Author: Jamie Canaves

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Unusual Suspects

Addictive New Thrillers đŸ”Ș

Hi mystery fans! We got through another week and that’s a hell of a feat. I rounded up some interesting things to read, watch, found a bunch of great Kindle deals, and shared some things that made me happy this week in hopes they may also bring you even a few moments of joy.

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

The Betel Nut Tree Mystery cover imageRincey and Katie are back with a new Read or Dead talking about some changing release dates, Tiger King, and the books they turn to when they need some comfort.

Bolder and Wiser: 3 Shows About Older Women Writer-Detectives

9 Addictive New Thrillers to Add to Your TBR List This Spring

48 Mystery and Thriller Recommendations by Trope

The Hollywood Golden Age Producer Turned Cold War Spy

Enter to Win a $250 Gift Card to Barnes and Noble!

Enter to win 6 cozy mysteries!

What to Watch on Lockdown: 14 James Bond Alternatives to Take the Place of Delayed ‘No Time to Die’

7 Shows Like Bosch That Are Not Bosch That You Should Watch If You Liked Bosch

‘Da Vinci Code’ Author Dan Brown Is Teaching a Free Class on Writing Thrillers

“She’s a dangerous person”: “Killing Eve” head writer discusses the consequences of Eve’s survival

Watch Now

Amazon Prime: The sixth season of Bosch returns on April 17th (today!). The TV series is adapted from Michael Connelly’s long running procedural book series which follows LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch.

Kindle Deals

Your House Will Pay cover imageOne of 2019’s best crime novels: Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha is $2.99! (Review)

If you’re looking for a boarding school mystery with revenge: People Like Us by Dana Mele is $2.99! (Review) (TW suicide/ statutory rape/ cyber-exploitation)

If you wanted to start a long running spy thriller series: Daniel Silva’s The Kill Artist (Gabriel Allon Series Book 1) is $2.99! AND The Other Woman which is the 18th book in the series is also $2.99!

For fans of noir and Japanese crime: The Gun by Fuminori Nakamura and Allison Markin Powell (translation) is $1.99!

I'll Be Gone In The Dark cover imageIf you read true crime and still haven’t read McNamara book, it’s a must: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara is $3.99! (Review) (TW rape)

Looking for a seaside set thriller? The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda is $1.99!

Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Parasite is on Hulu (Also, Elvira and Romancing The Stone)! Kim’s Convenience season 3 dropped on Netflix! Insecure on HBO is back!

Alyssa Cole’s upcoming social thriller When No One Is Watching is so freaking good! I may have asked on my work Slack for a note to spend the day finishing it instead of working (super professional)–I ended up getting all of my work done first and then read the second half in one sitting because it’s the kind of intense and suspenseful read that you can’t put down, and when you do put it down you can’t stop thinking about it.

A 93-year-old woman got a massive Coors Light delivery after a viral plea for more beer.

I’m still playing the Dixie Chicks’ new song Gaslighter on a loop.

The USPS Lunar New Year: Year of the Rat stamps arrived and they’re even more gorgeous in person.

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See 2020 upcoming releases. An Unusual Suspects Pinterest board. Get Tailored Book Recommendations!

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie CanavĂ©s.

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

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Today In Books

Study Finds Kids Prefer These Stories: Today In Books

Study Finds Kids Prefer These Stories

Any parent of a young child knows the question “why” well. And while it may be annoying to constantly be asked why over everything it’s kids’ way of learning and understanding everything that is essentially new to them. Turns out they feel the same way about storybooks: the journal Frontiers in Psychology published a study (based on 48 children ages 3 and 4) that found children prefer books that explain how the world around them functions.

Tom Hardy Reads Again

The English actor Tom Hardy will return to Bedtime Stories: Beginning April 27th Hardy and Blue, his French bulldog, will read 6 books for CBeebies, the BBC pre-school channel. The first book he’ll read is Hug Me by Simone Ciraolo.

We Need Diverse Books Starts Emergency Fund

Many are feeling the financial strain caused by the current pandemic and are in need of assistance. The nonprofit organization created with the goal of making kid’s publishing and books inclusive, We Need Diverse Books, has created an emergency fund in hopes of helping 70 diverse authors, illustrators, and professionals in publishing due to lost income. They’re also accepting donations for anyone who would like to add to the emergency fund.

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Today In Books

What Is Alex Trebek’s Memoir? Today In Books

What Is Alex Trebek’s Memoir?

Alex Trebek, the host of Jeopardy!, was so moved by people’s goodwill after his announcement of having stage 4 pancreatic cancer and during treatment that he decided to finally put pen to paper. “‘I want people to know a little more about the person they have been cheering on for the past year,’ the Jeopardy! host writes in his memoir, according to the publisher.” The Answer Is
 : Reflections on My Life will release July 21st.

Make Popcorn, Watch The Phantom of the Opera

The Shows Must Go On is a YouTube channel that has been airing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals for free–with permission from Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group. On April 17, at 2 PM ET, the 2011 production of The Phantom of the Opera at Royal Albert Hall, starring Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo, will stream for free for 48 hours. Get your living room tickets ready!

The Oxford English Dictionary’s Special Update

While the updates of adding new words and definitions to the Oxford English Dictionary usually happens on a schedule COVID-19 is an atypical exception. Now the OED has added 12 new entrants related to the pandemic ranging from ‘COVID-19’ to ‘WFH’ (working from home). ‘Infodemic’ was a new one for me.

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Unusual Suspects

Opening That Could Be In OCEAN’S ELEVEN đŸ”Ș

Hello mystery fans! I have officially entered the stage of having no clue what day or time it ever is, no matter how many times I look at the calendar/clock. But it is always time for me to talk books, especially the mystery kind, so let’s do that. I have a really entertaining historical mystery, an awesome narrative nonviolent true crime, and a mother daughter suspense.

The Silence of Bones by June Hur: I get a lot of requests from readers looking for historical fiction that isn’t set in WWII or Europe (because that market is saturated), so here you go! This is a highly enjoyable mystery set in 1800, Joseon Korean dynastic kingdom. Seol has had a pretty rough life, orphaned as a child and now sent by her older sister to the capital with the mission of finding her older brother’s grave, while being trained as a police damo. She’s basically an indentured servant to the Capital Police Bureau because Confucius’s law doesn’t allow men to touch women they aren’t directly related to. So Seol arrests women and touches dead women’s bodies on murder cases.

She’s scrappy, sensitive, and a quick learner, which is why Inspector Han forms a friendship with her and helps her learn to solve cases. But soon she’s questioning whether Han is involved in the murder of a woman… This has a great lead character and setting while delving into Korean history, including the persecution of Catholics, and I really hope this becomes a series. (TW past suicides mentioned, detail/ mentions public groping/ torture/ past child murder mentioned/ dog killed, skippable)

The Falcon Thief cover imageThe Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird by Joshua Hammer: If you enjoyed The Feather Thief this is a must-read. Also, this is a great read for fans of narrative nonfiction, nonviolent true crime, adventure, and nature. Look, I know this sounds boring like The Feather Thief and Bad Blood because, whatever, how exciting is bird stealing or a Silicon Valley startup? SO VERY MUCH when the stories are kind of bonkers. And in the case of The Falcon Thief you get adventure stories, and an opening that could be in Ocean’s Eleven–if they were after falcon eggs–and really interesting animal facts, and history. Plus, it’s all narrated like a fantastic story taking you into the world of rare egg smuggling (after being stolen from nests!), falconry, the UK’s National Wildlife Crime Unit, and plenty of finger pointing “it wasn’t me, they’re lying.” If you’re a fan of being told a story and British narrators, go with the audiobook. (TW talks of past crime cases that include suicide, detail; rape, no detail; child deaths, no detail/ some animal harm, but I’d say more what you find in animal documentaries)

Darling Rose Gold cover imageDarling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel: This is one of those novels I recommend knowing as little as possible about beforehand for full suspense effect. If you still want to know what it’s about, then read on.

It’s told in alternating points of view between mother and daughter: Rose Gold Watts, a young woman, is picking up her mom, Patty Watts, from prison after her five year sentence. Patty was found guilty of making Rose Gold sick all her life and Rose Gold’s testimony put her mom in prison. But Patty doesn’t understand why Rose Gold lied and the few people in Rose Gold’s life don’t understand why she’d forgive her mother and give her another chance. Who, if anyone, is lying? Are they rebuilding their relationship? Or are they trying to pull one over on the other?… Highly recommend the audiobook, which has two narrators and really sinks you into each character’s thoughts and actions. (TW alludes to attempted suicide/ past suicide, brief detail/ disordered eating/ talk of past PTSD, addiction, miscarriage/ child abuse)

Recent Releases

No Going Back (Nora Watts #3) by Sheena Kamal: A great PI series with thriller scenes and endings!  (Review for 1st book in series.)

Death of an American Beauty (A Jane Prescott Novel Book 3) by Mariah Fredericks: Historical mystery series with a great lead (a lady’s maid) and interesting historical moments in early 1900s NY. (Review for first book in series.)

 

miracle creek cover imageMiracle Creek by Angie Kim (Paperback): Mystery + family drama + court room drama! (Review) (TW child abuse/ suicide/ sexual assault)

Girls Like Us by Cristina Alger (Paperback): Return home, murder mystery I hope becomes a series! (Review) (TW addiction/ PTSD/ statutory rape/ suicide mention, detail)

Conviction by Denise Mina (Paperback): What if you were listening to a true crime podcast and realized you once knew the accused?! (Review) (TW suicide, suicidal thoughts/ eating disorder/ rape/ addiction/ animal cruelty)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See 2020 upcoming releases. An Unusual Suspects Pinterest board. Get Tailored Book Recommendations!

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie CanavĂ©s.

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

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Today In Books

Watch THE HUNGER GAMES Free On YouTube: Today In Books

Watch THE HUNGER GAMES Free On YouTube

Want to escape the feeling of currently living in a real life dystopia by watching a fictional dystopian adaptation? Good news: film production company Lionsgate has created Lionsgate Live! A Night at the Movies to stream free films on Youtube. Up first is The Hunger Games which will stream Friday at 6 pm ET, hosted by Jamie Lee Curtis. Perfect timing considering the prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is set to release in May.

Goalkeeper, Publisher, And Author

Did you know that Portland Timbers’ (Major League Soccer) goalkeeper Jeff Attinella is a children’s author and has a family founded publishing company called It Had To Be Told? He has four children’s books that are sports themed (The Curse Ends: The Story of the 2016 Chicago Cubs), and one about the race to get to the moon (The Great Space Race: The Story of How America Put a Man on the Moon)! Story time just got extra fun for sports loving parents.

All The Congratulations!

The 2019 Otherwise Award (which was renamed last October) has been awarded to author Akwaeke Emezi for their 2018 debut Freshwater! And their other novel Pet joined eight other works for the Otherwise Award Honor List: Rivers Solomon’s The Deep; Yukiko Motoya’s The Lonesome Bodybuilder; Laurie J. Marks’ The Elemental Logic series; Mary Robinette Kowal’s The Calculating Stars; Innocent Chizaram Ilo’s “Of Warps and Wefts” (Transcendent 4: The Year’s Best Transgender Speculative Fiction); Kameron Hurley’s Meet Me in the Future; Meg Elison’s The Book of Flora; Kylie Ariel Bemis’ “Dreamborn” (Maiden, Mother, Crone).

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Today In Books

Librarian Sues Over Firing After Drag Queen Story Hour: Today In Books

Librarian Sues Over Firing After Drag Queen Story Hour

Jonathan Newton, who was a librarian for seventeen years at South Carolina’s Five Forks Branch, is suing after being forced to resign over a Drag Queen Story Hour event that riled up the phobics. “Newton alleges that his Greenville County Library System supervisor, Beverly James, expressed opposition to the event, at which drag queens read to children, and, in forcing him out, bowed to political pressure from leaders in Greenville County.”

Dolly Has A Poem

Social distancing surely isn’t going to keep Dolly Parton from entertaining us. Being a songwriter, it’s not surprising that she’s a natural poet too. She put that skill, and her humor, to use and wrote us a poem about how hard being in quarantine is. Watch her recite her poem.

Ramona Quimby Creator Turns 104

Beverly Cleary, the author and creator of the pesky five-year-old Ramona Quimby–who helped generations of children make sense of emotions while being small in a big world that didn’t always make much sense–celebrated her 104th birthday. And this joke has left me really wanting to read a comic where Ramona pesters the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

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Today In Books

Beautiful Cover Art For Thai Harry Potter Books: Today In Books

Beautiful Cover Art For Thai Harry Potter Books

Thai publisher Nanmeebooks is celebrating the Harry Potter franchise with special 20th-anniversary edition covers designed by artist Arch Polar. They are absolutely gorgeous. And someone get me this animated series now!

Storybook Aims To Help Kids Cope With Covid-19

50+ humanitarian organizations have come together to create a storybook for children with the hopes of helping them understand and cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Ario, the main character in My Hero is You, How Kids can fight Covid-19!, teaches kids how to protect against the virus while also helping them navigate their many emotions during this difficult time.

One of the Earliest Known Uses of the “F-word”

What might be the oldest recorded use of the F-word is in the National Library of Scotland thanks to George Bannatyne being stuck at home in 1568 due to a plague. It’s an interesting, entertaining, immature, and funny story worth a few minutes of your time today and I’m just gonna be saying “Wan fukkit funling” forever and ever.

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Today In Books

Poetry Themed Paris Review Crossword: Today In Books

Poetry Themed Paris Review Crossword

The Paris Review has a free crossword puzzle perfectly themed for Poetry Month. You can fill it out digitally on the webpage, or you can print it out and pencil or pen it–hope you know your poets!

L.A. Times Book Prizes Ceremony

We can now all attend the L.A. Times Book Prizes ceremony because it will now be virtual. And free! The ceremony will announce the fourteen winners, who will give brief acceptance speeches, on April 17th at 8 a.m. Pacific Time. I’ll be attending in my snazzy PJs.

Independent Press Fundraiser

Coffee House Press, the Minnesota nonprofit independent press, has started a nonprofit fundraiser: Coffee House Writers Project (CHWP). The initiatives goal is “to commission new, short digital-only literary works from writers whose ability to support themselves has been affected by the COVID-19 health crisis.” A donation of $5 or more gets you a one-year Coffee House Press membership, which has a retail price of $35.

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Today In Books

Pulitzer Prize Announcement Postponed: Today In Books

Pulitzer Prize Announcement Postponed

Some of the members of the Pulitzer Prize Board are journalists who have been focused on covering the COVID-19 pandemic, leading the Board to announce that this year’s Pulitzer Prize winners will be announced on May 4th instead of the original date of April 20th. The traditional award luncheon that is held at Columbia University will also be postponed to a later date, those details will be forthcoming.

2020 Hugo Awards Finalists!

The Hugo Awards, awarding the best in sci-fi and fantasy, have announced the finalists in Best Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Series, Graphic Novel–and so many more categories! If you’re looking to find your next amazing read you have a ton of choices and if you need some help picking, here are some personal favorites: The Deep by Rivers Solomon; This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone; Mooncakes by Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker; The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow; Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.

Treats For Bibliophiles

Social media and the news is all about the pandemic and election right now, plus every post imaginable in what to read and watch while social distancing. Which can be hard to navigate and scroll through, so the Guardian has an updating list of the best free activities being offered right now for bibliophiles. There’s online literary festivals, live concerts, book recommendations, creative challenges, and more!

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Unusual Suspects

Mystery & Thrillers Based On Pop Culture đŸ”Ș

Hi mystery fans! We made it through another week and that is something to celebrate. I found you a fair amount of interesting things to click, a bunch of things to watch (HBO is giving non-subscribers free stuff to watch!), and awesome Kindle deals you should rush to if you haven’t yet read.

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

The Onlly Child cover imageFive authors of Korean thrillers you should be reading, by Paula Woods

How I, the Parson of a Humble English Murder Village, Am Practicing Safe Social Distancing

10 Funny Mystery Authors Like Janet Evanovich

Here’s author Mindy Mejia recommending some great reads

In conservative Poland, gay literary couple ‘Maryla Szymiczkowa’ are cutting a defiant path

36 Mystery and Thriller Recommendations Based on Pop Culture

Enter to Win a $250 Gift Card to Barnes and Noble!

News And Adaptations

Crime Writers Of Color has a new podcast hosted by author Robert Justice!

Our very own Rioter Tirzah Price has an upcoming Jane Austen murder mystery series starting withe Pride & Premeditation (Harper Teen, 2021)!

The Best British Murder Mystery Shows to Stream Right Now

18 Thriller TV Shows on Netflix That Will Keep You Deep in Suspense

Crime author Don Winslow teases novella collection Broken

COVID-19 Updates from the Bookish World

Watch Now

Just Mercy cover imageFOR FREE: HBO Is Making 39 Movies And Shows Available For Free In Case You Need Something To Watch (Great crime shows, including adaptations or ones with excellent book companions like Bad Blood (on Kindle deal below!); Just Mercy; Adnan’s Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After Serial.)

Apple TV+: “On Friday, April 3, Apple TV+ releases all 10 episodes of the first season of its mystery-thriller “Home Before Dark.” Inspired by the life of Hilde Lysiak, a young journalist who gained national notoriety at age nine when she scooped a local homicide case in her Pennsylvania hometown…” And Lysiak also has a children’s book series based on her real-life journalist career: Hero Dog! (Hilde Cracks the Case #1) by Hilde Lysiak, Matthew Lysiak, Joanne Lew-Vriethoff (illustrations)

Reminder: Season 3 of Killing Eve (Based on Luke Jennings‘ series) returns Sunday, April 12 at 9 p.m. ET on BBC America and AMC!

Kindle Deals

cover image: zoomed in on half of a japanese woman's face as tear rolls down her faceIf you’re a fan of character-driven crime fiction with a mystery: Penance by Kanae Minato, Philip Gabriel (Translator) is $4.99! (Review) (Sorry, I do not remember trigger warnings.)

And another Japanese crime fiction novel from an author whose entire catalog is worth reading: Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino, Rebecca Copeland (Translator) is $4.99! (Sorry, I do not remember trigger warnings.)

If you still haven’t read it now is a great time: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty is $2.99! (I don’t remember TWs but will say rape, PTSD, partner abuse.)

bad blood by john carreyrou cover imageHere is a completely bananapants narrative nonfiction that I promise even if you have zero interest in any of the subject you won’t be able to put it down: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
by John Carreyrou (Review) (TW: suicide)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See 2020 upcoming releases. An Unusual Suspects Pinterest board. Get Tailored Book Recommendations!

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie CanavĂ©s.

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