Hi my fellow mystery fans! I’m melting and it isn’t even August yet which has me wanting to read mysteries/thrillers set in cold settings. If you’re looking for the same thing I very much recommend North of Boston by Elisabeth Elo–freezing water sounds amazing right now.
Sponsored by the high-octane political thriller We Are Holding the President Hostage.
The most popular high-octane thriller from the bestselling author of The War of the Roses – We Are Holding the President Hostage is an electrifying death match that grips you from the first page until long after the last. Aging Mafia Don Salvatore Padronelli, a.k.a. the Padre, is furious when fanatical terrorists capture his beloved daughter and grandson on a trip to Egypt. Fed up with diplomatic caution that prolongs their captivity, the Padre and his loyal henchman cleverly insinuate themselves into the White House to hold the President and his wife hostage. Now the Padre calls the shots on getting the President to take steps to release his family. But will his plan go as expected?
I ain’t afraid of no ghost!
Death in D Minor (Gethsemane Brown Mysteries #2) by Alexia Gordon: And neither is Gethsemane Brown (an American musician living in Ireland), who summons a ghost in the hopes of saving her cottage from developers. Except, whoopsie, the wrong ghost appears. At the wrong time. But that’s a side plot—in a delightful way, not a distracting way—from the actual mystery: Gethsemane’s brother-in-law is in town for an art auction and quickly finds himself entangled in a fraud case as the suspect. Gethsemane makes a deal to help gather evidence against suspected art frauders to prove his innocence, but soon there’s a death and Gethsemane is in danger. This was a great read with a couple of ghosts, music, and art history that complimented well with the mystery at heart and some laughs. Now I have to go read the first in the series!
If you’re going to be in Maine on the 29th Tess Gerritsen is having a mystery garden party!
Over on Paste: Read an excerpt from The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter.
A judge in Spain ordered Salvador Dali’s body exhumed for a paternity test and because I clearly read too many mysteries my first thought was “But what if the body isn’t there when they open the casket?!”
True crime is stranger than fiction ( A living Jane Doe): Finding Lisa: A story of murders, mysteries, loss, and, incredibly, new life
Chrissy Teigen reads true crime. So does John Legend. The couple that reads true crime together, stays together?
DiCaprio and Scorsese are uniting again, this time on an adaptation for the true crime Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann.
Breakfast Club meets murder mystery:
One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus: This starts with five students in detention–most professing innocence. Each seems to take on the classic trope of teen movies giving you the Breakfast Club type vibes (brain, jock, pretty/popular, bad boy) except things quickly turn tragic when a student dies. Soon it appears he may have been murdered. Suspects? Technically anyone who he’d destroyed in his gossip app (he was like the TMZ/Perez Hilton of his school) but the police are zeroing in on the four students left from that detention. As you get to know each character—point of view changes each chapter—you realize they’re fully fleshed out characters who are complex and not necessarily who they each thought the other was. If “one of us is lying”–and slowly it looks like at some point each of them could be the killer, or at least has a secret–then is it wise for them to be sneaking off to meet to try and figure out the mystery themselves? Especially, when the police are watching them…
PI mystery that ends like a thriller:
The Last Place You Look (Roxane Weary #1) by Kristen Lepionk: Roxane Weary is a PI having a bit of a rough time (aren’t all PIs?): her father, a police officer, has passed away; she’s drinking a bit too much; and her romantic life is more in the unhealthy department. Sure, all of that sounds like this is just a gender swapped PI mystery, but there’s more to Roxane than the usual tropes– starting with her being bisexual. As much as she can be prickly (again, most PI?), she’s genuinely trying. She may not make the wisest choices–romantically, personally, nor professionally–but she evolves at the same time, recognizes her issues, and (most importantly as a PI) doesn’t give up on her case. The case is technically an already solved case–there is a man on death row for the murder of his girlfriend (body never found) and her parents fifteen years ago. But his sister is certain he didn’t kill anyone and she swears she just saw the body-never-found girlfriend walking in broad daylight. The case is complicated enough, and the fact that the town’s police don’t want Roxane anywhere near their town makes it nearly impossible for her to do her job. But a man’s life is hanging on the balance and she really doesn’t take kindly to being told to mind her own business. A good read for fans of mystery and thrillers as you get a healthy dose of both.
Poked around the Kindle monthly deals and found you these:
His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet for $2.99
The Murder Game by Julie Apple for $1.99
The Girl Before by JP Delaney for $3.99
And I’ll leave you with my best read of June review for Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke. Y’all should definitely add it to your TBR list and pounce on it when it releases in September. It’s so good. SO GOOD!
I have to go shopping now:
Agatha Christie typewriter pins with mystery quote
Detective trench coat cufflinks
Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And if you like to put a pin in things here’s an Unusual Suspects board.
Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime come talk books with me on Twitter and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canaves.