Hi, mystery fans! I inhaled the delightful and hilarious first season of We Are Lady Parts (Peacock). It’s a punk band of very different adult Muslim women, and the newest member has massive stage fright, is in love with a bandmate’s brother, and is hiding from her friends that she’s in a band — what could go wrong? I love that the first season felt complete to watch in one run and also that there is a second season dropping on May 30th. The show’s creator, Nida Manzoor, wrote and directed the very awesome and fun film Polite Society — in case you’ve yet to see it.
Make this your most bookish summer yet with personalized reading recommendations from Tailored Book Recommendations! Our bibliologists (aka professional book nerds) are standing by to help you find your next favorite read. Get your recommendations via email, or opt to receive hardcovers or paperbacks delivered right to your door. And with quarterly or annual plans available, TBR has something for every budget. Get started today from just $18!
Bookish Goods
Headphone Book Hard Enamel Pin by BiblioChicShop
I love this adorable pin for audiobook readers! ($13)
New Releases
Return to Blood (A Hana Westerman Thriller #2) by Michael Bennett
For fans of former detectives back on a case and murder mysteries set in New Zealand!
Hana Westerman has quit the force and moved back home with her father, Eru, in Tātā Bay. Decades ago, a Māori man was convicted of the murder of a fellow classmate of Hana’s, and Eru has always believed they convicted the wrong person. Now another skeleton is found in the same dunes where Hana’s classmate was found dead, and even though Hana is no longer officially a detective, she’s drawn back into a murder investigation…
If you want to start at the beginning of the series, pick up Better The Blood!
One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware
For fans of remote island mysteries and reality TV shows!
Because Lyla’s life is in a not great place, she decides to join her actor boyfriend on a reality TV show. Set to compete against other couples on an island, things quickly take a turn for worse when a storm knocks out power and the contestants don’t have cell phones. Now these competing strangers have to work together to survive…
Ware has consistently been publishing a mystery/thriller a year since her 2015 debut, In a Dark, Dark Wood, so backlist readers have plenty to read.
Looking for more new releases? Check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
These are two books that I loved experiencing the way they unfold, taking you down a very different path from where you start — which is all I’ll say because the fun is not knowing and watching it happen!
Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones
This is for fans of slasher films and fantastic first-person narrative voice!
Sawyer is about to graduate high school and it seems that something is taking revenge on him and his friend group…
Bonus: You should definitely have on your radar Graham Jones’s July release I Was A Teenage Slasher.
For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing
For fans of revenge and school settings!
Teddy Crutcher is an English teacher at an academy and is constantly in a war with everyone around him — including students and parents — where he secretly punishes them in ways that he thinks will “correct” their behavior. And then a student dies…
New and Roundups
The Knives Out 3 Title Has a Deeper Meaning
Andrew Scott Joins Knives Out 3 Cast
Mix The Jinx and Sesame Street, and you get Benedict Cumberbatch’s Eric
James Patterson has finished a Michael Crichton manuscript
Daisy Jones & the Six Star Camila Morrone Joins Tom Hiddleston in The Night Manager Season 2
A Classic Crime Movie Is Finally Getting A Sequel – As An HBO Series
Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See upcoming 2023 releases. 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 Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy — you can find me under Jamie Canavés.
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