Author: Jamie Canaves

Plan To Turn Oscar Wilde’s Prison Into Arts Centre Rejected: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 8, 2020

Sponsored by Flatiron Books, publisher of Miss Austen by Gill Hornby.

Plan To Turn Oscar Wilde’s Prison Into Arts Centre Rejected

First a bit of history on HM Reading Prison: it jailed Oscar Wilde in 1895 for two years (he wrote about it in his poem “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”); in 2014 it stopped being a working jail; last year it went up for sale. Stephen Fry and Julian Barnes joined other writers and campaigners to convert the prison into an arts centre but the bid has been rejected by the Ministry of Justice.

B&N Distribution Center Employees Diagnosed With COVID-19

Employees at a Barnes & Noble distribution center in Monroe, New Jersey received a letter informing them that nine of their coworkers have COVID-19 symptoms and five of those nine have officially been diagnosed by doctors. Barnes & Noble has no plans to close the facility saying it will continue its daily cleaning along with a deep cleaning on Good Friday.

Child Journalist Gets Apple TV+ Series

Apple TV+ has a new series inspired by Hilde Lysiak, a child journalist who at the age of nine “scooped a local homicide case in her Pennsylvania hometown.” Home Before Dark‘s first season, 10 episodes, is now streaming on Apple TV+. And Lysiak also has a children’s book mystery series you can check out: Hero Dog!: A Branches Book (Hilde Cracks the Case #1) by Hilde Lysiak, Matthew Lysiak.

Unusual Suspects

Procedural, Thriller, and Historical Mystery 🔪

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 7, 2020

Sponsored by our giveaway of a $250 gift card to Barnes and Noble! Enter here.

We’re giving away a $250 gift card to Barnes and Noble. To enter, just sign up for our Giveaways newsletter and be alerted when we’re giving away free books! Enter to win here.

Hello mystery fans! I hope you and yours are safe and healthy, and you’re doing as best as can be expected right now. I’m going to keep trying to find you escapes in the form of mystery books, and I got three for you this week: the third in a great procedural series; a historical mystery for Agatha Christie fans; and a thriller that veers into pandemic territory for those of you out there who I keep seeing turning to Station Eleven and apocalypse books.

Trail of Echoes (Detective Elouise Norton #3) by Rachel Howzell Hall: I really enjoy this series, which follows homicide detective Elouise “Lou” Norton in L.A. (If you want reviews for book 1 and book 2.) This time around Lou gets taken back to the building she grew up in when a thirteen-year-old girl is found dead at a park. Sadly, there’s a pattern of talented young girls who are disappearing, and soon someone is taunting investigators.

Lou is snarky, determined, refuses to take crap, and will not stop until she figures out who is responsible. You get the personal aspect of a case that hits close to home for the detective, her working with her new-ish partner Colin Taggert, her relationship with her boss, her awesome friendships, and her trying to date. Hall is very skilled at bringing to life communities that home different races and ethnicities while giving them many different voices. If you’re a fan of police detective procedurals, you should definitely pick this series up! (TW rape, statutory/ discussion of suicide, attempts)

Mrs. Mohr Goes Missing cover image Mrs. Mohr Goes Missing (Profesorowa Szczupaczyńska #1) by Maryla Szymiczkowa (Pseudonym for Jacek Dehnel and Piotr Tarczyński), Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Translator): This is a great mystery, especially perfect for fans of Agatha Christie. Zofia Turbotynska is a 38-year-old woman living in 1893 Cracow, Poland. She’s married to a university professor who should thank her for all the help with his career, but she’s a woman living in a time when she can’t really do much, so she’s desperately bored. Until a woman goes missing from a nursing home and she decides to use her love of mystery novels and her intelligence to solve the case. Of course she can’t tell her husband or the mother superior in charge of the nursing home, so all of her questionings and sleuthing will be done in secret.

Turbotynska is a fun, witty, very opinionated character, and the book reads like a nod to Agatha Christie that is infused with interesting history! (TW mentions infertility/ discussions of addiction/ past domestic abuse mentioned)

The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian: If you’ve been with me awhile, you know I prefer to pick up my crime books knowing as little info about them as possible, which is what I did in this case. And I recommend it, but also will note this caught me by surprise taking a turn into pandemic territory (whoopsie!), but it’s a really good thriller and I listened to the audiobook in a day regardless. Alexis and Austin are a recent couple who have taken a trip to Vietnam so that Austin can do a cycling tour and most importantly pay respect to where his father died during the war. Alexis, an ER doctor in the U.S., is waiting for his return back from cycling when she realizes something is wrong. He should have already been back. Or he would have called. Soon Austin is missing, Alexis is back to work in the U.S., the FBI are trying to figure out what happened, and Alexis learns that maybe Austin was never truthful with her…

This is one of those books that takes you into really interesting places, like the E.R. and on cycling tours, as you slowly learn what is really happening in relation to the mystery–all as the tension keeps ramping up! (TW MC has history of self-harm, details/ mentions murder suicide, details/ ER stories recounted/ recounts past war scenes)

And here’s Book Riot’s continued COVID-19 Updates from the Bookish World.

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 Canavés.

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

Today In Books

Jam To These Songs With Literary References: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 7, 2020

Sponsored by Sword in the Stars, published by Jimmy Patterson Books.

Jam To These Songs With Literary References

While so many of us are out here singing the wrong lyrics and jamming to songs we have no idea the meaning behind, it makes sense that the literary references in many songs would be missed. With nods to Leaves of Grass, George Orwell, The Catcher In The Rye, and more here are ten popular songs clearly written by bibliophiles.

Get Your Classic Horror Read On

Are you behind on reading the horror classics? Great news: you can download these eight classics to read right now, free from Project Gutenberg. And if horror is not your thing, there’s a roundup of Sci-Fi classics too!

The New York Public Library’s Virtual Book Club

We’re all about the virtual right now to help us stay engaged, connected, and doing some of the things that were routine. Like book club time, which NYPL is offering virtually to New Yorkers. The first selected book is Deacon King Kong by James McBride and can be downloaded free using the library’s e-reading app SimplyE. The live-streamed book club chat will be held April 30th at 7pm, so get that book read New Yorkers!

Today In Books

Marvel Offers 12 Popular Comics Free Via App: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 6, 2020

Sponsored by our giveaway of a $250 gift card to Barnes and Noble! Enter here.

Marvel Offers 12 Popular Comics Free Via App

Through the Marvel Unlimited app, users will have access to 12 popular Marvel comics free of charge until May 4th. If you’re downloading the app just for these comics, select the free comics option and there is currently no trial subscription or need to give a credit card. Check out the titles and get your comic read on.

Bush Was Terrified Of Pandemic In 2005 After Reading Book

President George W. Bush read an advanced copy of historian John M. Barry’s The Great Influenza while vacationing in 2005 which, according to Tom Bossert, left Bush obsessed with preparing for a pandemic. “‘A pandemic is a lot like a forest fire,’ Bush said at the time. ‘If caught early it might be extinguished with limited damage. If allowed to smolder, undetected, it can grow to an inferno that can spread quickly beyond our ability to control it.'”

A Great Chat With Stacey Abrams

Stacey Abrams spoke with American Libraries about her two nonprofits (Fair Fight and Fair Count), her upcoming book (Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America), her family’s book club, and the role our libraries play in society. Spoiler alert, she’s awesome: “We are nerds to our core and we love reading.”

Today In Books

Modern Items Spotted in LITTLE WOMEN Film: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 4, 2020

HBO Lets You Watch 39 Shows (Including Adaptations) Free: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 3, 2020

Sponsored by Flatiron Books, publishers of The Night Country by Melissa Albert.

HBO Lets You Watch 39 Things Free

Don’t have HBO but wish you did? You can kind of have it: Starting today, April 3rd, HBO Now and HBO Go will have a bunch of content you can watch without a paid subscription. And of course I’m telling you because I spotted adaptations and docs that have excellent books to read after, like Bad Blood by John Carreyrou (banana pants!) and Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (his narration on the audiobook is perfection!). There’s also some Nancy Drew, and the classic The Bridges of Madison County.

James Patterson Helps Indies

Mystery and thriller author James Patterson has launched the campaign #SaveIndieBookstores which has partnered with Book Industry Charitable Foundation, American Booksellers Association, and Reese Witherspoon’s book club. The campaign will collect donations and create grants with the money to go to selected ABA members who apply for the grants. Patterson has pledged $500,000.

Macmillan Publishers Makes Cuts

“Macmillan Publishers has laid off an undisclosed number of employees across all divisions, temporarily reduced pay for select employees, and implemented a hiring freeze…” Holtzbrinck, Macmillan’s parent company, has made these decisions as a preemptive cost-saving measure in anticipation of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact. Employees who earn $60,000 a year or less will not be part of the salary reductions, which will be in place for everyone above that salary until June.

Unusual Suspects

100 years of Agatha Christie 🔪

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 2, 2020

St. Jude Coloring Book Helps Kids Understand Our Current World: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 2, 2020

Sponsored by Orbit Books, publisher of visionary author N.K. Jemisin’s new novel, THE CITY WE BECAME.

St. Jude Coloring Book Helps Kids Understand Our Current World

While parents have had to figure out how to explain COVID-19 to their children St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which treats childhood cancers and pediatric diseases, also had to figure out a way to explain the current danger to its patients. St. Jude psychologists and “child life” specialists created an in-house coloring book: Learn About the Coronavirus. While 750 copies were printed in three languages for St. Jude campus, Target House, and Ronald McDonald House, the coloring book is also available for download via St. Jude’s Together website.

Harry Potter at Home

J.K. Rowling, whose last Twitter news was due to her transphobic tweets, has been tweeting during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, she tweeted that she relaxed the licensing for people reading Harry Potter books in videos/social media. And now she announced that craft videos, quizzes, puzzles, articles, and more are now available at her new site, Harry Potter At Home.

The Comic Book Industry Is On Hold

Every Wednesday is basically comic book day because for the past twenty years it’s the day of the week that new comics drop and readers get their new issues. And while there were 23 new items available this week, that is a stark contrast to the usual hundreds. “Comics have been published on a regular basis in the U.S. through all number of existential threats in the past, whether it’s World War II — even with paper shortages — Watergate, oil crises or 9/11. Comics, and the escapism they offer, have been ever present… and, as of now, they’re not.”

Today In Books

LeVar Burton Reads To Kids, Teens, and Adults: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 1, 2020

Sponsored by My Way to You by Catherine Bybee.

LeVar Burton Reads To Children, Teens, & Adults

And another national treasure, LeVar Burton, is out here ready to read to us! This is especially exciting for anyone who grew up with Reading Rainbow: LeVar Burton will be on Twitter Livestream–starting Fri April 4th, 9pm ET– reading to adults. Mondays he’ll be reading to children, and Wednesdays he’ll read YA.

Words Always Matter

If you follow the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Twitter account you know that they are absolutely delightful, funny, and very good at shade. Now they’re here for us once again with a great thread: “As a gift to our friends (you) in a time of crisis, we’ll be keeping a thread here of beautiful, obscure, and often quite useless words.”

Make This Dream Come True Publishing

The public media organization WHYY has a feature In A Dream, where people from Camden, New Jersey detail their hopes and aspirations. Recently, Terrick Hubbard, a catering company owner, talked about his dreams to author a cookbook: “a how-to guide for making avant-garde meals from a prison commissary. The target audience, of course, would be incarcerated people.”

Unusual Suspects

April Releases 🔪

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date March 31, 2020

Sponsored by our giveaway of a $250 gift card to Barnes and Noble! Enter here.

We’re giving away a $250 gift card to Barnes and Noble. To enter, just sign up for our Giveaways newsletter and be alerted when we’re giving away free books! Enter to win here.

Hi mystery fans! The decade that was March is finally over and I am here to put a bunch of April releases on your radar. I’m doing my best to keep track and note when publishing dates change (this is going to happen a lot due to the current circumstances), but some books may fall through the cracks so be patient with me–and publishing. Now to get our mystery on! (📚= I’ve read and recommend; 📖= currently reading and enjoying.)

The Silence of Bones by June Hur: 📖 Here’s a historical mystery I’m really enjoying. It’s set in the 1800 Joseon dynasty and follows sixteen-year-old Seol who is indentured to a young inspector trying to solve a politically charged murder of a noblewoman–a law doesn’t allow men to touch women they’re not related to, so Seol must do female arrests and move female bodies.

Something She’s Not Telling Us by Darcey Bell: The author of A Simple Favor has a new family drama thriller to inhale with some devious sounding ladies!

Death of an American Beauty (Jane Prescott #3) by Mariah Fredericks: 📖 One of my favorite historical mysteries is back. Set in early 1900s New York and following lady’s maid Jane Prescott. This series has a great balance of mystery and interesting historical moments with a great lead character.

No Going Back (Nora Watts #3) by Sheena Kamal: If you’re a fan of the “unlikable” ladies, PIs, and mysteries that have intense scenes, and thriller endings you should definitely be following Nora Watts, the human lie detector whose past is always just around the corner.

The Paris Mysteries by Edgar Allan Poe: Have you ever read some of the Edgar Allan Poe short stories that have been credited with inventing the detective genre? Now’s your chance!

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier: The Jar of Hearts author is back with a new thriller! What happens when a mother finds out her husband is having an affair with the woman who may have kidnapped her son?!

The Law of Lines by Hye-Young Pyun, Sora Kim-Russell (Translator): From the author of the slow-burn horror novel The Hole! A daughter doesn’t believe inspectors that an explosive fire was a suicide so she sets out to find the culprit and get revenge!

Strike Me Down by Mindy Mejia: The author of Leave No Trace is back with another thriller! This time we have a forensic accountant who tracks down thieves tasked with finding stolen prize money–expect secrets and twists!

Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh: 📖 A suspense novel that feels like a stream of conscious (so far at least) about an elderly woman walking her dog who finds a cryptic note: “Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn’t me. Here is her dead body.”

He Started It by Samantha Downing: 📚 From the author of My Lovely Wife! A wickedly fun ride! And the only print read recently to hold my attention and help me escape. Three siblings must retrace the road trip they took with their grandad as kids with his ashes in order to get their inheritance. They’re all a-holes, there are stipulations like you can’t get arrested, and you better believe there are secrets! (This still has an April release date on Goodreads/Amazon but PRH site is showing July 28.) (TW past partner abuse discussed/ discussion of pedophile, not detailed nor graphic)

After She Wrote Him by Sulari Gentill: This sounds like an inventive mindfork of the mystery genre. Madeleine d’Leon is writing a book about the fictional character Edward McGinnity but Edward McGinnity has just come up with his next book lead: Madeleine d’Leon. So who is the author and who is the created character?…

Shooting Down Heaven by Jorge Franco, Andrea Rosenberg (Translator): I’m really excited about this novel which follows a group of now adults who were raised in the ’90s by Colombias most dangerous drug cartels.

The Truth About Keeping Secrets by Savannah Brown: The only psychiatrist in a small Ohio town dies leaving his daughter to solve the mystery of his crash, starting with why the homecoming queen is at his funeral…

Final Judgment (Samantha Brinkman #4) by Marcia Clark: The newest in this lawyer behaving like a private eye mystery series perfect for fans of fun and entertaining legal shows. (Yes, that Marcia Clark.)

A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1) by Darynda Jones: Here’s a romantic mystery with a hunky US Marshall, kidnapper on the loose, and a returned-to-small-town elected sheriff, set in New Mexico!

The Split by Sharon J. Bolton: Author of The Craftsman is back with a standalone thriller! A woman hiding from her ex, just released from prison, is afraid that even on the remote island South Georgia she can’t stay hidden and safe…

The Closer You Get by Mary Torjussen: The author of Gone Without A Trace is back with a psychological suspense! Coworkers fall in love and decide to leave their spouses for each other, but only one shows up at their meeting place. And then weird things start to happen…

Barker House by David Moloney: A novel that follows a bunch of correctional officers over the course of one year in New Hampshire.

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 Canavés.

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