Hello, mystery fans! The Marvels is now on Disney+ if you’re in need of something fun with a hilarious surprise. And streamers need to get their shit together because there really needs to be a season two of Ms. Marvel!
2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!
Bookish Goods
Sorry I’m late I didn’t want to stop reading tote by booksrbtrthanreality
If you’re looking for a new tote bag and don’t want to explain your late entrances, here you go. ($25)
New Releases
Cosplay Crime by Marty Chan
For fans of middle grade mysteries that focus on a theft with a fun setting and friendship!
Young teens Bree and Alix are best friends having a great time at the Anime Expo. Bree is especially excited to meet the voice actor from her favorite series—she is after all dressed as Red Squirrel! But the panel is cancelled after an expensive print is stolen, so naturally, it’s time for Bree to put on her amateur sleuth hat! Not so easy, though, at a convention where everyone is in costumes and masks…
The Spy and I by Tiana Smith
For fans of romantic thrillers—especially if you love “chick-lit,” action, and spies!
Dove Barkley has one of those cool-sounding jobs: she is paid to hack into companies’ networks to show them where their vulnerabilities are. That’s as much excitement as Dove would like in her life, so she’s not really thrilled when a man is murdered in front of her, and a CIA agent claims to be her sister’s partner—which is how Dove learns her twin is a spy! She’s roped into the mission, trying to find her sister and basically trying to stay alive. Oh, and her sister’s partner, Mendez, seems to be short-circuiting Dove’s brain, even though she’s certain this is not the time for romance and doubting everything he’s told her about himself…
Reach for this one when you need a fun action read that throws romance into the mix.
Looking for more new releases? Check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
Here are some mystery/thrillers with lawyer leads! Both are series starters, so if you read them when they were first published and have yet to continue, take this as a reminder to pick up the next in the series.
By Way of Sorrow (Erin McCabe Mysteries #1) by Robyn Gigl
Erin McCabe has been hired to defend Sharise, who is accused of murdering a prominent New Jersey man’s son. Sharise, a Black transgender woman, is being held in a male prison and says the murder was in self-defense. McCabe knows firsthand the dangers transgender people face and also thinks there might be more to this case than has been shared with her. As McCabe manages her personal life and career, she and her ex-FBI partner realize Sharise’s life and their own lives are in danger as witnesses in their case start dropping dead.
Continue the series with Survivor’s Guilt and Remain Silent!
(TW transphobia/ misgendering/ mentions groping and sexual assault threats in prison/ child abuse scene/ murder made to look like suicide, detail/ brief mention past cancer death, not graphic)
While Justice Sleeps (Avery Keene #1) by Stacey Abrams
Avery Keene is the most shocked upon learning that Justice Howard Wynn is in a coma and he’s left her, his law clerk, power of attorney. His estranged family is also shocked and really not happy. To find out what happened to Howard, why he left her in charge, and to keep herself safe, she’ll have to dig into his cases, work, and personal life.
Pick up the sequel, Rogue Justice!
(TW attempted suicide, detail/ addiction/ briefly threatens sexual assault, doesn’t/ degenerative brain disorder/ genocide/ Islamophobia)
News and Roundups
Crime Writers of Color Podcast: Danielle Arceneaux, author of Glory Be is interviewed by Robert Justice.
Watson Drama With Morris Chestnut a Go at CBS
Iliad on the Strip: PW Talks with Don Winslow
Waunakee writer gets national attention for murder-mystery Northwoods
Watch every movie trailer that aired during Super Bowl 2024
14 February 2024 Book Club Picks, From Reese’s Book Club To Sapph-Lit
Apple TV+’s 2024 lineup, including the Lady in the Lake adaptation (Laura Lippman)
LeVar Burton Responds to Book Bans with Reading Rainbow Video
Browse the books recommended in Unusual Suspects’ previous newsletters on this shelf. See upcoming 2024 releases and mysteries from 2023. Check out this Unusual Suspects Pinterest board and get Tailored Book Recommendations!
Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy — you can find me under Jamie Canavés.
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