Hello mystery fans! I’ve listened to so many British audiobooks in a row that the voice in my head now has a new accent–please tell me this also happens to you?
Sponsored by RATTLE by Fiona Cummins
If you see him, it’s already too late.
Fiona Cummins delves into the seam of darkness that runs through us all, the struggle between light and shadow, redemption and revenge, as a detective and a desperate father hunt down a twisted killer with a macabre obsession …
Cozy Mystery with a Few Ghosts:
Killing in C Sharp (Gethsemane Brown Mysteries #3) by Alexia Gordon: Gethsemane is an American living in an Irish cottage teaching music, but if she wants to keep her current living arrangement she’s gonna have to play nice with paranormal investigators–or so demands her landlord. The problem is she doesn’t want them actually spotting the ghost that lives there, nor does she want to have to deal with a terrible true crime writer, or a new ghost–but when a man is murdered Gethsemane is going to have to figure out who the murderer is while keeping the world from discovering her ghostly friend. The actual mystery was not at all the direction I would have thought this would take and I quite enjoyed it. A good read for fans of cozy mysteries–especially looking for less violence towards women– and a series I’ll keep picking up.
Great “PI” Pairing set in Australia (TW: child rape/ pedophilia )
Crimson Lake by Candice Fox: Ted Conkaffey was a Sydney detective until he happened to be the last person witnesses saw near a girl who was abducted, raped, and left for dead. He’s always maintained his innocence, and the charges have been dropped, but public opinion hasn’t changed. It’s why he’s relocated to Crimson Lake (which made me think of the Florida Everglades). His lawyer sets him up with a local PI, Amanda Pharrell, who was charged as a teen in the brutal stabbing of another teen and is now the only PI available in the area. Pharrell is quirky, a weird rhymer, troubled, and gifted in deducing things rather quickly. Conkaffey is just trying to survive the cops who are harassing him, and figure out a life outside of prison without his family–oh, and keeping a bunch of geese alive. But they work well together when it comes to solving the mystery of a missing local author whose ring was found inside a crocodile! A page-turning mystery, with great characters, and a vivid setting perfect for fans of Jane Harper’s The Dry. I look forward to more Pharrell and Conkaffey–and Australian wildlife!
Links:
Book Riot is giving away $500 Penguin clothbound books in the giveaway that has made all Rioters jealous they can’t enter!
Walter Mosley interview discussing Down the River Unto the Sea and writing.
Gillian Flynn interview–without the questions–where she talks about her next novel!
Rincey and Katie talk Noir on Read or Dead.
A new podcast discusses the making of Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark. You can listen to a preview on iTunes here. And if you missed my review of the book here ya go.
Alex Segura and Gregg Hurwitz discuss the allure of cults in their own work.
Watch the trailer for In Ice Cold Blood, hosted by Ice-T, premiering April 1st on Oxygen.
“Du Maurier’s bestselling novel reveals much about the author’s fluid sexuality – her ‘Venetian tendencies’ – and about being a boy stuck in the wrong body, writes Olivia Laing” — Sex, jealousy and gender: Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca 80 years on
Over on Book Riot 7 Short Mystery Stories and 7 Japanese Mystery novels.
Dynamite will have a new Nancy Drew comic in June created by women: “written by Kelly Thompson (Jem and the Holograms, Hawkeye), with art by Jenn St-Onge (Bingo Love, The Misfits), color by Triona Farrell (Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor), and letters by Ariana Maher (Ringside, 8House).”
Suspenseful Mystery That Also Works for Literary Fans (TW: suicide)
If I Die Tonight
by Alison Gaylin: Gaylin successfully explores a lot of issues (without feeling heavy handed) while strumming the chord of suspense and running a mystery throughout. I got sucked in from the opening and ended up reading it in two sittings. At the core is the mystery of who is responsible for a hit-and-run. When all eyes start to turn towards Wade Reed– who’s recently become too thin and withdrawn–his mother immediately comes to his defense. But does she really know the teen he’s become? Or is a washed-up ’80s popstar lying about the night’s events? An interesting look at family, age, social media, vilifying…that will probably leave you thinking. (I don’t know why the summary says “a dose of Stranger Things” but you should not think this is like ST.)
Recent Releases:
The Case for Jamie (Charlotte Holmes #3) by Brittany Cavallaro (I’m gonna have to put on my shelf just for the title!)
Death at the Durbar (Maharajah Mystery #2) by Arjun Raj Gaind (Historical mystery, 1911 India)
Agatha Christie by Laura Thompson (Biography)
They All Fall Down by Tammy Cohen (Good psychological thriller set in mental health facility–written with care.) (TW: suicide/ rape/ cutting/ eating disorder)
Memento Mori (Medicus Investigation #8) by Ruth Downie (Greek mythology mystery)
The Last Equation of Isaac Severy by Nova Jacobs
Plum Tea Crazy (A Tea Shop Mystery #19) by Laura Childs (Currently reading: great opening, tea shop owner sleuth in South Carolina.)
Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions (Tante Poldi #1) by Mario Giordano, John Brownjohn (Translation) (review)
Phoenix Burning (A Veranda Cruz Mystery #2) by Isabella Maldonado (Currently reading: Mexican American detective, with a whopper of a secret, takes on a Mexican cartel in Phoenix.) (TW: rape)
A Brush with Shadows (Lady Darby Mystery #6) by Anna Lee Huber (Historical mystery, 1831 England)
Kindle Deals:
The Lion’s Mouth (Hanne Wilhelmsen #4) by Anne Holt is 99 cents (Reads as standalone– great political thriller/mystery.) (Read it too long ago to remember trigger warnings but this series is dark so assume at least a few.)
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 Canaves.