Category: Unusual Suspects

Hi mystery fans! I’m back with all the links for you to click. But first, if you’re a fan of procedurals and character studies, Netflix has a new crime show with four different versions: Criminal UK (TW pedophile–so far), Criminal Spain, Criminal France, and Criminal Germany–so many criminals! I’ve been watching, and enjoying, Spain and UK which are 40-minute episodes that take place entirely in an interrogation room and the hallway/room looking in as the clock is ticking for the police to get a confession. Did they or didn’t they?! And now back to the previously scheduled book talk!

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Win the Best Mystery/Thrillers of the Year So Far!

Contest challenges readers to solve a murder mystery by putting 100 jumbled pages of a vintage crime book in the right order – and only two people have done it correctly since 1934

What’s in a Page: What Attica Locke’s Heaven, My Home has in common with ‘Old Town Road’

10 Essential Literary Thrillers

50+ New Thrillers That Should Be on Your Radar This Year

15 Of The Best Books Like SHARP OBJECTS

News And Adaptations

Andrew Scott to Play ‘Talented Mr. Ripley’ in Showtime Series

Katrine Engberg Brings Danish Noir to Scout Press

Alyssa Cole tweeted she has an upcoming thriller!

Megan Abbott & Sarah St. Vincent are the recipients of the 2019 Pinckley Prizes for Crime Fiction

Jennifer Morrison to Direct ‘One of Us Is Lying’ Pilot for Peacock

True Crime

Chanel Miller Says ‘Know My Name’ As She Reflects On Her Assault By Brock Turner

Here’s How to Find the Creepy True-Crime Thing That Happened on Your Birthday

The girl in the box: the mysterious crime that shocked Germany

Has the Mystery of Skyjacker D.B. Cooper Finally Been Solved? A TV Newsman’s Obsessive Quest

How Dateline correspondent Keith Morrison became—and stayed—the granddaddy of true crime.

Kindle Deals

If you’re looking for a procedural told backwards that has a great puzzle mystery: The Borrowed by Chan Ho-Kei, Jeremy Tiang (Translator) is $1.99! (Review) (TW rape/ suicide) And if you enjoy it as much as I did, you can look forward to a new translated novel in February 2020: Second Sister.

If you want a genre-bending procedural great for October reading: Lauren Beukes’ Broken Monsters is $7.99! (I don’t remember TW)

The Liar’s Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard is a 2019 Edgar Award nominee and $0.99 so I snagged it real quick!

A Bit Of My Week In Reading

Got my hands on: The second issue of Black Ghost by Monica Gallagher, Alex Segura, George Kambadais, which I’m saving as a treat read. And I got a galley of Foul Is Fair by Hannah Capin which is a “bloody revenge fantasy” novel so all the yes!

Read: Marilou is Everywhere by Sarah Elaine Smith, which is the kind of book that gets labeled “literary mystery” because it’s character driven, follows a crime, has a mystery, and is A+ writing. It’s one of my favorite books this year, and if you love Lauren Groff and novels like The Life and Death of Sophie Stark I highly recommend it.

Win the Best Mystery/Thrillers of the Year So Far!

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 Canavés.

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

Hi mystery fans! This week I have for you a great mystery + coming-of-age, an awesome heist thriller, and an Irish procedural series because I know mystery readers are always looking for a new procedural.

Mystery + Coming-Of-Age (TW addiction/ discussions of sex trafficking/ past rape, not detailed)

Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay: I loved this book. It’s equally about a teen boy trying to solve the mystery of how his cousin died but also a book about identity, culture, and finding your way and place when your roots can feel conflicting to your current life. During his senior year of high school Jay Reguero finds out that his cousin Jun, who lives in the Philippines, died. Not only does he feel guilty that he recently stopped responding to his cousin’s letters but he doesn’t understand how he was killed due to the country’s current war on drugs. So he convinces his parents to let him spend his spring break visiting his family in the Philippines while really planning on using the trip to find out exactly what his cousin was doing before his death, who really killed him, and why. This book is equally heartbreaking and uplifting as it explores current political issues, diaspora, Eastern world vs Western world, racism, addiction, family…all while keeping the mystery thread taut throughout. It felt really well rounded, carefully written, and I absolutely adored the characters. This has been an exceptional year for crime books with new voices exploring really important topics and you can add this one to the collection. Bonus, I really enjoyed the audiobook which was narrated by Ramón de Ocampo, the same narrator for Red, White & Royal Blue and This Is Where I Leave You–wildly different books but if you pick up audiobooks based on narrators you like those are also great listens.

Hello, Awesome Heist Book! (TW torture/ child murder/ assisted suicide/ addiction)

Ghostman (Jack White #1) by Roger Hobbs: Fellow Rioter Liberty put this book in my hands and I’m super glad since it ended up being one of those books I read way past my bedtime because just-one-more-chapter! You have the Ghostman, literally a dude that just disappears, who is called in to find one of the men from a botched heist and retrieve the money bag before the dye packets go boom. Except he’s only taking on this job to pay off a debt for a past job that went very wrong. So you get two heists in one as you follow the Ghostman in present time–48-hour clock ticking down!–trying to find the money bag, and past chapters where you learn how he was trained and how his last heist changed everything. You get the ins-and-outs of everything in this book in a way that may make you feel ready to go pull off a huge heist, and I loved that the two storylines were equally intense so the pacing of the book remained consistent throughout.

Irish Procedural! (TW attempted murder suicide off page, suicide discussions/ domestic abuse)

The Scholar (Cormac Reilly #2) by Dervla McTiernan: This is one of those solidly good from beginning to end procedurals. While it stars Detective Cormac Reilly, who was on desk duty cold cases for a while, it also takes you into the lives of other characters in a way that feels like a great addition rather than a distraction. This case also hits close to home for Reilly as his girlfriend is the one who finds the body of the case he ends up on. A case about a murdered woman on a university campus and mistaken identity that will test loyalty, relationships, and job security. If you’ve been looking for a new series you can sink into that does a good balance of focusing on the cases and the characters, procedural fans will be satisfied with both entries so far in the series. And bonus for good audiobook narration!

Recent Releases

The Last Séance: Tales of the Supernatural by Agatha Christie (Currently Reading: I’ve been dipping in and out of these Christie short stories that make a good October read since some are spooky-ish and a bit supernatural. Also, a good gift for Christie fans who like short story collections!)

A Bitter Feast (Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James #18) by Deborah Crombie (TBR: Scotland Yard procedural.)

 

You Beneath Your Skin by Damyanti Biswas (TBR: This is a crime thriller set in New Delhi that I’m hoping to get my hands on soon.)

The Shape of the Ruins by Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Anne McLean (Translator) (Paperback)

Win the Best Mystery/Thrillers of the Year So Far!

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 Canavés.

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

Hello mystery fans! Time to play here’s-what-I’ve-collected-for-you-this-week, plus Kindle deals and my week in reading. And if you’ve been meaning to watch the Shirley Jackson adaption of We Have Always Lived in the Castle it’s now on Netflix.

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Dear Gillian Flynn: I Will Beta Read the Sh*t Out of Your New Book for You

Whodunnit On The Tour De France and More Favorite Mystery and Thrillers!

Liberty talked about Elevator Pitch on this week’s All The Books.

Speaking of Liberty, she joined Rincey for this week’s Read or Dead where they talked adaptations, news, WWI mysteries, and books they’re reading.

Blind, Andrea Camilleri dictated this delightful mystery novel before his death at 93

Walt Longmire back in Wyoming for new mystery novel

Attica Locke’s New Mystery Novel Unearths East Texas Secrets

Win the Best Mystery/Thrillers of the Year So Far!

Adaptations And News

This 88-Year-Old Grandmother Was an International Jewel Thief: Her life is now the subject of an upcoming film starring Tessa Thompson, and a new book

Toni Collette Joins Bradley Cooper in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Nightmare Alley’

The Nancy Drew TV Show Is Going To Be Way More Paranormal Than The Book Series

‘Psych: The Movie 2’ Pushed To 2020, Moves To NBCU Streamer, Gets Title

Kindle Deals

For $0.99 you can read about an Indian PI–and his baby elephant!!–as he solves crimes: Bad Day at the Vulture Club (Baby Ganesh Agency #5) by Vaseem Khan

If you’re looking for an October read that’s a thriller with horror vibes: Perfect Days by Raphael Montes is $6.99 and I still shudder thinking about one scene. (Review) (I don’t remember the trigger warnings but dude kidnaps woman he likes to force her to like him.)

A Bit Of My Week In Reading

Currently reading: The Furies by Katie Lowe which feels like a perfect choice with October a blink away since witchcraft and vengeance seem to be a main focus. Now Entering Addamsville by Francesca Zappia is one I’m pretty sure I’ll be inhaling this weekend since the voice is amazing from the first page. And Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes is my mystery break and it’s a fantastic novel about a space crew whose captain’s sister gets kidnapped. There’s naughty psychic kittens, Spanglish, and the main character swears like a sailor–I love it so much.

Finished reading: Remember by Patricia Shane Smith starts with a mystery of a character that doesn’t remember nor know where she is and takes you back to the lead up and into her life as a woman living with panic disorder and agoraphobia, grieving the death of her mother and sister. This was a page-turner for me that did not make mental illness the boogieman the way the crime genre unfortunately does a lot. (TW alcoholism/ social anxiety and panic attacks on page, agoraphobia/ PTSD/ past suicide mentioned)

Acquired and excited: The Ninja Daughter by Tori Eldridge and all I needed to be excited for this is the title and knowing that it’s the third to be published by Agora Books. And Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel landed on my doorstep with the blurb “Sharp Objects meets Misery” and yes, please, thank you, more.

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 Canavés.

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

Hi mystery fans! Attica Locke’s sequel to Bluebird, Bluebird is finally here! Plus, I have one of my favorite historical mysteries of the year, a fun thriller, and new releases for you.

Amazing Series! (TW past suicide mentioned)

Heaven, My Home (Highway 59 #2) by Attica Locke: The second I got my hands on a galley I dropped everything and read it and have been dying for everyone else to get to read it too. And now you can! This is the sequel to Bluebird, Bluebird (Review) which introduced us to Darren Mathews, a Black Texas Ranger who was at the time, technically, on suspension but still found himself working on solving who murdered a white woman and Black man in a small Texas town. The sequel picks up where the first left off, leaving Mathews to deal with all the decisions he’s made, and hasn’t made–it’s a sequel so I’m being vague because spoilers! Anyhoo, he’s now on desk duty in Houston keeping peace in his marriage, but it’s a mystery book and he’s the lead character so you know he’s going to get mixed up in a case. This time, it’s a missing boy. And not just any boy, he’s the son of a captain of the Aryan Brotherhood who is sitting in prison…Once again Locke brings the Texas setting to life with the same importance as the characters while also exploring the (in)justice system and history. Add in twists, a great mystery, fallible characters, and excellent writing and you have one of the best crime series currently being written. Now I desperately need the next in the series! Also, whoever is working on the FX series adaptation please hurry up, I wants it now!

Delightful New Historical Mystery Series! (TW domestic violence/ addiction/ alludes to past statutory rape)

The Vanished Bride (Brontë Sisters Mystery #1) by Bella Ellis: Ellis has brilliantly reimagined the Brontë sisters as detectors and everything in this novel worked for me. It has a great mystery–a missing woman–and you follow the old school and amateur sleuth way of solving the case. It’s a delight to follow sisters Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, who all have different personalities and bicker but also love and support each other. There is context for how and why these three women were raised to be more independent than their time allowed. The historical bits are interesting without taking away from the focus of the mystery. I can’t recommend this enough for fans of historical mysteries and I love that it works well for Brontë and classic fans–and equally works well if you don’t really care for either because the mystery and characters are so great. It’s just delightful and I’m excited for more to come!

Fun Thriller! (TW panic attacks on page/ mentions past eating disorder and self-harm)

Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay: NY, a vertical city, finds itself with a problem–elevator accidents are killing people. It’s a problem for both the mayor and a pair of detectives. The mayor is also dealing with two other problems: working with his son with whom he has a seriously rocky relationship, and he also has a journalist constantly trying to find dirt on him. The detectives not only have this case, but also a dead man proving difficult to identify, and one of them is suffering from panic attacks after a traumatic incident. Told from multiple perspectives including that of the mayor, journalist, their children, and the detectives, you also get a front row seat to elevators that may or may not make their intended destination–sorry readers who are scared of elevators! If you’re looking to relax with a fun social thriller with some bonus scenes for action film fans this is your book.

Recent Releases

A Death in Harlem by Karla Holloway (TBR: Historical mystery set in 1920s Harlem.)

The Black Ghost #1 by Monica Gallagher, Alex Segura, George Kambadais, Ellie Wright  (Great start to a comic series that melds superhero and detective noir starring a reporter.)

Kopp Sisters On The March (Kopp Sisters #5) by Amy Stewart  (Great historical crime series based on the real woman who was one of America’s first female deputy sheriffs.)

The Stranger Inside by Lisa Unger (TBR: Revenge thriller.)

And: Win the Best Mystery/Thrillers of the Year So Far!

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 Canavés.

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

Hello mystery fans! Fall is almost here so the well of publishing news is finally filling back up! There’s tons of things to read about below, fantastic Kindle deals, new True Crime shows to watch, and a bit of my reading life.

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Win the Best Mystery/Thrillers of the Year So Far!

Attica Locke: ‘When I feel racial pain, I play blues songs’

QUIZ: Which Murder Mystery Should You Read Next?

Rincey and Katie are back with a new episode of Read or Dead and are “Sufficiently Wary of Going Outside”

Toronto 2019: ‘Knives Out’ Is an A-List Agatha Christie Mystery A La Mode

Bestselling Crime Writer Walter Mosley Will Teach You How To Write A Story

News And Adaptations

Trailer and premiere date revealed for STARZ’s Dublin Murders! If you haven’t read Tana French’s In the Woods and The Likeness yet, now is an excellent time to.

NBCUniversal International Studios To Adapt Emily St John Mandel’s Mystery Novel ‘The Glass Hotel’ For TV

You know the “enhance” function TV cops use on pictures? It’s real now.

Attica Locke and Megan Abbott will be at Books Are Magic (Brooklyn) event on September 17th!

JoAnn Chaney posted on Instagram: “Book 3 is done.” And yes, of course, I’m muppet arming!

A statement from Scribe Publications about the sale of Billion Dollar Whale

True Crime To Watch

The new Showtime true-crime series “Murder in the Bayou,” premiering Sept. 13, examines the mysterious killings of eight Louisiana prostitutes known as the Jeff Davis 8.

Believe It: Netflix’s Unbelievable Is Based, Scene For Scene, On A True Story

Kindle Deals

Sadie by Courtney Smith is one of my all time favorite crime reads and it’s $2.99! (Review) (TW child abuse/ pedophile/ attempted suicide mentioned)

An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole is $2.99 and a perfect blend of romance and spy genres! Seriously, only Alyssa Cole can make shexy times work with Civil War spies.

The Force of Nature, Jane Harper’s sequel to The Dry, is $2.99! If you’re not reading this Australian crime writer you should be!(Review) (TW eating disorder)

Too Close To Breathe by Olivia Kiernan’s is $1.99 and perfect if you’re looking for a dark Dublin procedural! Bonus: the sequel is also great. (Review) (TW cutting/ domestic abuse/ suicide)

A Bit Of My Week In Reading

Rather than drowning you in all the books I’m currently reading–look new book!–I’m gonna tell you about what I just finished and loved: The Black Ghost is an upcoming Comixology original series and I read the first issue and can’t wait for more. It’s like Monica Gallagher and Alex Segura took a superhero origin story and a noir detective novel and perfectly mashed them together into a modern take that flips the script on a bunch of stuff. Its start is so good that I’m going to be really impatient between issues.

At the center of a venn diagram with Natsuo Kirino, Kanae Minato, Silence of the Lambs, and The Bad Child is Mi-ae Seo’s upcoming novel The Only Child! I read it in two sittings and it made me angry that more crime novels aren’t translated. It asks the question of nurture vs nature when a dark criminal mind meets a kind, optimistic, criminal psychologist.

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 Canavés.

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

Hello mystery fans! I recently finished Mindhunter season 2 so I thought I’d round up some great reads for fans of the show. But don’t worry, this is spoiler free, and if you haven’t seen the show yet there’s other reasons to enjoy these books. Plus, I’ve also got some recent releases for you.

Set During The Atlanta Child Murders (TW child abuse/ child murders)

Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones: The second season of Mindhunter explores the real Atlanta Child Murders where a serial killer was kidnapping and murdering Black children in Atlanta, which is also the backdrop of this novel set in Atlanta during 1979. Jones brilliantly follows three middle school children as they deal with their own life problems–parents’ divorce, navigating social situations at school, crushes–while also bringing to life what it’s like to live in a place and time where everyone is beginning to be on high alert when they’re already dealing with other problems. Jones, like Jane Harper and Attica Locke, vividly makes the setting as important as a character. She shows us this period in time through the eyes of children who are trying to figure out their own stuff and the behavior of the adults around them. This is especially a must-read for fans of novels that walk the line between literary and crime, and are always seeking excellent writing. And if you’re an audiobook listener it has three excellent narrators for the children, and each has their own section, told in first, second, and third person.

Dark, Fictional Serial Killer + Procedural (TW kidnapping/ domestic violence/ child rape, death, murder/ alcoholism/ graphic violence)

Ellery Hathaway Series by Joanna Schaffhausen: This series has two books out so far with a third releasing in 2020: The Vanishing Season; No Mercy; All the Best Lies. Like Mindhunter you get dark cases, serial killers, law enforcement partnership, an FBI profiler, and a side plot revolving around adoption. I inhaled the first two books in the series as the characters and their dynamics are great while the books also have you on the edge of your seat as the main character, Ellery Hathaway, is usually in danger. It’s not just that her job as a police officer is dangerous but also that she was a survivor of a child serial killer. She ends up partnering with the FBI profiler who saved her so many years before–and has since written a book about her… This is a don’t-miss series for fans of fictional serial killers, dark procedurals, and women who don’t quit. (I went light on plot details so as not to spoil anything between the books.)

True Crime (TW rape)

The Grim Sleeper: The Lost Women of South Central by Christine Pelisek: We circle back again to a real serial killer that hunted victims (for two decades) that police and society usually don’t care about, like the focus of season 2 of Mindhunter. Christine Pelisek was the reporter who broke the story and named the Los Angeles serial killer–who murdered Black women and left their bodies in alleys–“The Grim Sleeper” because of a break in time between attacks. Here Pelisek takes you into the case, trial, and more importantly gives voice to the victims and their families.

Recent Releases

Three-Fifths by John Vercher (Very excited about indie press Polis’ new crime imprint Agora Books and their first release! You can read more about it here.)

The Vanished Bride (Brontë Sisters Mystery #1) by Bella Ellis (I absolutely adored this historical mystery that reimagines the Brontë sisters as detectors looking for a missing woman.) (TW domestic violence/ addiction/ alludes to past statutory rape)

 

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan (TBR: Return home, past-mystery thriller!)

The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup (Dark serial killer thriller I’m looking forward to reading, by the creator of the Danish show The Killing which was later adapted into the AMC show.)

Mycroft and Sherlock: The Empty Birdcage (Mycroft Holmes and Sherlock #3) by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Anna Waterhouse (The basketball star continues his brother duo mystery series for Sherlock Holmes fans!)

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 Canavés.

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

Hello mystery fans! It’s that time of week where I send you off into the weekend with some interesting things I think you may like to read/know about. Also, some Kindle deals, true crime (some nonviolent), and some September premiering TV shows that mystery/crime fans may want to watch.

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Win the Best Mystery/Thrillers of the Year So Far!

Quiz: Your Perfect Thriller Series

7 Thrillers Coming Out In Autumn 2019 In The UK

Top 5 crime-fiction books to look forward to in September

All of Ruth Ware’s Books in Order

Attica Locke, Novelist and TV Writer, Has Some Suggestions for Hollywood

True Crime

JUST MERCY Official Trailer! (Adapted from Bryan Stevenson’ memoir)

The Hustle Behind Hustlers How do you make a film about scamming rich white men in an industry run by rich white men? First step: Get J.Lo to sign on.

A Mindhunter Fan Put the Charles Manson Scene Side-By-Side With an Actual 1981 Interview

It’s time to talk about James Mattis’s involvement with the Theranos scandal

Kerri Rawson On Stepping Out Of The Shadow Of Her Serial Killer Father

A Plagiarism Scandal Shakes Up the True-Crime Podcast World

Victim in Brock Turner Stanford sexual assault case goes public with her name and memoir

Kindle Deals

If you’re looking for a historical mystery: The Impossible Girl by Lydia Kang is $0.99! (Review)

If you’re looking for a Jamaican and Scottish crime solving team: Murder in Montego Bay (A Preddy and Harris Investigation Book 1) by Paula Lennon is $4.96!

 

September TV You May Want To Check Out

Stumptown is an adaptation of a graphic novel and stars Cobie Smulders, a Marine vet P.I. It premieres September 25 on ABC. Check out the fantastic trailer here.

Prodigal Son, while not an adaptation, sounds like it’d be great for procedural and fictional serial killer fans to check out. It follows a criminal psychologist with a serial killer father! It’ll premiere on Fox on September 23rd and you can check out Michael Sheen as a serial killer in the trailer here.

And Evil is for fans of mysteries and horror–and fans of Robert and Michelle King who brought us The Good Wife and The Good Fight. It follows a psychologist, contractor, and a Catholic priest in training as “they investigate the church’s backlog of unexplained mysteries.” !! You can check out the trailer here and it’ll premiere on CBS September 26th.

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 Canavés.

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

Hello mystery fans! This week I have for you a mystery set in Hawai’i that I loved, a Swedish novel about a P.I. that I found really interesting, and a bunch of women at a retreat where things are gonna go real wrong!

Hawai’i Mystery (TW addiction/ sick parent/ past stalking incident mentioned)

Iced in Paradise (A Leilani Santiago Hawai’i Mystery) by Naomi Hirahara: This was so good and I really hope there is a lot more to come. Leilani Santiago moves back to Hawai’i, after living in San Francisco for years, to help out her family. She’s working in their shave ice shack and mostly trying to figure out where she wants to be and what exactly she wants to be doing. The “what” gets answered for her when her dad, who she has a difficult relationship with, is accused of murdering the man found dead in their business. Of course she starts trying to figure out what happened, and not because she automatically thinks her dad is innocent, she isn’t so sure. This was such a a great mystery read that is filled with family, culture, food–and if you didn’t already want to go to Hawai’i you certainly will now. I think this one works really well for fans of cozy mysteries but also for those who shy away from cozy mysteries thinking they’re too slow.

Interesting P.I. In Sweden (TW past self harm/ past attempted suicide on page with detail/ pedophile/ human trafficking)

The Truth Behind the Lie (Kouplan #1) by Sara Lövestam: This was so different from most P.I. novels I’ve read and I really enjoyed that. It also reminded me of the Israeli Avraham Avraham series that I love in its care and kindness from the main character. Kouplan is an Iranian refugee living in Sweden and learning to be a P.I. by taking on cases from people who can’t, for whatever reason, call the police. He takes on the case of a woman, Pernilla, whose six-year-old daughter is missing. This very much takes you through all his steps as he gets to know Pernilla, questions people, and sets himself tasks to find the girl. It’s also a meditation on life, self, and mental illness and it felt like a quiet mystery in a lovely way. I’ve been thinking about this one sporadically since I finished and really look forward to more of this series, and crime publishing more novels like this.

What Could Go Wrong At A Retreat? Everything! (TW hair pulling disorder/ past pedophile on page/ brief mention past suicide, with detail)

The Retreat by Sherri Smith: This was a ride! It starts out feeling like a novel about four struggling women, all trying to find their footing, and then the suspense begins and by the end it might just feel like a horror novel. Which is to say I really enjoyed it! I also really liked the premise, which starts with a once famous child actor, now a grown woman, who almost had her comeback until she tweeted a homophobic “joke” and got cancelled. Now she’s at a weekend retreat with her soon to be sister-in-law who she needs to build a relationship with for the sake of her relationship with her brother and her two college friends. The book rotates chapters between the four women as they deal with their pasts, the secrets they’re currently still holding, their relationships with each other, and what exactly they want–and is a valid option–from life. Did I mention one wakes up covered in blood and holding a knife? And then one member from the retreat is missing? That’s just the beginning–about halfway through–of all that is to come!

And if you want a chance to win 10 of the best mystery and thrillers of this year we’ve got a giveaway! Enter here.

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 Canavés.

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

Hi mystery fans! I don’t know where August went but it just means that fall books are coming to get us! Also, fall TV/films which are bound to have a bunch of adaptations because everything gets adapted now–or so it feels. Anyhoo, here are your links and Kindle deals for the week! Hope you’re reading something awesome!

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Liberty and Tirzah talk about a couple mysteries that released this week on All The Books!

The United States of Wrongdoing: 50 Great Books About True Crimes

Women Have Always Loved Reading Thrillers—Just Ask the Victorians

Lisbeth Salander is back — and angrier than ever

5 Campus Crime Novels For Back-To-School

Has DISCLOSURE Aged Well in a MeToo Era?

15 Romantic Suspense Books You Won’t Be Able to Put Down

Adaptations And News

7 of the Best Books for MINDHUNTER Fans

‘Bond 25’ Title Revealed

MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN – Official Trailer (Adaptation of Jonathan Lethem novel: “a lonely private detective living with Tourette Syndrome, ventures to solve the murder of his mentor and only friend.”)

Briarpatch | Official Trailer – Starring Rosario Dawson | on USA Network (Adaptation of Ross Thomas novel: The sibling of a murdered homicide detective decides to search for the killer.)

The 11 Books You Need to Read to Keep Up With Fall Movie Season

Kindle Deals

Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan is $1.99 if you’re looking for 2 Jesuit priests solving crimes! (Review) (TW I don’t remember but children are the victims.)

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson is $2.99 if you’re looking for a double mystery and great start to a trilogy–Full review.

 

A Bit Of My Week In Reading

Reading: Tayari Jones wrote one of my favorite novels ever–Silver Sparrow –and I realized that I still hadn’t read her novel Leaving Atlanta so that is getting rectified. I was gifted The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death by Corinne May Botz because I am fascinated by Frances Glessner Lee who in the 1930s made true crime dollhouse scenes and founded the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard. And I’ve been listening to Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia as my crime break which mixes Mexican mythology and sci-fi for an awesome adventure story.

Finished: The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis is an utterly delightful, smart, and great fun mystery. It reimagines the Brontë sisters as detectors who set out to solve a missing woman case. I loved it! And you don’t have to know, or care, about the classic works to thoroughly enjoy this book, especially if you enjoy historical mysteries.

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 Canavés.

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

Hello mystery fans! This week I’m coming at you with a historical fiction mystery I loved, a dark-ish British serial killer with a past and present mystery, and an exploration of true crime.

Historical Mystery (TW suicide)

The Frangipani Tree Mystery (Crown Colony #1) by Ovidia Yu: Set in 1936 Singapore a local teen, SuLin, was orphaned young and left with a limp from Polio but, thanks to her aunt, received an education. Now, rather than allowing herself to be married off, she wants to work. Which works out for her because the nanny in the Acting Governor’s house is murdered and a new nanny is needed. Not the work she wanted but SuLin–who is smart, perceptive, and kind–finds herself trying to help the girl in her charge while navigating the upstairs, downstairs and racial politics–Oh, and figuring out what happened to the nanny! She finds herself working in a way with Chief Inspector Thomas LeFroy as he tries to solve the murder and she tries to get a handle on the family living in the Governor’s House. Then there’s another death…I especially loved the setting, characters, “partnership” and am really glad it’s the start of a series with two more books already out!

British Serial Killer (TW addiction/ child abuse, murder/ pedophile)

The Whisper Man by Alex North: If you’re looking for a dark-ish British thriller and enjoy past and present mysteries, this was a good read–and audiobook! A recently widowed father, Tom Kennedy, moves to a small-town, Featherbank, with his young son hoping for a fresh start. But it’s hard to make a fresh start when a town has a grizzly past–a serial killer that preyed on children 20 years before. Now with a young boy missing, two DI’s on the case–one who thought he’d caught the serial killer years ago, but never found one of the children–and Tom’s young son seeing things and talking to an imaginary girl in their new home things take a creepy turn. What is happening now, and what happened all those years before?… It’s told from multiple points of view–giving you part procedural, part family drama–with a monstrous serial killer weaving in terror, but the core of the book is about father and son relationships.

Exploration Of True Crime (TW basically everything)

Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession by Rachel Monroe: I have so many thoughts on this book I could write an entire review for each of the four sections. It starts and ends with the author attending a true crime con. In between it focuses on one fascinating woman and three cold cases which are looked at from a different angle then just the actual case–women’s obsession is the “thesis” for the book. First, we learn about Frances Glessner Lee who in the 1940s created true crime scene dioramas like dollhouses and was very influential about creating what we know as forensics science today. I loved learning about her and think she should be widely known! I could have done without blips of the author’s harsh-ish judgement of Lee which seemed unwarranted, and even if warranted unnecessary. The second section is about a woman who burrowed her way into the Tate family and I only read half of it–I’ve been done with everything Manson related for a long time. The treatment for so long has upheld everything that is wrong with true crime, and while it completely makes sense it’s in this book, I just personally couldn’t. The third section was back to fascinating for me: It focuses on a N.Y. landscape architect who saw a documentary about a convicted child murderer (West Memphis Three) and sought him out, married him, then dedicated her life to proving his innocence. This was one of those (in)justice system stories that should have more focus and brought me back to why I’d picked up this book. And finally a young woman’s obsession, and pockets of the internet/social media, with Columbine and her own attempt at a mass shooting–which sadly could not be more timely. If you read true crime and don’t know these stories this book will most likely work really well for you. If you read true crime and are starting to branch out in exploring the genre’s issues this is also a good pickup. If you firmly sit in the camp that true crime is exploitative and all the genre’s issues need to be addressed this book will probably meet you 1/2 way but everything else you want said will be just out of reach.

Recent Releases

Wonton Terror (A Noodle Shop Mystery #4) by Vivien Chien (Currently reading: Always enjoyable cozy mystery that leaves me starving for Chinese food.)

A Better Man (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #15) by Louise Penny (Excellent series for fans of procedurals/detectives who want a Canadian setting.)

The Truth Behind the Lie (Kouplan #1) by Sara Lövestam (TBR: Iranian refugee PI working in Sweden for clients who can’t go to the police.)

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 Canavés.

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