Hello mystery fans! It’s a new month and I’m starting you all off with three new releases: I’ve got a whydunnit, a return home mystery, and a past and present mystery stuffed with all the reveals.
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Whydunnit! (TW child abuse/ suicide attempt)
The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu: This was a page-turner for me that opens with you knowing the crime: Elise shot and killed her best friend Remy’s boyfriend. We get Remy in the present talking to her lawyer, and a police detective, as she explains what happened that night. And we get the recent past where we see Remy meet Elise and Jack, separately, and how their relationships evolve. Adult and YA toxic friendship novels are not new, and I’ve read a ton of them, but this one could have taken many turns it didn’t and surprised me with the ones it did in a good way. It felt thoughtful. It explored quite a few things while always keeping the suspense and tension of the why threaded through–especially when we learn Remy is lying… If you like a whydunnit and toxic friendship novels this was a really good read.
Return Home Mystery! (TW addiction/ PTSD/ statutory rape/ suicide mention with detail)
Girls Like Us by Cristina Alger: I really enjoyed Alger’s previous novel, The Banker’s Wife, and was thrilled to discover that this one, while totally different, is also super good. It hits a lot of notes for different crime fans: return home; FBI agent on leave; murder mystery; procedural; thriller ending. A thing I really liked about this novel was that it set up a lot of things that are tropes for the genre but never took the worn path. For example the main character Nell Flynn, is an FBI agent on leave after being shot who returns home for her father’s funeral. You think she’s going to be self-destructive and angry but she’s not. And I say this as someone who loves a hotmess, self-destructive woman character–it’s just nice to get something that feels different in the current trends. Flynn ends up assisting a local detective, her father’s last partner, on a murdered woman’s case and quickly finds herself in over her head when things start pointing at her father leading her to question what she actually remembered from the long ago night when her mother was murdered… If you like mysteries with thriller endings, past and present mysteries, and a main character you root for don’t miss this one. And while it’s a great standalone I’d love for it to be the start of a series so I can get more Flynn.
Past And Present Mystery With So Many Reveals! (TW suicide/ child murder/ past pedophile without detail/ partner abuse/ rape mention/ sexual harassment/ addiction)
Never Look Back by Alison Gaylin: This is one of those vacation reads for me: it had a great hook in the first 60 pages; was plot driven; kept making me lean forward with the reveals whether I saw it coming or not. I’m going to give you a bare bones summary of the plot–you can find the full everywhere else–but I loved going into this one not knowing the initial reveal. Quentin Garrison is a true crime podcast host and he’s currently working on one about two teenage killers from the ’70s. But it’s a personal podcast for him, since he has a connection to one of the crimes… This one is told from multiple points of view, although mostly from three: Quentin Garrison; one of the teen killer’s letters; Robin Diamond, an online columnist. If you want a twisty book, filled with reveals, and don’t mind “diary” type entries amongst the chapters lay back and enjoy the ride!
Recent Releases
The Gone Dead by Chanelle Benz (Currently listening to the audiobook– with the amazing Bahni Turpin narrating!–and it’s a really good Southern past mystery.)
Stone Cold Heart (Cat Kinsella #2) by Caz Frear (Good new-ish British procedural series.)
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager (Apartment sitter at mysterious apartment building starts to uncover secrets, including that sitters disappear…)
Second Sight by Aoife Clifford (Looking forward to reading this Australian crime.)
Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott (Paperback) (One of my favorite crime authors–Review) (TW suicide)
This Body’s Not Big Enough for Both of Us by Edgar Cantero (Paperback) (Dark comic noir.)
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.
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