Hello, mystery fans! I am currently obsessed with the Lore Olympus graphic novel series — the art is gorgeous, it’s hilarious, and the tension is *chef’s kiss — and I’m thinking of making it my whole personality.
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Bookish Goods
New Releases
The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant
For fans of atmospheric crime novels, fictional missing person cases, estranged friendships, and past secrets!
Estranged exes Emlyn and Tyler find themselves on a road trip in search of a past friend, Janessa. Tyler is certain that something has happened to Janessa, especially since she’s stopped posting on social media, but since the cops don’t think that’s enough to investigate, he begs Emlyn, his former girlfriend and Janessa’s former best friend, to please help. Emlyn is currently basically babysitting tourists as a fishing and hunting guide in Idaho, but she relents and agrees to help Tyler. They set off in search of Janessa, which forces Emlyn to face her past as readers learn how she met both Janessa and Tyler and the unraveling of each relationship.
I got absorbed into the audiobook narrated by Emily Pike Stewart.
I remain a fan of Kimi Cunningham Grant’s atmospheric writing. Backlist readers should definitely pick up These Silent Woods and Fallen Mountains.
(TW attempted date rape with drug at bar/ addiction off-page, side character/ brief past miscarriage loss, no detail/ hunting/ animal cruelty)
Devil’s Kitchen by Candice Fox
For fans of heist crews, thrillers, and an undercover on the team!
An NYC firefighter squad has taken advantage of having the kind of job where they can create scenarios to give them access to buildings where they can case out the place for a future heist. Andy Nearland has been hired to go into the crew undercover to find out what happened to one of its member’s girlfriend and son, who have vanished…
Looking for more new releases? Check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
I recently bought the paperback of Quan Barry’s We Ride Upon Sticks, and its neon pink cover made me think about how dark most of the crime genre book covers are, so I went in search of some neon covers!
The Lagos Wife by Vanessa Walters (Previously titled as The Nigerwife)
For fans of fictional missing person cases, family drama, dual POVs, outside the US setting, and past and present stories!
Nicole Oruwari is a British woman of Jamaican descent who moved to Lagos, Nigeria, when she married Tonye. Now she’s a part of the Nigerwives (pronounced like Nigeria), who are foreign women married to Nigerian men. After a boat trip, however, she disappears, and the aunt who raised her, Claudine, travels to Lagos to find out why she’s getting no information on what happened to her niece. She’s not greeted with a great reception, no one seems concerned, and it looks like Tonye is already set to remarry…
The audiobook has two great narrators: Dami Olukoya and Debra Michaels.
(TW mentions of partner abuse, domestic abuse scene/ briefly mentions past suicide, no detail/ mentions past addiction, overdose/ past child sexual abuse)
The Less Dead by Denise Mina
For fans of Glasgow, a struggling main character, family drama, mysteries about a past mysterious death, and crime novels!
Margot is pregnant and grieving her adoptive mother. She has yet to tell her boyfriend about the pregnancy because they’re separated after an incident where she felt he betrayed her confidence. (His brother is dating Margot’s best friend.) When she reaches out to an adoption agency to contact her birth mother’s sister, she learns that her aunt only accepted the request after learning that Margot is a doctor because she wants access to a database through Margot to prove that a cop killed Margot’s birth mother years ago…
I’ve been a fan of everything I’ve read by Denise Mina. She’s a great comp for fans of Tana French, and both have extensive backlists of procedurals and standalone novels.
(TW stalking/ suicide mentioned as threat, no detail/ past disordered eating/ domestic abuse/ rape cases, including teen prostitution/ addiction)
News and Roundups
From corporate law to crime thrillers, Atlanta author likes to right wrongs
Akwaeke Emezi’s novel Little Rot is a thrilling but difficult descent into darkness
From Ripley in Italy to True Detective in Iceland, How Locations Were Key For Top Emmy Contenders
Every Ruth Ware Mystery Novel, Ranked According to Goodreads
Jennifer Esposito Tapped To Direct Shake, Female-Centric Crime Drama From Ryan Binaco
Rahul Kohli Joins Amazon’s We Were Liars In Recasting
Resident Alien Moves To USA Network With Season 4 Renewal
5 mysteries to read this summer — and their authors reveal their reading lists
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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