Author: Jamie Canaves

Hello mystery fans! This week, I have for you a fantastic audiobook, Megan Abbott’s new novel (It’s finally here!), and a fictional serial killer.

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Sponsored by A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman

In A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder, the Victorian version of Aurora Teagarden investigates murder in the aristocratic world of Edith Wharton, introducing readers to Countess Frances Wynn and her society cohorts.  With some romantic undertones, this historical mystery hits all the high notes: elites behaving badly, historical intrigue, and female independence. Perfect for fans of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries and Jane Austen alike.

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Fantastic Audiobook! (TW: domestic abuse/ child death/ pedophilia/ rape/ suicidal thought mentioned)

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson: I will listen to anything narrated by Bahni Turpin, she is one of the best audiobook narrators. Period. So, happiest of reading experiences to me to have an excellent crime book narrated by a top-fave of mine. The book follows Mary, now in a group home, after being in jail as a child for having murdered a baby her mother was babysitting. The thing is, Mary has refused to discuss the events of the night since before her trial and even during her sentence. We follow her now as a teenager who is trying to survive living in a group home and figuring out how to one day have a life when you’re labeled the baby killer and the system isn’t really setup for any kind of rehabilitation. Except things once again change quickly for Mary, and now she’s forced to defend herself and her pregnancy and she just may be ready to finally say what happened that night… If like me you hadn’t gotten around to this one yet, change that immediately!–Not to tell you what to do or anything but it’s a really good book that had me thinking about Mary whenever I wasn’t listening to it.

IT’S FINALLY HERE! (TW: suicide)

Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott: Megan Abbott is one of my favorite crime writers. Her writing is not only always smart and tapped in to the frenzy channel of girls/women, but she writes in a way that has a constant low wattage current that just burrows under my skin. And she has once again delivered a fantastic read while also managing to top her previous excellent work. Abbott explores not only secrets, but what happens when you’re handed someone else’s, in a “then” and “now” format with a research lab looking into PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) setting–she’s a genius I tell you! This is a slow burn that expertly explores complex women, and sits high on this year’s best releases list.

Fictional Serial Killer For Fans of Mindhunter!

Caged by Ellison Cooper: This was a good, dark-ish serial killer novel that’s great for fans of procedurals. Especially if you like when they get into forensics and science, including social sciences. Sayer Altair is an FBI agent, but she’s also a neuroscientist currently working on studying the most violent killers’ brains when she’s taken away from her study to help find a serial killer. The case is bizarre, and there are tons of twists. It also focused much more on the FBI and victims and stayed away from glorifying/obsessing over the serial killer, which was a nice change. If this is the start of a series I’m definitely in since I really liked Altair (smart, driven, cares, is aware of her shortcomings) and would like to see more of her and her grandmother who raised her.

Recently Released

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage (Just started: Told in alternating chapters–so far–between mother and five-year-old daughter who appears to be out to torture her mother.)

Blood & Ivy: The 1849 Murder That Scandalized Harvard by Paul Collins (Currently reading: True Crime set in mid 1800s Harvard Medical School.)

The Other Woman (Gabriel Allon #18) by Daniel Silva (TBR)

Bad Girls by Alex de Campi, Víctor Santos (Review) (TW: domestic violence/ rape)

Origin by Dan Brown (Paperback)

And we’re giving away $500 of the year’s best YA fiction and nonfiction so far. (Excellent list, including a few mysteries!)

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 Canaves.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Hi mystery lovers! I am SO excited that TNT’s Claws got renewed for a third season–I know it’s not an adaptation, but it is a fantastic crime show and everyone should go watch it. Okay, now onto books!

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Sponsored by Bas Bleu Books & Gifts.

Widely considered an underappreciated gem of British crime fiction, Gervase Fen—eccentric Oxford don and amateur criminologist—is a delightfully unconventional detective. The novels and short stories featuring the compulsively quipping sleuth employ equal elements of ingenuity and comedy, with a touch of the fantastic and an ample smattering of both witty commentary and literary allusions. We’re offering four of his most popular novels and two short story collections, individually or as a discounted set!

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From Book Riot and Around the Internet

Rincey and Katie discuss crime series and more in the recent Read or Dead!

50 Must-Read Mystery Books for Kids

“Things Got Broken”: Anthony Bourdain, Crime Fiction, and the Power of Food

The Best Books on Con Artists, According to True-Crime Experts

The Big Sleep: Reading Raymond Chandler in the age of #MeToo. “What fascinates and compels me most about Chandler in this #MeToo moment are the ways his novels speak to our current climate. Because if you want to understand toxic white masculinity, you could learn a lot by looking at noir.”

(TW self-harm) All The Hidden Words You Missed in Sharp Objects

Giveaways (Hug a Luck Dragon and enter):

Remember we’re giving away $500 of the year’s best YA fiction and nonfiction so far (with a few great mysteries on the list!)

And Macmillan has a giveaway for a signed copy of I’m Not Missing by Carrie Fountain (A great YA coming-of-age with a background mystery.)

Adaptations and News

You can now pre-order Lethal White, the 4th book in the Strike series, by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling).

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced this year’s longlist for the Ned Kelly Awards. Hello list, please meet my TBR!

Another writer was revealed for the secretive second season of John Le Carré’s The Night Manager adaptation by BBC/AMC. “All I am permitted to say is that Le Carré has given his blessing to the project. The four of us in the writers’ room are sworn to silence.”

(TW: self-harm) I’m disappointed in HBO’s handling of trigger warnings and PSA for mental health in their Sharp Objects adaptation. There had been an announcement that they were going to direct viewers to resources for help with an end card that read: “If you or someone you know struggles with self-harm or substance abuse, please seek help by contacting the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) 1-800-662-HELP (4357).” Except I feel like they did this for show rather than actual care since I watched the episode and never saw the card. Seems it was placed after the credits. Apparently for like 1% of viewers to see since I don’t know anyone who watches all the credits to wait for something after. Anyway, I brought it up so that I could list the info for anyone who may need it or know someone who does.

Watch Now

I wanted more crime fiction from around the world, and Netflix heard me and answered with Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games adaptation. It’s the first Netflix original series from India, and I’ve just started watching and am excited! It’s a dark crime series that follows a police officer who stumbles across massive corruption while investigating a robbery. (Forewarned, it opens with a dog’s death.)

Kindle Deals

The Cutting Season by Attica Locke is $1.99 (Here are my reviews for ALL of Locke’s novels–I love her a lot!)

Death at Breakfast (Maggie Detweiler and Hope Babbin #1) by Beth Gutcheon is $1.99 (A good read for fans of Agatha Christie if you want a modern setting.)

The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker is $1.99 (Great for horror fans: Review) (I don’t remember the TW, but think horror movies.)

A Bit of My Week In Reading

I just got my hands on Lamar Giles upcoming Spin which I was planning on reading because I’ll read everything Giles writes but then I read “edge-of-your-seat thriller about best friends, murder, and music” and it moved to the top of my reading list. Also, I’m obsessed with that cover.

I started Amina Akhtar’s #FashionVictim which has a super strong voice from the beginning–something I always love. I’m only a few chapters in, and it’s already made me want to use the eyes emoji a few times!

And I’m listening to the audiobook of Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou and had already said “holyshirtballs” before the actual first chapter so this is gonna be a ride!

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 Canaves.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own, you can sign up here.

Hello mystery fans! I’ve got revenge, secret society, and a great thriller for you this week!

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Sponsored by SCOUT PRESS

The author of the bestselling novel The Party—lauded as “tense and riveting” by New York Times bestselling author Megan Miranda—returns with a chilling new domestic drama about two women whose deep friendship is threatened by dark, long-buried secrets.

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Fantastic Japanese Crime! (TW: suicide talk and thoughts/ child death/ child abuse)

Confessions by Kanae Minato, Stephen Snyder (Translation): I couldn’t stop listening to this audiobook, which had excellent narrators! I’m not going to give a lot away on this one because it is a hell of a ride and I don’t want to spoil any of it. It starts with a teacher addressing her seventh grade class on her last day teaching. She has a story to tell, about her daughter’s death… From there, the novel rotates through a few characters telling their story in regards to that day in the classroom and the death of the teacher’s daughter. This novel stays away from cheap thrills, or tricking the audience for shock value sake, and instead takes a dark dive into exploring many things with grief and revenge at the core. You’re gonna want to strap yourself in for this ride.

Page-Turner Prep School With A Secret Society (TW: suicide/ domestic abuse/ rape)

All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth: I read this one in two sittings because it had so much catnip for me: secret society, past mystery, coming-of-age, everyone’s secrets are gonna get dragged into the light! Seventeen-year-old Charlie is attending a New England prep school and has just been tapped to be hazed into a secret society that is known for basically running the school. As she tries to get a handle on the things this society is pressuring her to do, she’s also trying to solve the mystery of what happened to her mother when she disappeared years before. Having been left with a workaholic father, who always feels arms-distance away, and her closest family relationship a male cousin, also a classmate, it’s interesting to see her struggle against the influences they’ve had on her as she does her best to come into her own person. If you’re looking for a book to toss into a beach bag this summer I’d go with this one, which I could not put down.

Great Thriller! (TW: PTSD/ suicide)

Some Die Nameless by Wallace Stroby: You know those action/thriller movies where a group of friends from the past suddenly find themselves being picked off one by one in the present? This is kind of that in book form! But add to the main dude being hunted a journalist struggling at a downsizing newspaper who accidentally stumbles into his troubles and danger. I really liked the balance of good, developed characters with tense action scenes, and the dives into political unrest, and the struggles in print vs digital journalism for newspapers.

Remember we’re giving away $500 of the year’s best YA fiction and nonfiction so far (with a few great mysteries on the list!)

Recent Releases

Watch the Girls by Jennifer Wolfe (A good non-horror book for horror fans that takes a hard look at our treatment of girls/women especially in the spotlight.) (TW: eating disorder/ suicide attempt mentioned/ rape/ self-harm/ gaslighting)

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager (From the author of Final Girls, a past and present mystery set at a camp.) (TW: suicide attempt)

Nancy Drew #2 by Kelly Thompson, Jenn St-Onge (I’m loving this modern Nancy Drew series already!)

Caged by Ellison Cooper (Currently Reading: Super good so far dark FBI serial killer novel.)

The Fifth To Die (4MK Thriller #2) by J.D. Barker (Currently Reading: The followup to the horror-ish thriller I really liked, The Fourth Monkey (Review), which starts off where the first one left off.)

Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding (TBR)

Hope Never Dies by Andrew Shaffery (TBR: A buddy mystery starring President Obama and Vice President Biden!)

I’m Not Missing by Carrie Fountain (This was a really good coming-of-age story that had a mystery thread running throughout the background.)

Name of the Dog (A Lefty Mendieta Investigation # 3) by Élmer Mendoza, Mark Fried (Translator) (TBR)

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 Canaves.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Hi mystery fans! It’s Friday, but we had a day off on Wednesday and all the days are confused so I’m gonna start by recommending something non-mystery related: Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette on Netflix is fantastic, you should go watch it. And now back to our previously scheduled mystery content!

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Sponsored by Pegasus Books’ The Seasonaires by Janna King

An idyllic Nantucket summer begins like a dream for scrappy Mia, Southern beauty Presley, handsome introvert Cole, sultry Jade, energetic young designer J.P., and party-boy Grant, all of whom are working as seasonaires—influential brand ambassadors—for the clothing line Lyndon Wyld. But like all things that look too good to be true, the darkness lurking underneath slowly rises to the surface. Corporate greed, professional rivalries, and personal conflicts mix with sex, drugs, and the naiveté of youth, exploding in a murder that sullies their catalog-perfect lives.

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From Book Riot and Around the Internet

I rounded up new paperback releases for beach reading over at Novel Suspects.

Dick Smith is offering a $5000 reward to anyone who can solve one of Australia’s most enduring mysteries: “Twenty years after a pilot first spotted The Maree Man — a mysterious large-scale artwork carved into the desert in a remote part of Australia — its origins and the people behind it are still unknown.”

At EW Amber Tamblyn’s debut novel expands the #MeToo conversation: “The novel for me really felt, even as I was writing it, like an indictment of our culture — including myself and most readers — for how we are either complicit or complacent when it comes to the culture of rape.”

Giveaway (Hug a Luck Dragon and enter): Book Riot is giving away $500 of the year’s best YA fiction and nonfiction so far! Some great mysteries on the list: White Rabbit, Undead Girl Gang (Reviews for both here), and Before I Let Go (Review). 

Adaptations and News

Vivien Chien revealed the cover for the third book in the Noodle Shop Mystery series!

Megan Abbott had a great chat with Gillian Flynn at Vanity Fair: “There’s a huge place for anger right now—particularly for the many, many women who’ve been violated—and this is a time to be angry. Let’s be very angry. Constructive anger is a very useful tool, and is a very important thing to express.” (The adaptation premieres this Sunday on HBO)

Remember how the Grantchester adaptation was losing James Norton but we didn’t know who would be joining the series? Now we know: Tom Brittney has joined the PBS mystery show. “Santer added, ‘I’m delighted that Tom is joining the cast. He’s a hugely likable and talented actor, and will make both a fine vicar of Grantchester and a great crime-solving partner for Geordie Keating.'”

Last year Emma Cline’s ex-boyfriend hired lawyers over copyright, and other, claims regarding her debut novel The Girls. A federal judge has just dismissed the copyright claims–however the claims involving key-logging software to access personal info were not dismissed.

A South Carolina police union has objected to a high school reading list–yeah, you read that correctly. One of the books is The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, a book that delves into police brutality. The police union claims they “received an influx of tremendous outrage” and that the book is “almost an indoctrination of distrust of police.” There’s a lot happening here, starting with people calling the police about book lists (what is happening?), and none of it is good.

True Crime

Why Are We Obsessed With Mothers Accused Of Murder? “Yet all together — and whatever one might think about their subjects’ guilt or innocence — they make a compelling, sometimes unintentional case that problematic assumptions and a gendered moralism can lead the public imagination, and the judicial apparatus, astray.”

7 British True Crime Documentaries You Won’t Want To Believe Happened In The UK

Gone Fishing: New true crime podcast launches

Discarded napkin helps US police crack 32-year-old murder mystery

Is True Crime as Entertainment Morally Defensible?

Kindle Deals

Megan Abbott’s brilliant noir Queenpin is $1.99! (Review)

Hollywood Homicide (Detective by Day #1) by Kellye Garrette is $0.99!!!!!! (Review)

The Name of Death by Klester Cavalcanti, Nick Caistor (Translation) is $3.99! (Dark Nonfiction About A Brazilian Hitman: Review) (TW: child rape/ torture)

Bit of My Week In Reading

I did a lot of muppet arming over getting my hands on Tana French’s upcoming The Witch Elm so naturally I started that IMMEDIATELY. And it’s so good. SO FREAKING GOOD I don’t want to finish it because then it’ll be over–*insert crying emoji.

I inhaled, INHALED, the first half of Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz. I am a sucker for fictional assassins that I care about–let’s not explore this too deeply–and anything that gives me ’90s action/thriller movie vibes. Basically I am loving this read at the moment.

And I received Keigo Higashino’s upcoming Newcomer which I’m going to read this weekend–sorry other books that were first in line, I LOVE Japanese crime and I LOVE Higashino.

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 Canaves.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Hello mystery fans! Hope you’re in the mood for Irish crime, thrills, and a dark, the-past-is-coming-for-you! AND at the end there’s a new HUGE giveaway.

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Sponsored by Epic Reads

The daughter of two astronauts, Romy Silvers is no stranger to life in space. But she never knew how isolating the universe could be until her parents’ tragic deaths left her alone on the Infinity, a spaceship speeding away from Earth.

Romy tries to make the best of her lonely situation, but with only brief messages from her therapist on Earth to keep her company, she can’t help but feel like something is missing. It seems like a dream come true when NASA alerts her that another ship, the Eternity, will be joining the Infinity.

Romy begins exchanging messages with J, the captain of the Eternity, and their friendship breathes new life into her world. But as the Eternity gets closer, Romy learns there’s more to J’s mission than she could have imagined. And suddenly, there are worse things than being alone….

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The Past Is Still Coming (TW: rape/ suicide)

It All Falls Down (Nora Watts, #2) by Sheena Kamal: This sequel was one I was anticipating and it didn’t disappoint! Nora has had a tough life, and the events of the first book only added more traumatic events, but she never quits nor stops moving forward, which is what leads her to leave one of the only people in her life–on his death bed–to find answers about her father. We travel from Vancouver to Detroit as Watts puts distance with her past to uncover who her father was, but her past in Vancouver isn’t going to stop coming for her no matter how far away she is–including PI Brazuca. Watts is the kind of woman that life has beaten–repeatedly–and left her hard, mistrusting, and determined, and I love watching her navigate through the world on difficult journeys. The book has a lot of different parts–the previous “case,” her caring for a dying man, her current mission to learn about her family, working on a new relationship, and Brazuca’s current work and case–but they all flow well with each other and come together in the end leaving me once again having read a really good book and wanting more Nora Watts. (You technically do not have to read The Lost Ones because this book does catch you up BUT it gives away a lot of the solves from the first book. Plus, the first book was a great thriller so you should read it.)

Irish Crime Fiction–So Good (TW: child abuse/ suicide/ rape)

The Ruin (Cormac Reilly #1) by Dervla McTiernan : The adaptation rights for this put it on my radar and I’m so glad it’s getting adapted and that it’s the beginning of a series because it’s a great read. Twenty years ago a wet-behind-the-ears cop ended up taking two young children away from a home their mother was dead in. Now one of those children, Jack, has died by suicide and the other, Maude, is refusing to believe her brother–who she didn’t have a relationship with–died by suicide. And that wet-behind-the-ears cop is now a detective assigned once again to Jack’s case. The novel follows a few characters, including Jack’s girlfriend, and really explores their lives while equally focusing on the mysteries which is really one of my favorite types of crime novels. Great pick for those who love mystery novels like The Dry.

I Inhaled This Audiobook In One Day! (TW: rape/ suicide)

The Banker’s Wife by Cristina Alger:  It follows two women: Marina Tourneau, a recently engaged journalist on vacation and Annabel, an expat whose husband was on a plane that crashed in the Alps. Marina is marrying into a political family who wants her to quit her job—hahaha this is a great book so that isn’t going to happen–and Annabel, an ex NY socialite now living in Switzerland, who is discovering that the work her husband did at Swiss United may not have been what she thought… I really liked the characters, the pace, the whole journalist-won’t-let-go-of-the-bone, and I loved the ending–which of course I can’t talk about in any way. If you’re a fan of movies/novels where a journalist keeps picking, and you like watching how all the pieces come together grab this one. (I’d also really like to see this one get adapted into a film.)

Recent Releases

Still Water (Still #2) by Amy Stuart (A good thriller with multiple mysteries–You won’t be confused not having read Still Mine but this one does reveal a lot from the first book.) (TW: domestic abuse/ child death/ addiction)

City of Devils: The Two Men Who Ruled the Underworld of Old Shanghai by Paul French (Currently Reading: True crime about two gang leaders in 1930’s Shanghai underground.)

Scandal Above Stairs (Kat Holloway Mysteries #2) by Jennifer Ashley (TBR: Historical mystery)

The Night Ferry (A Konrad Simonsen Thriller) by Lotte Hammer, Søren Hammer, Charlotte Barslund (Translator) (TBR: Dark, Scandinavian crime.)

The Last Thing I Told You by Emily Arsenault (Currently reading: Alternating POV between detective solving a therapist’s murder and a former patient.)

Giveaway (Hug a Luck Dragon and enter): Book Riot is giving away $500 of the year’s best YA fiction and nonfiction. There are SO MANY amazing books on this list including one’s I’ve shouted about White Rabbit, Undead Girl Gang (Reviews for both here), and Before I Let Go (Review). Also on this excellent list are some of my favorite, FAVORITE, reads: From Twinkle, With Love; The Poet X; Dread Nation.

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 Canaves.

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 Pegasus Books’ Dodging and Burning by John Copenhaver

In small-town Virginia in August 1945, Jay Greenwood leads twelve-year-old tomboy Ceola Bliss and local socialite Bunny Prescott to a stretch of woods where he claims to have found a dead woman. But when they arrive, the body is gone. Ceola gets swept up playing girl detective, but Bunny becomes increasingly skeptical of Jay and begins her own investigation. She journeys to Washington, D.C., where she is forced to confront the brutal truth about her dear friend—a discovery that triggers a series of events that will bring tragedy to Jay and decades of estrangement between her and Ceola.

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Let’s start with a Little Q&A: Oyinkan Braithwaite (I give authors I’m excited about six questions and let them answer any three they’d like.)

I’m going to be a little mean and RAVE about a novel that doesn’t come out until November 20th because it’s so good–SO GOOD–that it’s totally worth a pre-order and deserves all the mountain-top shouting! So if you don’t already have My Sister, The Serial Killer on your radar you should! Not only does it deliciously live up to its wicked title, it’s also a very smart exploration of women’s issues as Korede’s defense of sister Ayoola’s murderous ways is put to the test when they both set eyes on the same man… I read this in one sitting and can’t wait to read it again–and for all of you to read it!

And here’s Oyinkan Braithwaite:

If you were forced to live the rest of your life as one of your characters who would it be? All my characters have major issues…but if I had to choose, I would choose to live as Ayoola – at least she seems to be having a good time!

If you adapted a well-known book into a Clue mystery what would be the solve? This was harder than I thought: Dorothy, red shoes, on the yellow brick road.

 If you were to blurb your most recent/upcoming book (à la James Patterson)? Every young woman should read this book. And every non-young woman. It’ll change your life. And then read it to your pets. No animals were harmed in the making of this book.

OR

This book is the first debut to be written by a black Nigerian female millennial with a chicken pox scar in the middle of her forehead. There will never be another of its kind! Get it while hot!

Thank you, Oyinkan!

From Book Riot and Around the Internet

On the latest Read or Dead Rincey and Katie talk recent news and the phrases that will automatically have them picking up a book.

Sherlock Holmes Quotes That Were Actually Written By Doyle

4 Crime Novels for Armchair Travelers

Here are some TV characters I’d love to end up in novels as PIs.

New hope in mystery of James Bond’s missing Aston Martin

News and Adaptations

The trailer for Angie Thomas’s adaptation of The Hate U Give is here! The novel follows Starr Carter after she witnesses a friend shot by police and the fallout.

Sheena Kamal’s The Lost Ones has won the 2018 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Mystery.

I mustache if you’d like to see the first look at John Malkovich as Hercule Poirot from the upcoming The ABC Murders BBC/Amazon adaptation? (Ha, sorry couldn’t resist!) Since this will surely start off many debates about what his mustache should look like here are a bunch of descriptions Agatha Christie wrote regarding his facial hair: Great Moments of Poirot’s Moustache 

Shari Lapena’s The Couple Next Door–which starts like a ripped from the headlines child abduction story–is being adapted into a TV series.

And also getting a TV series is Jessica Knoll’s The Favorite Sister which “features two sisters whose lifelong sibling rivalry explodes in the crucible of a reality TV show, leaving one of them murdered.”

Watch Now

Now in theaters: The Catcher Was a Spy, adapted from Nicolas Dawidoff’s same titled biography, stars Paul Rudd as the real life Major League baseball player who was also a WWII spy. See the trailer here.

Kindle Deals

The Drowning (Fjällbacka #6) by Camilla Lackberg is $1.99 (Swedish crime)

The Red Road (Alex Morrow Book 4) by Denise Mina is $2.99 (Mina is a good pick for Tana French fans)

And looks like most of Alex Segura’s Pete Fernandez series is on sale: Silent City is $1.99; Down the Darkest Street is .99cents; Dangerous Ends is $4.99

A Bit Of My Week In Reading

Look at that pretty bookmail! #FashionVictim by Amina Akhtar; Sister of Mine by Laurie Petrou; The Guilty Dead (Monkeewrench #9) by P.J. Tracy;  The Confession by Jo Spain

As for currently reading I’m actually in the middle of a mystery “palate cleanser“ and reading 3 awesome things: Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World, #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse;  No. 1 with a Bullet by Jacob Semahn, Jorge Corona; Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel José Older (Crime may be my genre but sometimes I need monster hunters, awesome comic art, and dinosaurs!)

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 Canaves.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Hello mystery fans! I’ve got a fictional serial killer, a British detective, a #MeToo novel, plus a bunch of releases for you this week. Also, The Tonight Show is doing a summer book club and IQ and The Good Son are on the list of 5 book choices. You can see the other three options and vote here!

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Just for Book Riot readers: sign up for an Audible account, and get two audiobooks free!

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Dark Serial Killer Page-Turner (TW: rape scenes/ domestic violence/ pedophilia off page)

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier: Geo Shaw is a wealthy 30-year-old executive who is now going to jail because the body of her high school best friend has finally been found, 14 years later. She’s cooperating with authorities, doing her time, and trying to get her life back on track. Problem is, there’s a string of new murders, and the bodies are being left with a message. Is Geo being targeted, or does she still know more than she’s told? I inhaled the audiobook, as I really quite liked getting to know Geo (especially her time in jail) and was definitely doing the “gimme more” while waiting for the reveals. (I find the summary gives away a lot of the book, so if you don’t like knowing a lot before hand you may want to avoid reading the entire summary.)

A Novel for Our #MeToo Times (TW: rape scenes/ suicide/ cutting)

Any Man by Amber Tamblyn: Tamblyn has effectively spotlighted our rape culture, focusing on how we treat and talk about victims and perpetrators, through the use of prose and poetry that focuses on male victims of a female serial rapist. It’s a difficult, yet important book to read that doesn’t let you look away. It succeeds in continuing the very necessary conversations of the #MeToo movement, but also left me with questions rattling around in my brain: Was the centering of fictional male victims so powerful because the genre is essentially always female victims? Is it partly because we’ve been trained to center men’s stories and feelings as most important? Are we just not “used to” hearing male stories because, fictionally and in real life, they come forward even less than women? There were a few parts of the novel that felt like Tamblyn just cut herself open and poured herself onto the page the way Roxane Gay does, and it stayed with me. And most likely will for a long time.

Just What My Procedural-Loving Heart Needed (TW: rape)

Salt Lane (DS Alexandra Cupidi #1) by William Shaw: I loved Shaw’s The Birdwatcher (review) and my only note at the time had been that I’d wish there had been more of a side-character. Well, let me tell you, dreams do come true because that character is the star of this new series! DS Alexandra Cupidi is having a difficult time in her private life–new home, struggling teen daughter, still settling in her new job, visiting mother, new partner–when a difficult case of a dead Jane Doe is assigned to her. Then a John Doe. Will Cupidi be able to keep her quick temper, big mouth, and inability to follow procedure to stay safe in check in order to solve these cases? A great procedure, with a flawed lead you root for, which incorporates current political issues. I’m already counting down the days for #2! (You do not need to have read The Birdwatcher to read Salt Lane, but I recommend both because they’re great reads.)

Recent Releases

Bonfire by Krysten Ritter (Paperback) (Jessica Jones wrote a good thriller: Review)

Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession by Alice Bolin (Currently reading: A really good exploration of the dead girl trope in films and novels and our society’s obsession with dead women.)

Murder at the Mansion (Victorian Village Mysteries #1) by Sheila Connolly (TBR: Cozy mystery set in Maryland.)

Bimini Twist (Jane Bunker Mystery #4) by Linda Greenlaw (Currently reading: A non-nonsense former Miami homicide detective is now living in Maine as an insurance investigator and deputy sheriff.)

The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal (Paperback) (Great noir with thriller ending: Review)

Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World’s Most Famous Detective Writer by Margalit Fox (Currently listening to the audiobook: Really interesting look at the author of Sherlock and how he used his own deduction skills on a real case.)

Peril & Prayers (A Sister Lou Mystery #2) by Olivia Matthews (Currently reading: Cozy mystery where Sister Lou, her nephew, and a reporter try to solve the murder of a retreat’s owner.)

On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service: A Royal Spyness Mystery by Rhys Bowen (Paperback) (Historical mystery)

The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye: A Lisbeth Salander Novel by David Lagercrantz (Paperback)

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 Canaves.

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