Author: Jamie Canaves

Police procedural thrillers where a detective plays cat and mouse with a serial killer are historically a very white male centered category that then opened up mostly just enough to let in white women, making it rare to come across one written by and with a Black woman MC. If you like the fictional serial killer hunted by the messy-life detective who’s suddenly partnered with a rookie thing, here’s a great start to a new series set in London. Bonus Matheson is a criminal solicitor and teaches criminal law. (Review)

Here’s a fictional serial killer story set during the Harlem Renaissance! And as much as some people love to argue that it is unrealistic for people of color and LGBTQ+ to have existed in history—as if they just magically appeared on earth the other day—they in fact did. Here we have the focus on victims who are given less focus, Black girls, and a young Black lesbian turned amateur sleuth because the police threaten her into helping them find a serial killer. (Review)

This time we have the tropes of the fictional serial killer thrillers—true crime podcast and all—with a huge difference: the focus is on the victims and dragging the serial killer monster myth out into the bright daylight to show the reality. This one is definitely a page turner and for anyone who nodded along to Lindy West’s essay “Ted Bundy Was Not Charming–Are You High?” in The Witches Are Coming. (Review)

Given the problematic obsession our society has with real serial killers, you can usually place your bet on the fact that if you’ve never heard of one, it’s because the victims were from a marginalized community. Elon Green does a fantastic job in focusing on the victims of a serial killer who killed gay men in New York during the ’80s and ’90s while also bringing the city to life, the LGBTQ+ community, and the reality of the discrimination they faced.

(TW it was hard to keep track of these because much is mentioned as part of history and cases but the main ones are homophobia/ alcoholism/ hate crimes / racism)

If you like narrative nonfiction, history, and unsolved mysteries, here’s a great read for $2.99! (Review)

If you’re looking for an Agatha Christie style mystery set in India, here’s one for $1.99. (TW ableism)

A rare case where I say that a crime novel is beautiful, currently $1.99. (Review)

Two of Tess Sharpe’s crime novels are on sale and I absolutely love her so happy day. Barbed Wire Heart is for fans of Netflix’s Ozark and is $1.99! (Review) and Far From You is $3.49! (Review)

If you want a delightful read with a young British sleuth, start this series for $1.99. (Review)

Miriam Quiñones-Smith is a food anthropologist with a lot on her plate (sorry not sorry) whose husband has just moved them from NY back to her hometown of South Florida. If her parents still lived in Miami, it would be great; but they’ve moved away and she’s left with her meddling mother-in-law who may be trying out for the role of passive aggressive queen. Her husband is being super weird, working nonstop, and not telling her what he’s doing or where all their money is suddenly coming from. It doesn’t help that her husband’s brief high school girlfriend seems thrilled to have him back in town and that her mother-in-law sure seems like she wishes they’d stayed together.

But Miriam has plenty to distract her from her sudden marital woes, including reconnecting with her best friend, hosting a food show she knows nothing about (the hosting part, she’s great at cooking), caring for her young son, and did I mention attending a luncheon where a woman drops dead in front of her? When her best friend gets accused of murder, she’ll just have to figure out who is really responsible—no matter how much the detective tells her to stop.

I love the mix of Latinx food in this book (delicious, mouth watering descriptions but also interesting history and recipes at the end), the women’s friendships, the look behind the scenes of a food show, and all the Spanglish which was music to my ears. I’m really looking forward to this series and hope it’s long-running.

(TW diet culture, eating disorder, disordered eating/ mentions past addiction/ briefly mentioned with no details: past miscarriage; past overdose; past suicide)

I got a fair amount of chores and many pieces added to a jigsaw puzzle while inhaling this audiobook. I really appreciate when an author can take a thing that’s been done a lot and still make it feel twisty. So if you really like the ride of not knowing and feeling all the twisty turns, I’d skip knowing about the book and just jump in. If you’re good with the details, read on.

Emily and Kristen are best friends traveling together and having a great time in Chile on their annual reunion trip. Emily has only just started to feel like herself again when Kristen kills a date in self defense. Now Emily is right back where she was on their last trip: having to disappear a body killed in self defense. How many times can this happen before you’re not just unlucky? With her PTSD triggered, Emily begins to spiral feeling that Kristen, who helped her get past the trauma the first time, isn’t as traumatized as she is this time. Is it that trauma looks different for different people, or does she not really know her best friend?

This is as much a page-turning what-is-really-happening thriller as it is an exploration of the long reaching arms of trauma.

(TW sexual assault/ brief partner abuse recounted/ brief past suicide, no detail/ briefly mentions history of suicide, detail/ pedophile mentioned, not detailed or graphic)

If you like reading the book first for an adaptation comes out, this series will be a series of films starring Toni Braxton and you can start the first book for $2.99!

If you’re looking for a delightful historical mystery with a wealthy Australian artist as the sleuth, pick this up for $4.95! (Review)

If you’re looking for a character driven mystery on the search for innocent or monster, pick this one up for $1.99! (Review)

Here’s a fun revenge thriller meets murder mystery that I inhaled the audiobook of! Bonus: it did not do the “mental illness is the boogeyman” thing! A professor at a university is doing a study on sociopaths by offering them scholarships to the school if they’ll work with him. It’s a secret program and the students enrolled don’t even know who the others are. One happens to be faking being a sociopath. One is only there to murder the guy who assaulted her as a teen. And one may be killing them all?…

(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)

One of my favorite reads of the year, and perfect for fall reading, here’s a social-thriller meets “is the house haunted?” horror novel (not slasher or gory)! A blended family moves into a new house where strange things are happening as the teen daughter tries to get situated, leaving her past behind. But either there is something seriously wrong with this house or someone is trying to scare her…

(TW addiction/ past overdose mentions, not graphic/ obsessive thoughts/ past child murder mentioned, not graphic or detailed)

The author of the legal thriller A Good Marriage is back with a new thriller. This time a group of four friends who went to Vassar College have now come together for an intervention for the fifth member of their group. Years before they covered something up at school and they’re all willing to do whatever it takes to keep that a secret… For fans of multiple POV and past and present mysteries.

I think if you want Liane Moriarty, but amped up into the thriller category or more focused on the mystery, Lisa Jewell is your author. This time around we have a young mother who goes missing on a date night. Years later in the area she was last seen, someone comes across a note on a tree that says “dig here”…

For historical mystery fans! If you’re looking to read a historical mystery set in the early 1900s that is based on a real person: Constance Kopp was the a deputy sheriff of Bergen County, New Jersey and then started a detective agency with her sisters. If you’re looking to start at the beginning pick up Girl Waits with Gun.

If you love psychological thrillers, unreliable narrators, and past and present chapters, absolutely pick this one up. Also great in audio and also did not use mental illness as the boogeyman. Paloma just found her roommate dead, but when the police arrive he’s suddenly gone. That starts the beginning of her mindfck “I swear I saw him dead but did I make it up somehow?” It doesn’t help that he was blackmailing her before he died… We get to see Paloma’s time growing up in a Sri Lankan orphanage up until she was adopted, and now as she moves back into her parents home trying to figure out what is happening…

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

For true crime readers and true crime podcast listeners, here’s a book by the hosts of the true crime podcast RedHanded. Suruthi Bala and Hannah Maguire don’t believe that victims just happened to be at the wrong place nor that killers are monsters. They explore real cases with an exploration of society, gender, poverty, and culture.

Here’s a horror novel I think mystery fans will like, or that can be a nice step into horror if you’re curious. A family was brutally massacred and a young girl is accused–she was covered in all their blood–and will now only talk to one person: the local sheriff’s son who has agreed to interview her for an article.

(TW brief mention of possible suicide, detail/ child abuse/ mentions past teen grooming assumed assault, not graphic and not on page)

The trilogy conclusion to A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder! This series is for fans of true crime podcasts in fiction who are looking for a series that is a limited commitment.

If you’ve been anticipating the sequel to The Thursday Murder Club, it’s here! This is one of those series that has mass appeal for mystery readers as it deals with real things but never goes very graphic or dark. It also has the fun element of a group of folks in a retirement community who have a true crime club of armchair detectives.

If you’re looking for humorous nonfiction that is what the title says here you go. Bonus: it’s written by the author of the Truly Devious series!

Here’s a thriller series that follows a Chinese-Norwegian modern-day ninja. And if you’re looking for some armchair traveling, this time around Lily Wong travels with her mom to Hong Kong where democracy movements and business family takeovers take over (heh). If you want to start at the beginning: The Ninja Daughter.

I wouldn’t call this true crime, but I think it’s adjacent and a nonfiction book that crime readers would be interested in reading. As the owner of the world’s leading disaster management company, Robert A. Jensen takes you into his world.

If you like thrillers and horror and books starring homicide detectives, here’s one to read this fall! And did I mention there’s also a locked-house mystery?

The sequel to The Inheritance Games (not a fantasy!) is here! I recommend starting with the first book about a young woman being left basically everything in a ridiculously rich person’s will. However she had no idea who he was or why he left her everything. But his family sure is NOT happy. Time to dig through the mystery of why and dig up all those family secrets.

If you’re looking for a historical crime novella that dramatizes the murder of David Rizzio, private secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots, Denise Mina has got you covered!

Love PI stories? Want to spend some time in Chicago? Looking to start a great new series with solid mysteries in every book? Start here for $2.99! (Review)

If Annie Wilkes and Norman Bates birthed something, it would be this thriller that years later I still shudder thinking about two scenes. And you can read it for $4.99! (This has all the TWs you can imagine related to kidnapping a woman into making her your girlfriend.)

If you’re a fan of Orphan Black and want a crime novel set in our world but with some sci-fi (clones!), pick this one up for $2.99! (Review)

This is the start to a cozy mystery series that has a sprinkling of magic. While it’s perfect to read at any time, if you’re looking for a cozy to slide into fall with, here you go.

After her mother passed, Alexandra Daniels was raised by her father in NY and was forbidden from visiting her family in a seaside North Carolina town. Now that her father has passed, she decides to finally visit them. Not only is she going to learn about her family–descendants from mermaids that are now human with some magical powers!–and work in their herbal apothecary, but she’s also going to learn how to investigate a murder. I mean what else would you do when your aunt is arrested for the poisoning murder of a customer who she JUST fought with?!

You get family, folklore, some magic, town secrets, rivalries, a very good doggo, and a murder-mystery! And the sequel, A Hex For Danger, is already out.

Whitney Dagner spent summers in Santa Catalina Island with her grandparents as a child and has just moved to the island to join her brother Nick in running the family tourism business. And she’s greeted by two things: the discovery of the dead body of Catalina’s Person of the Year award recipient and her brother being the number one suspect.

When Nick runs from the police and hides, Whitney decides it’s up to her to figure out who is responsible–surely, don’t call me Shirley, her brother can’t be responsible–in order to clear his name. But between the business of their tourist boat, running the gift shop, her grandmother’s shenanigans, her ex-boyfriend, and a town filled with lively characters and tourists, many things are sure to get in her way.

If you like a bit of humor, family, misdirection, non-talking animal friends that sometimes go along for the fun, pick up this new cozy series starter.

I loved this book and if you enjoyed Harlem Shuffle, or have it on your TBR list, totally pick this one up too which is currently $2.99! (Review)

For the ridiculous price of less than a dolla,r you can read this historical mystery from an author whose entire catalog I’ve enjoyed. (Review)

Here’s a great brand new murder mystery release for $5.99! (Review)

First, I have to say I went with the audiobook because it’s narrated by Dion Graham who is one of my all time favorite narrators and I will absolutely listen to anything with his voice.

This is a crime story and historical fiction. I don’t know why lately things keep getting the “thriller” label which makes people think of a certain speed/intensity when “crime story” is what they mean. This reminded me a lot of Deacon King Kong by James McBride in both author’s incredible ability to bring to life a time period and community to the point of literally feeling like you were there watching it all.

This centers on Ray Carne, a husband, father with a second baby on the way, and furniture store owner in 1960s Harlem. He is doing well, but there is always better to be doing and aspire to. While he does not consider himself a criminal–looking the other way when his cousin Freddie brings in stolen goods he knows nothing about isn’t really being a criminal, that’s what his cousin is–he starts to find himself in a lot of trouble. Family, am I right?

This is written in three parts that deal with all kinds of crime (including a heist, but again this is not a thriller) following Carney as he gets deeper into his own doings and those that Freddie has roped him into. NY is incredibly brought to life along with the events of the time. There are so many interesting characters and it’s written with nuance and depth, making it not only a wonderful story to get lost in but something that leaves you thinking.

I am not a rereader but I already feel like I’m going to want to read this again at some point to be submerged in this world and watch it all unfold again.

(TW mentions past child abuse)

This has a similar set-up to Big Little Lies while being a totally different novel, which I really enjoyed. You get the mystery at the beginning, and then you follow the main characters, and then it all comes together at the end. The mystery is strong throughout (did he or didn’t he?), and there are even detectives added in along with the family members.

The Big Little Lies adaptation being filmed in California seems to make my brain forget that I love that Moriarty’s novels are set in Australia. This time we have a tennis family. The parents were coaches, including of a player that went pro, and the four kids were all coached and placed in competitions growing up. Now they’re all grown doing separate things with varying views of growing up in a tennis family.

And their mother is missing. After their parents took in a stranger to live with them. And there are confusing things that make it sound like maybe their father was involved with their mother’s disappearance…

I love that the mystery was very much a page-turner to find out what happened but the characters were equally interesting–including the exploration of how we’re pigeon-holed as children and how even if we’re different adults, those who knew us as kids hold on to that childhood behavior. This book reminded me that Moriarty has a great ability of sucking me into a story and writing these asides for all the characters that are always the interesting thing about a person without weighing the reader down with unnecessary details. If you’re looking for something absorbing with equal detail to characters and plot, grab this one.

(TW domestic violence/ briefly mentions past date rape, not detailed/ eating disorder/ mentions past teen having suicidal thoughts with no details/ anxiety)

If you like angsty romances absolutely grab this missing persons mystery set in New Zealand for $4.99!

Love Japanese detective mysteries? You should absolutely be reading this series (it was translated out of order, they all read as standalones I promise!) and you can start with this one for $2.99! (Review)

You absolutely want to read this fun mystery that imagines Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy solving a mystery which you can grab for $1.99!