Author: Jamie Canaves

Raven Burns grew up with her father, a serial killer, and now works as a cop in Byrd’s Landing, Louisiana. Not only is she dealing with having shot a teenager holding an unloaded gun, but now there’s a string of murders that look as if someone is trying to frame her. She already lives with the guilt of having been a child who didn’t turn in her father and now she’s not the only one questioning if any of him is inside of her… I just finished this audiobook and enjoyed Rachel Handshaw’s narration – definitely going to pick up the sequel, A Killing Rain.

(TW domestic abuse, murder/ mentions past suicide, not detailed/ suicide, detail/ child abuse/ discussion of addiction/ brief ableism)

Chloe Davis was a child when her father was found guilty of murdering teenage girls. As an adult, she’s moved away from that trauma and place and works as a medical psychologist. But when the killings start again, she’ll be forced to figure out what is happening now and possibly back then… For fans of popcorn thrillers and Rachel Caine.

(TW cutting discussion/ recounts past suicide attempt, detail/ talk of pedophile, no details/ child abuse/ domestic violence/ briefly mentions past miscarriage/ suicidal thoughts, detail)

This is a character driven spy novel in which Marie Mitchell, a Black FBI intelligence officer, is writing her young sons a letter in order to explain recent events. Set in the mid ’80s, we watch Marie’s life growing up and working for the FBI, but more importantly when she’s recruited into a U.S. task force meddling in Burkina Faso’s politics. The audiobook is narrated by Bahni Turpin, who is always excellent.

(I do not remember if this one had TWs, sorry)

This is a psychological thriller that is also part epistolary and I think works for horror vibe readers. Rowan Caine takes a nanny job in a dream type home that has all the “smart” new technology with the kind of family that gets the “perfect” label. So why is Rowan in prison writing a letter to her lawyer trying to explain “what really happened”?

(TW that I remember child death and sexual harassment)

Nikki Tate is a teen with way too much going on: she’s running the family casino, going to school, playing soccer, playing in illegal games to save up for college and needing to figure out what’s going on with her mom and a man that is not her dad. That’s all before her dad is released from prison, exonerated, and returns with an obsession to find out who framed him. Then people start to die…

When everyone is a suspect and the family is full of motive! A man goes missing form his bed leaving behind a ton of blood, and his girlfriend, in an Upstate New York private island. Now the investigators who have arrived to sort this out are stuck on said island, with the family, thanks to a storm. Bonus: you also get a remote mystery, past and present storylines, a missing or dead mystery, and a procedural.

(TW panic attack/ PTSD/ talk of statutory)

This is a memoir, biography, nonviolent true crime, history of the numbers, and a love letter to a mother. Bridgett M. Davis talks about growing up in Detroit in the ’70s and ’80s with the secret that her mom’s job was operating a numbers business from their house, which was a form of illegal gambling at the time–until the state saw the value in it and turned it into the state lottery. It’s a fascinating look at growing up with a secret, a mom who made sure the family was never in need, and how easily you can change something from illegal to legal depending on who wants to profit from it. I really enjoyed the audiobook which is narrated by the author, Fannie Davis’ daughter.

(TW brief mention of past child death, not graphic/ mentions murder suicide, detail/ parent cancer death/ historical hate crime, racism)

There’s a good chance you know of Crazy Eddie without knowing it based on the commercials for his electronics stores that had a DJ yelling “His prices are insane!” At one point his name recognition was higher than Ronald Reagan’s, his commercials were in the movie Splash, and even SNL did a spoof. But behind the empire and money is a story wilder than his commercials, starting with fraud. Yet even though he is responsible for one of the largest SEC frauds in America, he’s still remembered fondly by many.

Let’s start with a cozy mystery set in a bookstore cafe with twins who were separated as children and now reunited. Koby Hill and Keaton Rutledge were separated as toddlers in foster care and are now weeks away from opening a bookstore and soul food cafe. So they’re busy enough when Koby’s foster brother is murdered and Keaton, thinking this sounds like an Agatha Christie novel, decides to investigate. Time to solve a murder and open a successful business!

Here’s a mystery/thriller that alternates POV between two sisters. Hanna is estranged from her family and having a bit of a crap time, seeing as she’s broken up with her boyfriend and the blind-ish date she went on turned out to have a dark tourism website with her family’s home. Her date swears his site was hacked. But when Hanna involves the police to find her family, all they have is that they’ve moved but no one can find them. Sasha, Hanna’s 14-year-old sister, lives a super restrictive life: her father never wants her to step out of line and be anything like the rebellious teen Hanna was. But she wants to learn more about why, and about her sister, so she starts breaking the rules just a bit… If you’re an audiobook listener, Lowri Walton does a great job.

(TW brief mention partner abuse/ stalking/ mentions past suicide)

For fans of revenge fantasy, unreliable narrators, and a who-is-murdering-us mystery! We follow three college students who are secretly enrolled in a program for psychopaths at the school: Chloe, Charles, and Andre. Chloe has zero interest in school nor the program but is there to murder the guy who assaulted her. Charles is working hard in the program so that he can maintain healthy relationships and do well in school. Andre is pretending to be a psychopath for the full scholarship. They’re all minding their own business when someone murders a fellow student in the program. Naturally the fingers point to someone in the program but who and why? I will absolutely read whatever Vera Kurian writers next.

(TW nonconsensual drugging/ past tween rape/ adult child abuse/ briefly recounts teacher student statutory relationship, not graphic/ webcam hacking and non-consensual distribution of sexual images/ past suicide briefly mentioned, detail)

For fans of relentless journalists! This was one of those audiobooks that I pressed play on with no expectations but just to check out the opening and ended up inhaling it. We follow two women’s lives. Annabel is a former socialite now living in Switzerland as an expat. Her husband was on a plane that crashed in the Alps and she’s starting to think that maybe her husband’s job with Swiss United wasn’t what she thought. Marina Tourneau is a journalist marrying into a political family who expect her to quit her job–as if!

(TW: rape/ suicide)

For fans of past and present stories, unreliable narrators, and psychological thrillers! Past chapters: we watch Paloma growing up in a Sri Lankan orphanage up until she was adopted by Americans. Present chapters: Paloma finds her roommate, who was blackmailing her, dead but when the police show up, the body is gone. Talk about a mind fck…

(TW child abuse/ past child suicide attempt briefly mentioned, detail/ ableism/ colorism/ pedophile/ PTSD/ blackout drinking)

For fans of friend groups, secrets, and multiple POV. A decade after a fatal accident, six friends have gotten together in the Catskills to try and help one of them struggling with addiction. Instead one person goes missing and one is found dead… Who needs enemies with friends like these, I’m assuming.

This is a fun thriller series starring the most reluctant spy ever. Javid Qasim is a British Muslim who lives with his mom, sells pot, and thinks his new car is the world. Then MI5, in need of someone like Qasim to infiltrate a terrorist group, comes to mess-up his life. Literally, they basically give him little choice but to become a spy and accept this mission, even though Qasim is really not interested in politics. Who he is and what he believes are all about to be challenged as he’s forced to grow up pretty quickly. Highly recommend the audiobook narrated by Waleed Akhtar.

(TW mass shootings, terrorist attacks/ child deaths/ past attempted suicides mentioned)

I love that Megan Abbott writes these quietly intense stories that are always focused on some kind of sport/work obsession. In this case we have high school cheerleading. The school hierarchy has been set and Addy Hanlon and Beth Cassidy, best friends and cheerleaders, are at the top. Until a new cheerleading coach shows up, there’s a death, and an investigation… You can watch the adaptation on Netflix.

(I do not remember TWs, sorry.)

This is a horror book with mass appeal for fans of mysteries — especially since the format has a true crime podcast in the present trying to figure out how and why mostly an entire town was murdered the night of its first integrated prom. And no, this is not a historical fiction — segregated proms existed in the 21st century by having them hosted privately off campus by parents and students. So the reader gets the podcast, articles, and interviews of those who survived in the present while also taking us back to 2014 where we meet Maddy Washington attending high school in a small town in Georgia. Forced to do so by her white father, she’s been passing for white all her life until recently after an incident that goes viral placing an even bigger target on her back… I loved this book, which is a perfect fall read if you’re a mood reader, and as a retelling of Carrie, I found it better than the original source. I said what I said 🙂

Bonus: The audiobook has a multicast narration by JD Jackson, Sarah Mollo-Christensen, Joy Nash, Christopher Salazar, Karen Malina White.

(TW child abuse/ brief mention past parent cancer death/ bullying/ racism/ police brutality/ brief suicide, detail)

For fans of thrillers, fictional serial killers, and author Michelle McNamara. Elle Castillo went from being a social worker to a very popular true crime podcast host. For her current season, she chooses a case that has haunted her: a serial killer who murders using a numeral pattern that starts with the first victim being 21 and moves younger in age with every killing. She goes to meet up with a listener who has a tip only to find him dead… This was an under-the-radar book from last year that I think would be a huge hit for many readers, especially if you’re up for a page-turner that will keep you up late at night.

(TW infertility briefly recounted/ child murders/ child abuse/ sex offender investigated, crime not on page/ panic attacks/ past murder faked as suicide recounted, detail)

This is a character-driven mystery that follows not one but two CIA agents. CIA agent Lyndsey Duncan was on suspension because having an affair with an MI5 agent is a no-no. But with CIA informants dropping dead, she’s brought back in which is when she meets and gets to know CIA agent Theresa Warner, who people call “Red Widow” because her husband was murdered and she’s determined to find the killer. Clearly there is a mole in the department, but will they figure it out in time?

(TW suicide not on page, brief detail/ side character with cancer/ briefly mentions war crimes)

This is a true story that reads like a spy thriller. American Virginia Hall was initially sidelined from participating in the war because she was a woman and had a prosthetic leg but she ended up becoming one of the spies that helped win the war–starting with her being dropped into Nazi-occupied France. This is a great biography about a woman whose story should be told and a great read for fans of secret agencies, untold stories, and fantastic audiobooks.

(TW past attempted suicide, detail/ mentions types of tortures used, details, including rape/ alcoholism)