Author: Jamie Canaves

Hello mystery fans! This week I have for you a small-town mystery where the buried secrets will rise, a real life double agent, and a dark serial killer novel!

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The Huntress, new from Kate Quinn, the New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network.

One of Marie Claire’s Best Women’s Fiction of the year! One of Bookbub’s biggest books of the year! “If you enjoyed The Tattooist of Auschwitz, read The Huntress.” – The Washington Post From the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel, The Alice Network, comes a fascinating historical novel about a battle-haunted English journalist and a Russian female bomber pilot who join forces to track the Huntress, a Nazi war criminal gone to ground in America.

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Small-Town Missing Person (TW domestic violence/ addiction/ suicide)

Fallen Mountains by Kimi Cunningham Grant: I’m a sucker for small-town mysteries where the buried secrets are gonna rise and this novel did all of that really well. It’s told in past and present while following a group of people in Fallen Mountains, Pennsylvania: Red, a widowed sheriff set to retire; Transom, Chase, and Laney, friends who grew up together; Possum, a once bullied kid now out of prison. Transom is missing and while most think this is just his usual M.O. of leaving without saying anything his girlfriend is certain something is wrong and convinces Red to investigate. This set’s off Transom’s father to hire an investigator sent to work with Red–and a thing I really liked about this novel was that instead of them fighting and trying to stop the other they actually work together in trying to figure out where Transom is. The thing is Transom was the type of person who even those who loved him knew to watch out for his possible bite. So soon you realize, if he didn’t pull a Transom and take off, lots of people had a reason to harm him. While Red is a good sheriff he has a secret that Transom’s disappearance may drag out into the light and, well, it’s a small-town filled with secrets and it seems this missing person case may be a reckoning for many…

Real Life Double Agent! (TW suicide mention)

Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal by Ben Macintyre: For fans of spy novels this is a must-read nonfiction that details the life of a conman turned double agent during WWII. I knew this was going to be a ride when just at the beginning of getting to know Eddie Chapman–prior to his double agent days–there was safe heists, blackmailing women he’d given STDs too, and a prison escape. He was a criminal and conman who managed to always slip by and ended up being sent into Britain on a mission as a German spy but ended up working for MI5 for years! The thing with Chapman was no one ever really knew who he was really working for and while MI5 believed he could be trusted to always complete any mission they gave him they knew he couldn’t be trusted with anything else. Literally nothing else. This is one of those nonfiction reads that has the pacing and feel of a thriller with moments where you do a double take and have to remind yourself this is a true story. I really recommend the audiobook if you’re a listener, and if you’re a fan of John le Carré type novels get thee this book now!

Dark-ish And Intense Serial Killer Novel (TW rape/ pedophile)

The Last Woman in the Forest by Diane Les Becquets: This was another one of those reads that rang a lot of my bells: serial killer; character with unique/interesting job; strangers pair up to solve a mystery; did he or didn’t he? Told in past and present we get to know Marian Engström who works with training dogs in remote areas where conservation studies are being performed. This is how she meets the love of her life Tate Mathias, her mentor. But after his death things start to not add up for her and she begins to question if he could have been the still unidentified serial killer. He couldn’t have been really, she would have known, right? But he did tell her the story of having found one of the serial killer’s victims and she can’t let this go, so she contacts the psychologist/forensic profiler from the case who is now retired and dying of brain cancer. I inhaled the audiobook (great multiple narrators) of this dark, atmospheric mystery that had me both fascinated with the conservation studies and the exploration of grief and being a victim. The audiobook ends with the author explaining her own story of rape and why she wrote this novel.

Recent Releases

A Dangerous Collaboration (Veronica Speedwell #4) by Deanna Raybourn (Currently reading and loving–this is one of my favorite historical mystery series!)

The Trial of Lizzie Borden by Cara Robertson (True crime)

Article 353 by Tanguy Viel,William Rodarmor (Translation) (French noir)

The Hunger by Alma Katsu (Paperback) (An eerie, suspenseful reimagining of the already horrifying historical event of the Donner-Reed Party–Full review) (TW child death/ suicide/ rape–including incestual)

Barbed Wire Heart by Tess Sharpe (Paperback) (Super good crime novel–Full review) (TW rape/ domestic abuse/ addiction/ pedophile)

The Italian Party by Christina Lynch (Paperback) (Historical fiction about newlyweds where one doesn’t know the other is a spy.)

Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh (Paperback) (Twisty thriller.) (TW: suicide/ domestic abuse)

Too Close to Breathe by Olivia Kiernan (Paperback) (Dark Dublin Procedural–Full review) (Trigger Warnings: cutting/ domestic abuse/ suicide)

The French Girl by Lexie Elliott (Paperback) (Group of friends, decade old mystery.) (TW suicide)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, 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.

Hi mystery fans!

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Sponsored by Hanover Square Press and The Lady from the Black Lagoon by Mallory O’Meara.

The Lady from the Black Lagoon uncovers the life and work of Milicent Patrick – one of Disney’s first female animators and the only woman to create one of Hollywood’s classic movie monsters—the Creature from the Black Lagoon. For someone who should have been hailed as a pioneer in the genre there was little information about Milicent available. Patrick’s contribution had been claimed by a jealous male colleague, her career had been cut short and she soon after had disappeared from film history. The Lady from the Black Lagoon restores Patrick to her place in film history while calling out a Hollywood culture where little seems to have changed since.

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From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Rincey and Katie recommend spy novels, list new releases, and talk about the history of mysteries/thrillers in the latest Read or Dead.

Read Harder: A Book Of Nonviolent True Crime

5 Books With Female Serial Killers

The Accidental Crime Novelist: Laura Lippman never meant to become a bestselling author. But when the former newspaper reporter began considering life as a private investigator, the stories began to flow.

Flynn Berry On Her True Crime Inspiration, Writing “Unlikeable” Women, And Why She Loves Thrillers

Crime Fiction Empathy and E.A. Aymar’s The Unrepentant

News And Adaptations

Exclusive preview: Obama and Biden return as action heroes in Hope Rides Again

Kumail Nanjiani has boarded the spy action comedy No Glory which Sam Bain is adapting from a yet to be published manuscript.

‘Agatha Raisin’ Returns For Third Season As SVOD Service Acorn TV Marks First Original Renewal

‘Sherlock Holmes 3’ Moved Back By A Year To Christmas 2021

Kindle Deals

If you’re looking to start at the beginning of a great procedural series Land of Shadows by Rachel Howzell Hall is $2.99! (Review)

If you like mysteries set at prep schools I loved All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth and it’s $1.99! (Review) (TW suicide/ domestic abuse/ rape)

Tess Gerritsen’s The Bone Garden, a past and present thriller, is $2.99!

And for historical mystery fans, and my purchase, Ovidia Yu’s The Frangipani Tree Mystery is $3.99!

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, 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.

Hello mystery fans! This week I have a great historical mystery from a series I adore, a character driven procedural set in Canada, and a small-town murder mystery for you.

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Sponsored by The Line Between by Tosca Lee

In this frighteningly believable thriller from New York Times bestseller Tosca Lee, an extinct disease re-emerges from the melting Alaskan permafrost to cause madness in its victims. For recent apocalyptic cult escapee Wynter Roth, it’s the end she’d always been told was coming. Filled with action, conspiracy, romance, and questions of whom—and what—to believe, The Line Between is a high-octane story of survival and love in a world on the brink of madness. “The perfect blend of spellbinding and heart stopping.” -NYT bestselling author Nicole Baart

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Such A Great Historical Mystery Series! (TW suicide/ addiction/ PTSD)

Smoke and Ashes (Sam Wyndham, #3) by Abir Mukherjee: I adore this series and this is the best one yet! The series follows a Scotland Yard detective, Sam Wyndham, who left Scotland for Calcutta hoping to flee his PTSD from the war, his wife’s death, and his opium addiction. I adore this series in part because even though we get the addicted detective trope it feels different than others, and the setting of British ruled Calcutta offers so much history to explore. This time around Wyndham has found himself in two difficult spots: while fleeing an opium den during a raid he stumbled across a dead man whose body later disappears; it’s now 1921 and the British are trying to stop the surge of Indians protesting for independence, led by Mahatma Gandhi, and Prince Edward is visiting so Wyndham is asked to help strategize against the movement. When a woman is murdered similarly to the first body Wyndham encountered, he knows he has a killer he has to stop, but he can’t say anything without revealing his addiction. Quite a pickle he’s put himself in! The book navigates brilliantly between focusing on the unrest, the mystery, and Wyndham’s personal struggles. I really like Wyndham’s character as he seems caught between being British and understanding the horrible treatment of Indians, and I love Sergeant Banerjee, his now roommate and one of the only Indians in the CID. I can’t recommend this series enough!

Character Driven Canadian Procedural (TW alcoholism/ child abuse/ past suicide briefly mentioned with detail/ sexual assault/ pedophile)

The Birds That Stay (A Russell and Leduc Mystery, #1) by Ann Lambert: Look at me starting at the beginning of a series! Okay, I don’t really get props since it’s the first one just released. This one did a really nice job of mixing a procedural with a character driven novel and exploring Canadian history. When an older woman is murdered in a small village north of Montreal the reader follows a few unrelated characters, with the focus on a detective and an almost sixty-year-old woman. Chief Inspector for Homicide Roméo Leduc, a divorcé with a daughter who has dropped out of college to move to another country with her boyfriend, takes the puzzling murder case which he looks into as either a robbery or possible hate crime. Also divorced is Marie Russell, a marine biologist and author, who is currently caring for her mother who has entered a stage of dementia that needs more intense care. This was a really good read for fans of watching everything come together while exploring characters’ lives, and readers who love the-past-is-coming-to-get-you mysteries. Also a great pick for fans of Lisa Jewell and Fiona Barton.

Small-Town Murder Mystery (TW attempted homophobic attack/ addiction/ pedophile/ talk of suicide)

Orient by Christopher Bollen: This was a great mystery perfect for literary fans. Set in an isolated town in Long Island there’s a culture clash amongst the residents, between the locals and the new residents coming from New York and new money. There’s a war with a nearby research facility that’s surrounded by plenty of rumors. And one of the residents has brought a nineteen-year-old gay man home with him to help around the house. When the town caretaker is found dead the already heightened emotions get cranked up even higher, with many pointing a finger at the newest “resident.” A town filled with new and old rich, secrets, affairs, conservatives and liberals, and a push for a historic village, it’s only a matter of time before this small-town is no longer safe to be in…

Recent Releases

Fallen Mountains by Kimi Cunningham Grant (Currently reading: Small-town mystery where the past comes calling.) (TW suicide/ domestic abuse)

A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself by William Boyle (Crime writer I love.)

Auntie Poldi and the Vineyards of Etna by Mario Giordano, John Brownjohn (Translation) (I love Poldi’s character and can’t wait to read this one.)

The Reign of the Kingfisher by T.J. Martinson (A noir detective mixed with superhero fantasy that I’m excited to read.)

Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward (Psychological thriller.)

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths (Modern gothic mystery.)

The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane (Black Hollow Lane #1) by Julia Nobel (Currently reading: middle grade mystery set in a boarding school.)

A Question of Holmes (Charlotte Holmes #4) by Brittany Cavallaro (Charlotte Holmes, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Sherlock Holmes, and Jamie Watson, the great-great-great grandson of John Watson team up once again to solve another mystery.)

Drawn and Buttered (A Lobster Shack Mystery #3) by Shari Randall (New England cozy mystery.)

Fatality in F (Gethsemane Brown Mysteries #4) by Alexia Gordon (Fun cozy mystery starring American musician in Irish town who sees ghosts.)

Call Me Evie by J.P. Pomare (Australian psychologist thriller.)

Her Father’s Secret (Ilka #2) by Sara Blaedel (New series I’ve been looking forward to starting about a Danish woman who inherits her father’s funeral home in the U.S. and finds herself in danger.)

If You’re Out There by Katy Loutzenhiser (YA mystery.)

The Last Woman in the Forest by Diane Les Becquets (Serial killer thriller.)

The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag (Historical mystery.)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, 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.