Hello, mystery fans! I have finally gotten around to watching The Bear (Hulu), and it is very good prestige TV that is absolutely not filmed for people with anxiety because you will feel the massive stress of the restaurant kitchen.
Bookish Goods
New Releases
The Noh Mask Murder by Akimitsu Takagi, Jesse Kirkwood (Translator)
For fans of locked room mysteries, mystery writer MCs, and Japanese crime novels!
Akimitsu Takagi is a mystery writer who is sent to investigate the Chizurui family mansion, where someone wearing a sinister Hannya mask stalks around at night. But the fun is over quickly when it turns into a murder investigation: the head of the family was murdered in the locked study and a Hannya mask was left on the floor…
Hall of Mirrors (Nightingale Trilogy #2) by John Copenhaver
For fans of historical mysteries, multiple POV, and amateur sleuths!
Set during the Lavender Scare, Judy Nightingale and Philippa Watson are amateur sleuths who recently befriended Roger Raymond, a mystery author. After he’s been found dead in his burned apartment the police rule it a suicide and close the case. But Judy and Philippa aren’t convinced, questioning if it even is Raymond. So they get to sleuthing along with Raymond’s partner, Lionel Kane, only to discover a serial killer from their past may be involved…
If you want to start at the beginning of the series, pick up The Savage Kind.
Looking for more new releases? Check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
Here are two mystery books with “game” in the title — one deadly, one puzzle-y!
Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington
While on scholarship at an elite high school, Adina Walker has been working towards getting into a top ivy league school, so everything in her life crumbles when she ends up blacklisted after a school fight. But she learns she can fix her problem by entering the Finish, a competition held by the founders of the school which pits 12 women against each other in three challenges. Adina is about to find out it’s a deadly game…
The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Tobias Hawthorne is a ridiculously rich man who leaves practically everything in his will to high schooler Avery Grambs. The catch? She has to live in his mansion for a year surrounded by his very unhappy family. Guess she’ll have to follow all the clues he left to figure out why her, and what the Hawthorne’s secrets are…
News and Roundups
25 Books That Are Sure To Delight Agatha Christie Fans
Megan Abbott announces her next book, El Dorado Drive, for summer 2025!
On the podcast The Shit No One Tells You About Writing episode “Choosing How to Frame Certain Aspects of Your Work,” Carly interviews Vanessa Walters, playwright and author of The Lagos Wife. A preview video on IG.
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.
If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own, you can sign up here.