Hello mystery fans! You can download a free audiobook of A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro until 5/3 courtesy of AudioFile’s Sync program. (And make sure you go back every week because they have fantastic books coming up like Solo, Being Jazz, When Dimple Met Rishi.)
Sponsored by White Rabbit by Caleb Roehrig
Rufus Holt is having the worst night of his life. It begins with the reappearance of his ex-boyfriend, Sebastian. Just as Rufus is getting ready to move on, Sebastian turns up out of the blue, saying they need to “talk.”
Then Rufus gets a call from his sister April, begging for help. He and Sebastian find her, drenched in blood and holding a knife beside the dead body of her boyfriend, Fox Whitney.
April swears she didn’t kill Fox, but Rufus knows her too well to believe she’s telling him the whole truth. April has something he needs, though, and her price is his help. Rufus has one night to prove his sister’s innocence . . . or die trying.
Locked-Room Mystery With A Whydunnit (TW: rape/ suicide)
Malice by Keigo Higashino, Alexander O. Smith (Translator): Kunihiko Hidaka, an author, is found murdered inside his locked office inside his locked home. While there is suspicion on three characters–the wife, the friend, the neighbor–a confession comes rather quickly in the novel. However, the why plays out as a bit of cat and mouse between the Police Detective Kyochiro Kaga and the murderer, making this a very interesting novel, with a very interesting structure. Each part revealing more and more… I’m also always a sucker for main characters that are authors and it was interesting to read the little bits about characters/society’s views on writing/publishing in Japan.
Series With an Evolving PI I Love
What You Want To See (Roxane Weary #2) by Kristen Lepionka: This is one of those PI series where I immediately became attached to the main character and I am really enjoying watching her grow (along with solve mysteries). Roxane Weary was a hot mess in the first book, (The Last Place You Look) dealing with her father’s death, her family, a toxic relationship with an ex-girlfriend and sleeping with a guy that was just a bad idea, and pissing off cops left and right. Now Weary is back with a new case–still stubborn and determined when it comes to solving it, but she’s also working on her relationships and finding ways to struggle less in a way that is both very real and very hopeful amongst all the darkness in the world. A simple case of “is my fiancée cheating on me” turns very complicated quickly, and Weary chooses once again to listen to her intuition over all the advice of police, family, and friends. I would 100% hire Weary, because at the end of the day I know she’d at the very least always be in my corner. (I recommend reading the previous book to watch Weary’s growth–and it’s a great mystery/thriller–but you can jump into the series here without feeling like you’re lost.)
Coming of Age Memoir + True Crime (TW: child predator/ stalking/ suicide/ cutting)
You All Grow Up and Leave Me by Piper Weiss: Memoir/true crime has become a favorite read for me. When done well it really allows for an exploration of the impact of crimes with an emotional component that usually focuses more on the victims. In this case, this is very much a memoir about a woman coming to terms with her teen years when she was a student of a fun, larger-than life tennis instructor who turned out to be a predator. If you don’t actually know the crime, or about Gary Wilensky, you don’t learn about what happened until the end of the book. Instead we see how easily a predator was able to teach the children of New York’s elite. We watch now realizing that all the fun games, and his ability to let the girls feel not judged and like adults in his presence, was not because he was cool. Weiss is a great writer–I highlighted so many sentences about being a teen girl, the kind I usually find in Megan Abbott’s work–that really brings to life a very specific time when female tennis players were becoming stars and shows the very complicated emotions, and damage predators leave behind.
Recent Releases:
Down the Aisle with Murder (An Otter Lake Mystery #5) by Auralee Wallace (Another great read in this hilarious series I adore.)
The Grim Sleeper: The Lost Women of South Central by Christine Pelisek (Paperback) (TW: rape) (Good true crime about a serial rapist that focused and gave voice to the victims that usually aren’t heard.)
Murder on Union Square (Gaslight Mystery #21) by Victoria Thompson (TBR: Historical fiction mystery.)
Saving Sin City: William Travers Jerome, Stanford White, and the Original Crime of the Century by Mary Cummings (TBR: True crime about the murder of an architect in 1906.)
Dressed for Death in Burgundy (French Village Mysteries #2) by Susan C. Shea (TBR: Cozy mystery set in France.)
Isabella’s Painting by Ellen Butler (TBR: Amateur sleuth catches father-in-law with what she discovers may be a stolen painting–I saw someone say this was like a Hallmark mystery movie and I was like yes, please.)
The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy (Currently reading: During a Mommy Group night out one of the women’s baby disappears from his crib.)
YOU CAN WIN A SHELF OF MEGAN ABBOTT’S BOOKS! I’d be totally jealous if I didn’t already own them. AND remember Book Riot is giving away 15 awesome mysteries and thrillers from this year!!!!
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.
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