Hi, mystery fans! I just started watching a darkly funny show that is a murder mystery with an alien in hiding: Resident Alien (Peacock). Basically, he was sent to earth to kill all humanity (the way we’re going, not judging), but he crash-landed in a small town and has to assume the identity of a doctor and solve the murder of the town’s doctor while taking over his job — cue ridiculousness. Also, a small boy can see his true alien form, so he’s on a mission to kill the kid…I swear it’s a comedy.
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Bookish Goods
Miniature Small Owl Reading Book by LoveFairyGarden
Reading is a hoot! Sorry, I’ll see myself out. ($14)
New Releases
You Know What You Did by K. T. Nguyen
For fans of psychological suspense, unreliable narrators, mental illness exploration, and an artist lead!
Annie Shaw is a painter who lives in Virginia with her journalist husband and daughter, living the kind of life people dream of. Then Annie finds her mother dead in their carriage house, and Annie begins to unravel: Her meds seem to not be a match for her seeing her mother’s ghost, she’s a suspect in an art patron’s death, and then she has no memory of how she got to a murder scene…
Nosy Neighbors by Freya Sampson
For fans of Only Murders in the Building, enemies uniting, two POVs, and feel-good mysteries!
Residents of the multi-unit Shelley House building are not only facing eviction from a landlord wanting to sell the property, but a new young resident has the eldest resident on edge. Kat Bennett is in her mid-twenties and just moved into Shelley House, and she’s not the most approachable. Dorothy Darling is in her late seventies and watches everything happening in the building, telling everyone what they’re doing wrong. She does not like Kat. But when the person letting Kat sublet is injured, Dorothy and Kat put their war aside to find out who is harming tenants…
Looking for more new releases? Check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
Here are two backlist historical mystery series starters set in the 1940s that are wildly different from each other, from setting to tone.
Clark and Division (Japantown Mystery #1) by Naomi Hirahara
For fans of lesser-known history, family drama, and amateur sleuths!
In the wake of Pearl Harbor, the Ito family was forced into California’s Manzanar internment camp. A few months ago, the oldest daughter, Rose, was resettled to Chicago, and now her parents and younger sister, Aki, are being released to join her. Except Rose is dead, labeled a suicide, and Aki is certain something else must have happened. So Aki uses Rose’s diary and talks to everyone who got to know Rose during her time in Chicago, to find out what really happened to her sister.
(TW briefly recounts sexual assault without graphic details/misgendering)
Full Dark House (Bryant & May: Peculiar Crimes Unit #1) by Christopher Fowler
For fans of the London Blitz setting, past and present murder investigations, and snarky old British detectives pairing!
For over 60 years, Arthur Bryant and John May have been partners in the Peculiar Crimes Division. In the present, Bryant is killed in a headquarters explosion, and May investigates, leading him to think back on their first case together: a murdered stage dancer who plays out the investigation along with the production of Orpheus in the Underworld.
News and Roundups
A first date turns into a whodunit in Diarra from Detroit
The 20 Best Spy Novels You Won’t Be Able To Put Down
From Sugar To Monsieur Spade: Old-School TV Detectives Are Having A Moment
Everything to Know About Bad Boys 4
Kobo Is Launching Its First Color Ereaders
Sherlock co-creator wants a Benedict Cumberbatch-Martin Freeman feature film reunion
Has BookTok Gone Too Far This Time?
Liberty and Emily chat new releases on All The Books! including You Know What You Did by K. T. Nguyen, While We Were Burning by Sara Koffi, Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina, and Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki.
Double The Book Bans In Half The Time: PEN America’s Latest Book Ban Report
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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