie #5) by Val McDermid (TBR: Follows DCI Karen Pirie of Police Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit.)

Hearts of the Missing by Carol Potenza (TBR: Procedural that won the Tony Hillerman Prize in 2017.)

Murder at The Mill (An Iris Grey Mystery #1) by M.B. Shaw (Tilly Bagshawe) (Cozy English whodunnit)

The Man who Would be Sherlock: The Real Life Adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle by Christopher Sandford (Biography/True Crime)

What You Don’t Know by JoAnn Chaney (Paperback) (If you haven’t gotten to this one yet and you like dark serial killer books run to this one! Full review) (TW rape)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canaves.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.