Author: Jamie Canaves

NPR’s Books We Love: Mystery & Thrillers

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date December 2, 2021

Sponsored by Penguin Random House & Underlined.

From Karen M. McManus, the bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying, comes a brand-new pulse-pounding thriller. Three old friends relive an epic ditch day, and it goes horribly—fatally—wrong. In one chance move, their day turns from dull to deadly. And it’s about to get worse. It turns out Ivy, Mateo, and Cal still have some things in common . . . like a connection to the dead kid. And they’re all hiding something. Could it be that their chance reconnection wasn’t chance after all?

Hello mystery fans! Time for roundups, podcasts, and news, plus something new to watch.

From Book Riot and Around the Internet

True Crime Comics That Aren’t About Serial Killers

Cue the Creepy Theme Music: 10 Books about Unsolved Mysteries

Nusrah and Katie talk about read-a-likes for some favorite and popular authors and recommend contemporary works similar to them to make your holiday shopping easier on the latest Read or Dead!

40 Years Later, Man Convicted in Alice Sebold’s Rape Cleared of Charges

Netflix scraps film version of Alice Sebold book after rape conviction overturned

Harsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa review – CIA secrets and breathtaking lies

26 fiction books released by Greater Cleveland authors in 2021

NPR’s Books We Love: Mystery & Thrillers

TikTok is turning walls into murder boards thanks to ‘Cain’s Jawbone’

22 Best Mystery Books You Won’t Be Able to Put Down

The 13 best British TV shows on Hulu that are (and include) absolutely fabulous

Goodreads final round nominees for Best Mystery & Thriller

Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!

Watch Now

Inspector Koo on Netflix: I haven’t found anything about this being an adaptation but I have read that it’s heavily influenced by Killing Eve and the cat and mouse thriller aspect. Each episode is a little over an hour and so far eight have released (as of me writing this). We follow an insurance investigator who was once a cop and is now trying to catch an active serial killer… Watch the trailer.

Recent Interests That May Also Interest You + My Reading Life

cover of My Annihilation by Fuminori Nakamura

Reading: My Annihilation by Fuminori Nakamura, Sam Bett (Translator)/ Three Keys (Front Desk) by Kelly Yang / Payback’s A Witch by Lana Harper

Streaming: The Sex Lives of College Girls and Sort Of are two recent HBO Max shows I’m very much enjoying.

Laughing: Note to self

Helping: “But food banks often make most of their money before Thanksgiving, causing deficits for the months ahead. Consider making a donation to your local food pantry to help. Use this platform to find a pantry closest to you.” (source: ARD newsletter)

Upcoming: Filmmaker Nick Brooks sold his first novel Promise Boys, “in which three boys at a Washington, D.C., charter school investigate the murder of their principal, and learn hard truths about their education and community.”

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See upcoming 2021 releases and upcoming 2022 releases. 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 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.

Unusual Suspects

Atmospheric Suspense and a Historical Mystery in a Circus

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date November 30, 2021

Sponsored by ThriftBooks, the best place for holiday gifts for Mystery lovers.

This holiday, find the gift they will love. With millions of new and used books, ThriftBooks has an endless selection of books at the best prices. From childhood classics to new, undiscovered worlds of adventures, there is something for everyone and every budget. And with the ThriftBooks ReadingRewards program, every purchase gets you a step closer to a free book reward. Shop ThriftBooks.com today for the holiday gift they won’t return. ThriftBooks.com. Read more. Spend less.

Hello mystery fans! I’m trying to squeeze in as much end-of-year reading as I can and I’m really glad I got to these two: one will take you to a remote cabin and the other to a traveling circus.

These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant

If you want suspense, atmospheric, a remote setting, and a character-driven narrative with an ending you’ll be thinking about long after finishing, this is absolutely your next read. It’s the kind of novel where you fall in love with a character(s) but immediately realize that the situation can only unravel, or explode, and that tension continues to build until the end.

In the Appalachian woods, Cooper lives with his eight-year-old daughter Finch. Only two people know where they are: a nosy neighbor Cooper doesn’t trust and a friend who comes once a year to bring Cooper and Finch all the supplies they’ll need to survive another year. Except Cooper’s friend doesn’t show up this year, and the neighbor keeps making Cooper uneasy. Then a young woman Cooper and Finch spotted in the woods disappears. As we slowly come to learn how Cooper and Finch came to live in this remote cabin, fearing the outside world finding them, their delicately structured life begins to unravel, forcing Cooper to realize he won’t be able to continue living in this bubble he’s created…

Finch is such a wonderful character who is empathetic, curious, and smart. She does her best to listen to Cooper’s warnings but she’s also a child looking for more than their tiny circle. I loved watching Cooper and Finch’s relationship and found myself deeply absorbed into their world and life while listening to the audiobook.

(TW PTSD/ fat shaming/ panic attack/ animal deaths, killings related to survival)

Murder Under Her Skin (Pentecost and Parker #2) by Stephen Spotswood

This is the second book in a recent historical mystery series with two leads that are opposite in personality that gives a nod to classic noir and Sherlock and Holmes. In the first book, Fortune Favors the Dead, we learn how Willowjean “Will” Parker meets Lillian Pentecost, the most famous woman PI in the US, and comes to become her apprentice in early 1940s New York.

Now it’s 1946 and we get the absolute pleasure of following Will through a case that is very personal. After running away from home as a teen, she found a home in a traveling circus before coming to work with Lillian. But with the tattooed lady from the circus murdered and her knife-throwing mentor being accused, while performing in Virginia, she has to figure out how to set aside her personal feelings and find the truth… and maybe gain a crush along the way.

This is a fun whodunnit with the backdrop of a traveling circus and two wonderful leads that perfectly compliment each other in their differences.

(TW brief suicide mention, detail/ brief mention of past domestic and child abuse/ addiction/ ableism)

Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!

From The Book Riot Crime Vault

5 Winter Mysteries That are Cozier Than a Cup of Tea

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See upcoming 2021 releases. 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 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.

Unusual Suspects

Fun Gifts For Mystery Lovers

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date November 24, 2021

Sponsored by The Detectivists, book 1 on sale now for $0.99 on Kindle.

Astraia Holmes, sister of Sherlock, is baffled by a series of bizarre and brutal murders committed by a dragon-like assailant. Desperately wishing to impress her brother and solve the crimes, she teams up with a mysterious and brilliant young woman, Madeleine Barquist, who is the daughter of Jack the Ripper, a fact she is eager to hide. Sherlock suspects an ancient malevolence at work and he fears for Astraia’s safety. The two women are drawn into a dark conspiracy involving a Chinese Dragon Cult known as the Ya Zi and have to face an ancient evil in this gripping page-turrner.

Hello mystery fans! If you’ve got mystery lovers in your life who you’re looking to get a gift for, or you’re just looking to buy something for yourself, I’ve found some fun items for you on Etsy.

a white mug with a graphic image of Baby Yoda that says Yoda Best Detective

You can’t argue with Yoda so this $20 mug is clearly correct: Baby Yoda Best Detective Mug

a graphic image sticker of a raccoon dressed as a detective

For $3.50 trash panda is gonna solve the case (of the missing trash that maaaaay be in its belly): Detective Raccoon Vinyl Waterproof Sticker

graphic illustration stickers of bakeshop items with skulls on them

For $12, cozy bakeshop mystery lovers will want to stick these on everything: Cozy Mystery Stickers

a white mug with a black handle and graphic image of pine trees that says Take Me To Three Pines

Louise Penny and Inspector Gamache fans will love this $20 mug: Take me to Three Pines Mug

a beige tote bag with a black handle with images of Angela Lansbury's face and typewriters that says Murder She Tote

Fans of puns, totes, and Angela Lansbury will love this $18-ish gift: Murder She Tote

a tall glass prayer candle wrapped in an image of Columbo from the TV show

For a fun and ridiculous $12 gift: Just one more thing Columbo Prayer Candle (There’s also a $33 set of Only Murders in the Building Holy Trinity Prayer Candles and for $13-ish a Sherlock and Watson Funny Prayer Candle)

a set of nesting dolls of Sherlock Holmes and characters

If you’ve ever thought “Sherlock, but make it nesting dolls,” here’s a set for $35: Matryoshka Russian Nesting Dolls On The Motives Stories of Sherlock Holmes 7 pcs Wooden Figurines

grey t-shirt with white print saying Murder Shows & Comfy Clothes

If you’re looking for a t-shirt under $15: Murder Shows Comfy Clothes Shirt

Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on 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.

Unusual Suspects

November Mystery Releases For Your Radar

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date November 23, 2021

All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris

For a murder mystery thriller adjacent to a legal thriller (Ellice Littlejohn is a corporate lawyer), here’s one of my favorite reads of the year. (Review)

Killer Words (Mystery Bookshop #7) by V.M. Burns

For fans of cozy mysteries, books within books, and bookshop settings. If you’re looking to start at the beginning pick up The Plot is Murder.

The Pledge (Betty Rhyzyk #3) by Kathleen Kent

If you’ve been a fan of Detective Betty Rhyzyk—full of hard-edges and heart—here’s the final book in the trilogy which finds her promoted to Sergeant in the Dallas Police Department. If you’re looking for a completed procedural filled with action to read, start with The Dime.

Mimi Lee Cracks the Code (A Sassy Cat Mystery #3) by Jennifer J. Chow

If you’re looking for a cozy mystery starring a pet groomer and a talking cat named Marshmallow, this recent series is for you. If you’d like to start at the beginning, pick up Mimi Lee Gets a Clue.

Shoot the Moonlight Out by William Boyle

If you’re a fan of crime novels and neo-noir, you should absolutely be reading William Boyle. Set in Brooklyn in 1996 and 2001 we follow a cast of characters including punk kids, a neighborhood vigilante, and a gangster-wannabe.

Midnight Hour: A Chilling Anthology of Crime Fiction from 20 Acclaimed Authors of Color edited by Abby L. Vandiver

Anthologies are a great way to find your next favorite mystery and crime authors! Here you’ll find a collection of short stories from 19 authors, including ones with published cozy series to dark crime novels.

The Collective by Alison Gaylin

If you’re looking for a smart revenge thriller that examines grief and the price of vengeance, this was one of the few books I stayed up way past my bedtime reading this year. (Review)

Her Name Is Knight (Nena Knight #1) by Yasmin Angoe

If you’re looking for a dark thriller that opens with action and are a fan of dual timelines and assassins, this one is for you!

The Night Will Be Long by Santiago Gamboa, Andrea Rosenberg (Translation)

If you’re looking for a thriller that focuses on corruption and want to read more translated work, here’s a twisty read set in Colombia.

Couples Wanted by Briana Cole

In the mood for sexy and suspense? Here’s a one night spouse swapping that leads one couple to turn possessive of the others…

Miss Moriarty, I Presume? (Lady Sherlock #6) by Sherry Thomas

If you’ve been here longer than a second, you know of my deep, deep love for Lady Sherlock and this entire series. (Review)

You’ll Be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus

This is on my list to read because of the pitch: “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off with murder when three old friends relive an epic ditch day, and it goes horribly–and fatally–wrong.” My ’80s heart is very much in.

Body and Soul Food (Books & Biscuits Mystery #1) by Abby Collette

And I’ll end with one final cozy, this one for food lovers, bookstore setting lovers, and fans of A Deadly Inside Scoop.

Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on 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.

Unusual Suspects

Best Mystery Books Coming Out in 2022

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date November 18, 2021

Sponsored by Kindle Unlimited - 4 months of unlimited Mystery books for $4.99.

With a Kindle Unlimited membership, you can read as much as you want from an ever-growing selection of over two million eBooks, thousands of audiobooks, comics, short reads, and up to three magazine subscriptions. Our selection has just got even bigger and better with hundreds of exciting titles we’ve recently added to our catalog including Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris, The Passenger by Lisa Lutz and more. For a limited time, get 4 months of unlimited reading for $4.99!

Hello mystery fans! It’s time for all the clickable links for mystery lovers including news and roundups–and a blockbuster 2022 title! If you’re like “Where are the ebook deals?”, I didn’t forget! They’re technically now in their very own special mystery deal newsletter which you’ve probably already noticed.

From Book Riot and Around the Internet

Chilly and Killy: 10 Great Wintery Thrillers to Delight and Frighten You

Dark Mystery & Thrillers Because Who Needs Sleep?

Best Mystery Books Coming Out in 2022

‘Delicious caper’ by Jesse Sutanto wins Comedy women in print award

Ann Cleeves on her literary path, not meddling in TV adaptations

Vote in the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards

16 of the Best Historical Mysteries

Patrick Radden Keefe has announced his next book: Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks

Alma Katsu’s cover reveal for the paperback edition of Red Widow

Lisa Jewell revealed the cover for her upcoming The Family Remains

I’m so happy Hollywood Homicide and Hollywood Ending will once again be published (and I love the new covers!): Check out Kellye Garrett’s announcement.

Alex Segura’s Pete Fernandez PI novels will be getting audiobooks!

Tamron Hall on the Jada Pinkett movie she watches on repeat and the book that helped her with her own debut

On Book Riot’s new podcast, Adaptation Nation, we read it. We watch it. We talk about it.

Giveaway: Enter to Win a $250 Gift Card to Barnes a Noble: November, 2021

Giveaway: Win a $100 Amazon Gift Card (plus a Radish Swag Bag!)

We’re hiring an Advertising Sales Manager! Do you like books and comics? Does helping advertisers reach an enthusiastic community of book and comics lovers intrigue you? This might be your job. Apply by December 5, 2021.

Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!

Watch Now

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows on HBO Max: The sequel to Guy Ritchie’s 2009 Sherlock Holmes film is streaming if you’re a fan of action, adventure, and of course Sherlock and Watson. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, and Rachel McAdams. Here’s the trailer. And fingers crossed we’ll get the third film in 2022!

Recent Interests That May Also Interest You + My Reading Life

Reading: Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez / Body and Soul Food (Books & Biscuits Mystery #1) by Abby Collette

Streaming: The Owl House on Disney+

Laughing: A bot writes a romantic comedy

Helping: Former Rioter’s Book Drive hopes to “give every one of our 375 students a brand new book to read over winter break.” (Great list of books!)

Upcoming: Did I drop every single thing I was doing when a galley for Dolly Parton’s 2022 crime book landed on my doorstep? Like you don’t know the answer–because who wouldn’t?! Dolly Parton is a national treasure and she wrote a crime book. I know! And wait, there’s more exciting news: the book will release with a same titled album of new songs that Parton wrote for the book. I know! And the songbook is at the end of the book! It’s all super exciting. And let me tell you Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson is super entertaining! You’ll sit down thinking you’re going to squeeze in one quick chapter and in a blink you’ll be 100 pages in and wondering where the time went.

If you’re thinking that it will probably be a book written by someone else with Dolly Parton’s name on it, that is not the case. Dolly Parton’s personality, compassion, and especially humor shines through this book, as does her love of country music and her knowledge of the industry. It makes sense that someone as gifted as Dolly Parton in storytelling through song could partner with James Patterson to write a page-turner with ladies you’re going to fiercely love, and want to brunch with STAT.

Readers follow AnnieLee Keyes, a young woman who has just hitchhiked her way to Nashville hoping to finally catch a break and become a country singer. She’s feisty, funny, determined, and filled with talent. But the world seems more ready to chew her up and spit her out. It also does not help that danger keeps finding her… Readers can look forward to a novel that takes you into the country music industry, gives you romance, danger, action (the blockbuster movie kind where somehow no one ends up in the hospital), and friendships—including one that shows feminism is pulling those up behind you not lifting the ladder up behind you.

Come for the novelty that Dolly Parton wrote a crime novel and stay for the spitfire joy that is AnnieLee Keyes in this wildly entertaining book.

(TW attempted sexual assault/ brief recounting of unknown suicide or accidental overdose/ mentions of child abuse/ panic attack/ human trafficking, not graphic/ recounts domestic abuse without graphic details)

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on 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.

Unusual Suspects

Holiday Gifting (For Them Or You): Mystery Reads Edition

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date November 16, 2021

Before I Dive In, Two Things

All the supply chain issues are very real: I look at publisher warehouse stock numbers every day and it’s not good for a lot of books. So if there is a physical book you really want, especially if you shop through indie book stores, buy it (or pre-buy it) as soon as you can if it is in stock at the moment.

Gift cards are your friend! For audiobook lovers: Libro.fm. For a book-in-a-box subscription where you pick from the pre-chosen selection: Book of the Month. For a book subscription with a catalog of ebooks and audiobooks to chose from: Scribd. For a book subscription that is completely tailored based on subscribers request (this is my day job): Tailored Book Recommendations.

And Now The Books

For fans of Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy: Absolutely grab A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom by Brittany K. Barnett

Agatha Christie fans: For a Japanese ode to Christie, pick up The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji, Ho-Ling Wong (Translator) and Murder in the Crooked House by Sōji Shimada, Louise Heal Kawai (Translator). For a fictionalized account of the real life mystery of Christie’s 11 day disappearance, grab The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict.

For Only Murders In The Building Fans: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman and its sequel The Man Who Died Twice, or The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths

Mango Mambo and Murder cover image, featuring an illustration of a table in a sunny room with two fancy red drinks, one of which has fallen over and smashed, and a kitten sitting on a desk behind it

For cozy food lovers: Mango, Mambo, and Murder (A Caribbean Kitchen Mystery #1) by Raquel V. Reyes / Arsenic and Adobo (Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery #1) by Mia P. Manansala / Death by Dumpling (A Noodle Shop Mystery #1) by Vivien Chien / A Deadly Inside Scoop (Ice Cream Parlor Mystery #1) by Abby Collette

For cozy witch lovers: A Spell for Trouble (An Enchanted Bay Mystery #1) by Esme Addison / In the Company of Witches (Evenfall Witches B&B #1) by Auralee Wallace

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It cover image

For lovers of Stephanie Plum humor: Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Finlay Donovan #1) by Elle Cosimano / A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones and the sequel A Good Day for Chardonnay

For those who like a comedy of errors: On the dark thriller side pick up Bullet Train by Kōtarō Isaka / On the light, add a romance side grab Dial A for Aunties (Aunties #1) by Jesse Q. Sutanto.

For fans of fictional true crime podcast reads: I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan / Girl, 11 by Amy Suiter Clarke

Middle grade books for kids that I swear adults will also love: Ophie’s Ghosts by Justina Ireland / From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks / Premeditated Myrtle (Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries #1) by Elizabeth C. Bunce

For speakeasy fans: The Boy in the Red Dress by Kristin Lambert / Dead Dead Girls (Harlem Renaissance Mystery #1) by Nekesa Afia

For mystery with family drama: The Hollow Inside by Brooke Lauren Davis / Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty / The Survivors by Jane Harper

For historical mystery fans that want a standalone read: Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara / Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March / Transcription by Kate Atkinson

For fans of “everyone looks guilty as hell” stories: Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena / A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

For historical mystery fans that want to marathon a series: The Frangipani Tree Mystery (Crown Colony #1) by Ovidia Yu / A Rising Man (Sam Wyndham #1) by Abir Mukherjee / A Few Right Thinking Men (Rowland Sinclair #1) by Sulari Gentill / A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell #1) by Deanna Raybourn / A Study in Scarlet Women (Lady Sherlock #1) by Sherry Thomas

For historical mystery fans that want to start a recent series: Mrs. Mohr Goes Missing (Profesorowa Szczupaczyńska #1) by Jacek Dehnel, Piotr Tarczyński, Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Translator) / Murder on the Red River (Cash Blackbear Mysteries #1) by Marcie Rendon / Fortune Favors the Dead (Pentecost and Parker #1) by Stephen Spotswood / Pride and Premeditation (Jane Austen Murder Mystery #1) by Tirzah Price / The Body in the Garden (Lily Adler Mystery #1) by Katharine Schellman

For fans of the mystery centering around a missing person: When You Look Like Us by Pamela N. Harris / Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica / Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

For literary fiction fans: The Other Americans by Laila Lalami / Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead / Deacon King Kong by James McBride

For fans of nonfiction history: The Golden Thread: The Cold War Mystery Surrounding the Death of Dag Hammarskjöld by Ravi Somaiya / A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell / Agent Sonya: Moscow’s Most Daring Wartime Spy by Ben Macintyre / Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII’s Most Highly Decorated Spy by Larry Loftis

For readers of true crime: The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing by Sonia Faleiro / Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green / The Unfit Heiress: The Tragic Life and Scandalous Sterilization of Ann Cooper Hewitt by Audrey Clare Farley

For revenge story fans: The Collective by Alison Gaylin / The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis / They Never Learn by Layne Fargo / For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing

For fans of legal thrillers or lawyer MCs: The Verdict by Nick Stone / All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris / While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams

For fans of SFF meets mystery: A Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn Universe #1) by P. Djèlí Clark / The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Barry

For fans of PI mystery series: Bury Me When I’m Dead (Charlie Mack Motown Mystery #1) by Cheryl A. Head / Broken Places (Cass Raines #1) by Tracy Clark / The Last Place You Look (Roxane Weary #1) by Kristen Lepionka

cover image of Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian

For page turning thrillers: Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian / Find You First by Linwood Barclay / Stillhouse Lake (Stillhouse Lake #1) by Rachel Caine

For mystery + horror fans (is the house haunted?!): White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson / Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly

Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on 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.

Unusual Suspects

20 of the Best Mystery Books You’ve Never Heard Of

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date November 11, 2021

From Book Riot and Around the Internet

A Personal Reckoning With True Crime as a Genre

Nusrah and Katie talk about mystery and suspense works by Native American authors on the latest Read Or Dead!

Liberty goes murdery and mystery in the latest All The Backlist!

Amanda and Jenn discuss thrillers and historical mysteries on Get Booked!

What’s That? 20 of the Best Mystery Books You’ve Never Heard Of

What Are the Key Elements of a Murder Mystery?

Liberty and Vanessa talk new releases including Miss Moriarty, I Presume? (The Lady Sherlock Series) by Sherry Thomas on the latest All The Books!

Agatha Christie Dug for Clues for Real in Egypt

When You Can Finally Watch Daniel Craig’s Last James Bond Movie No Time To Die At Home

Lucy Hale Says AMC+’s ‘Ragdoll’ Shares Some DNA With ‘Killing Eve’

Tracy Clark’s Chicago detective series starter Broken Places is being adapted!

Giveaway: Win a $100 Gift Card to ThriftBooks!

Giveaway: Enter to Win a $250 Gift Card to Barnes a Noble: November, 2021

Check out Book Riot’s new podcast, perfect for adaptation fans: Adaptation Nation

Watch Now

The Unlikely Murderer on Netflix: If you’re looking for a limited series (five episodes) that’s a true crime fictional dramatization, and want to armchair travel to Sweden check out the new release for The Unlikely Murderer. It’s based on a true unsolved 1986 murder of Sweden’s Prime Minister Olof Palme, and is adapted from Thomas Pettersson’s 2018 nonfiction book which was the result of his 30 year investigation: Den Osannolika Mördaren. Watch the trailer here.

Recent Interests That May Also Interest You + My Reading Life

Reading: Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara / Murder Most Actual by Alexis Hall

Streaming: Gentefied (Netflix) is finally back!

Laughing: brother what have they done to you

Helping: 8 Best Ways to Combat Food Insecurity in Your Community

Upcoming: I have been treating myself, when I can, to 2022 galleys of books I am so excited for. I recently curled up with Secret Identity by Alex Segura, and I’m so glad that I did. This may be the only crime book I’ve ever hugged to my chest when I finished reading it. This is a murder-mystery with the feeling of noir mixed with the hopeful feeling of comics. But the heart of this book is a young woman trying to make it in a world deliberately not designed for her.

Cuban American Carmen Valdez moved from her home in Miami to NY in the 1970s to work in the comic book industry. Her goal is to write super hero comics like the ones she grew up loving. And so she’s an assistant at Triumph Comics, which is trying to stay afloat in a time before the comic industry we know now of blockbuster films. Between living in a hard city like NY with no one but a roommate to call a friend, working in a male dominated industry set to stay that way, not speaking to her parents back home, and a former lover showing up out of the blue, Carmen’s life is already complicated. Then she gets the chance to write that comic she’s dreamed of, with her name on it, only to have it dashed away and find the man who was helping her murdered. With a cop certain Carmen is lying about something–she is!–and her dream comic in someone else’s creative hands, she pushes through in the hopes of finding out who murdered her colleague and what is really happening to the comic industry around her.

Segura’s passion for the mystery genre and comic book industry shines through, and Carmen is a wonderful character trying her best to get through difficult situations with way more questions than answers with a deep down never-give-up spirit that always propels her forward. Bonus: pages from the fictional comic at the heart of the book are inserted throughout!

(TW memory of brief partner abuse/ alcoholism, not MC/ suicide off page, detail)

Kindle Deals

Death Notice (Death Notices #1) by Zhou Haohui, Zac Haluza (Translator)

If you’re looking for a cat-and-mouse thriller, absolutely grab this one for $4.99! (Review)

The Lost Man by Jane Harper

If you’re looking for a great standalone mystery that will make you hot no matter how cold your current weather is and have yet to read Jane Harper, absolutely pick this up for $2.99! (Review)

Black Water Rising (Jay Porter Series Book 1) by Attica Locke

If you’ve yet to read Attica Locke, you should really resolve that! Here’s here first novel set in 1981 Houston, Texas, following lawyer Jay Porter for $4.99!

No Exit by Taylor Adams

If you’re looking for a remote setting (snowed in rest stop of strangers) and an intense thriller, pick this up for $1.99! (Review)

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

I don’t know how long this will last but as of writing this, this page-turning murder mystery, is less than a dollar which is ridiculous! If you want an interesting setup and a twisty book, pick this up! (Review)

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on 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.

Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!

Unusual Suspects

A Nemesis Mystery & Revenge Thriller You Can’t Put Down

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date November 9, 2021

Miss Moriarty, I Presume? (Lady Sherlock #6) by Sherry Thomas

Am I going to review every single Lady Sherlock book? Absolutely! I love this series so much–that same feeling you seek in watching things like Ted Lasso is how I feel every year with a new Lady Sherlock. It’s a delightful treat!

Do you need to start at the beginning of the series? I would definitely start with A Study in Scarlet Women because of all the character’s relationships and many are based on events from past books.

Just to give you an idea of how much I enjoy the humor and fun of these books: this time around we start with sexting but you know the very old school version of writing naughty things in letters that now sound PG. Charlotte Holmes is still keeping up the pretense that she works for Sherlock Holmes, her brother, and not that she is Sherlock Holmes. And who does she end up working for this time? None other than the big daddy of the nemesis Moriarty. Seems his daughter has found herself in a cult and he’s very worried about her and the money she’s giving them. So naturally Charlotte and Mrs. Watson travel to said cult to figure out what exactly is going on, while of course working for someone they can’t trust.

If you’re already a fan I highly recommend you catch-up with the series as you’ll once again be treated to a twisty tale that’s fun and humorous and exciting, plus it’s going to leave you with your mouth possibly hanging open (most certainly!).

If you’ve yet to discover Lady Sherlock, I highly recommend you get to know Holmes and Watson, the ladies who make a fantastic team filled with mystery solving and friendship.

Bonus: the audiobook narrator, Kate Reading, is the loveliest!

The Collective by Alison Gaylin

I have been bamboozled quite a few times recently with books being labeled thrillers that are not actually thrillers. So color me the most page-turning happy reader to discover this was very much a thriller, and hands down one of my favorite books of the year.

It’s such a great blend of page-turner thriller while also being a smart exploration of grief and the cost of revenge. And a whole lot of trying to figure out what is happening!

Camille Gardner is still angry that her daughter’s accused killer has not faced any consequences. So you can imagine how hearing that he’s winning a humanitarian award would tip her over the edge. Her spiraling puts her on the radar of the collective–a group of women with a secret chat forum that can get you selected to enter a world of enacting justice for someone else in the group who is grieving. Soon Camille is thrown into this world, but at what cost? Who is orchestrating their brand of justice? And is Camille ready for real revenge beyond the fantasy of it?

It’s so good, and wow do I want to tell you about my very favorite thing about this book but its the ending so *zips lips*. Pick this up and clear your schedule, you’re not going to be able to put it down.

(TW panic attacks/ recounts past suicide attempt, detail/ mentions of suicides, detail/ brief ableist language/ date rape/ dead name used/ mentions rape cases, not graphic)

From The Book Riot Crime Vault

8 Books Like And Then There Were None

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on 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.

Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!

Unusual Suspects

Meet the Season’s Hottest Debut Mystery Authors

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date November 4, 2021

Sponsored by the novel Dead Fall from suspense author Nancy Mehl. Available where books and ebooks are sold.

When a renowned profiler is found dead in his hotel room and it becomes clear the killer is targeting agents in Alex Donovan’s unit, she is called to work on the strangest case she’s ever faced. Things get personal when the brilliant killer strikes close to home, and Alex will do anything to find the killer—even at the risk of her own life.

Hello mystery fans! Still a bit quiet on the entertainment front but I found some book lists, news, an old show that’s now new again to watch, and of course your ebook deals!

From Book Riot and Around the Internet

Liberty and Danika discuss the newest releases including The Collective by Alison Gaylin on the latest All The Books! (Must-read for revenge thriller fans!)

Readers’ Most Anticipated Books of November

Meet the Season’s Hottest Debut Mystery Authors

For Stacey Abrams, crime does pay – CBS is redeveloping thriller “Never Tell” into a series

Noir films you can’t miss

Reese’s Book Club had the cover reveal for Megan Miranda’s The Last To Vanish

9 authors pick their must-read fall thrillers

The 13 Best New Mystery and Thriller Books of November 2021

The best recent thrillers – review roundup

A Murder Mystery That Refuses to Be Solved

Cover Reveal: The Agathas Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

Tamron Hall To Host Court TV True-Crime Series ‘Someone They Knew…With Tamron Hall’

Giveaway: Enter to Win a $250 Gift Card to Barnes a Noble

And if you’re a fan of adaptations Book Riot has a new podcast: Adaptation Nation, all about TV and film adaptations of your favorite books!

Watch Now

Dexter returns on Showtime: The original TV series, based on Jeff Lindsay‘s book series, ended eight years ago but in the world of TV everything comes back. So if you’ve missed the murderous antihero Dexter Morgan, he’s back on November 7th with Dexter: New Blood. Watch the trailer here and if you want to catch up on the original season’s, 1-8, watch here.

Recent Interests That May Also Interest You + My Reading Life

Reading: Fate (Death Notices #2) by Zhou Haohui, Zac Haluza (Translator) / Not My Problem by Ciara Smyth

Streaming: Brett Goldstein (Roy Kent!) was on Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us podcast and if you need an absolutely delightful conversation run to it. / Maya and the Three on Netflix.

Laughing: Ears with a mind of their own.

Helping: Do a World of Good: 15 Best Places to Volunteer

Upcoming: For fans of Little Secrets and Jar of Hearts you can look forward to Jennifer Hillier’s next book in 2022: Things We Do In The Dark

Kindle Deals

The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley

If you’re looking for a crime novel that will making you say, “WTF?” grab this one for $1.99!

Security by Gina Wohlsdorf

If you want a slasher film in book form with the mystery of who, pick up this fun book for $1.99!

Four Rabbi Small Mysteries: Friday the Rabbi Slept Late, Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry, Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home, and Monday the Rabbi Took Off by Harry Kemelman

If you’re looking for a cozy series set in a Jewish community in the ‘60s with a Rabbi solving crimes, snatch this up for $2.99!

No Mercy (Ellery Hathaway #2) by Joanna Schaffhausen

The sequel to The Vanishing Season is $2.99 and I highly recommend Schaffhausen’s procedurals for anyone who is a fan of shows like Bones and Castle.

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on 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.

Unusual Suspects

India: Historical Mysteries & True Crime

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date November 2, 2021

Sponsored by ThriftBooks, the best place for holiday gifts for mystery lovers.

Hello mystery fans! I’ve read more than a few great books this year set in India which I wanted to share. I particularly love how layered each story is filled with plenty to learn and think about it. Plus, the fiction books are also very entertaining and there’s plenty of rabbit holes to fall down after looking for the real historical cases and people.

The Shadows of Men (Sam Wyndham #5) by Abir Mukherjee

This is one of the few series that I wait in anticipation for and read as soon as I can get my hands on the newest release. Even if I was bored with historical mystery (I am not), I would still be reading this series. I think that while many series stick to keeping things familiar–which makes sense from the view of readers wanting to find comfort from what they have returned for–I love that this series has really allowed the characters to grow and evolve. For that reason I do recommend you start at the beginning with A Rising Man, although it isn’t a must in that you won’t be lost in this book since it’s all explained.

Set in 1920s Calcutta, during British rule, we get two points of view in alternating chapters. Both are officers with the Imperial Police Force but they are very different: Captain Sam Wyndham is a former Scotland Yard detective and Sergeant Surendranath Banerjee is one of the first Indians on the force. The book begins with Banerjee accused of murder. Raising the stakes even higher, he’s accused of the murder of a religious Hindu leader. Not only does he need to prove that he’s innocent to save his own life, but he needs to stop the ethnic violence that will come from a religious leader being murdered.

You get a whodunnit murder mystery–if not Banerjee, then who?–but also the contrasting personalities and POVs of Wyndham and Banerjee, along with the race against time based on the political situation and Banerjee being imprisoned for murder that makes this a huge page-turner to get lost in.

The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing by Sonia Faleiro

This is a thoughtful, compassionate look at a devastating case: the 2014 death of Padma and Lalli, two teen girls, who grew up in a village in western Uttar Pradesh. From their disappearance to the discovery of their bodies, everything in this case was mishandled.

Faleiro, who grew up in Delhi, thankfully isn’t interested in the gawking nor the “sport” that a big portion of true crime has become (or maybe always was). She brings Padma and Lalli to life, along with the town, and takes a look at the legal system in India (particularly laws and cases around rape), the caste systems, and the pressures of being a girl/woman in India. There are a lot of layers to this book, including the way this case was reported and discussed around the world, and it takes care to use the central case of this book to discuss a lot of things leaving readers with much to question and think on.

I went with the audiobook format, narrated by the author, and was very glad I made that selection.

(TW mentions gang rape case, details/ case is debated murder or suicide, detail/ brief discussion of infanticide/ <— those are the ones I made notes on, there was discussions about violent cases and histories.)

cover image of The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey

The Bombay Prince (Perveen Mistry #3) by Sujata Massey

Here’s another of my favorite historical mystery series. It’s set in the same time period as Abir Mukherjee’s series but both feel very different from each other with Sujata Massey’s series focusing on the cases of Perveen Mistry, one of the first female solicitors in India. If you want to start at the beginning pick up The Widows of Malabar Hill for all the character’s personal life bits, but you won’t be lost starting with the third book.

Edward VIII, Prince of Wales is coming to visit Bombay to start a four-month tour and there is unrest. A young Parsi college student had gone to Perveen seeking guidance on a school matter in what they could force students to do and not do regarding protests. Now she’s dead, having fallen from a second floor during a procession for the Prince. The coincidence of her having just visited Perveen raises questions for Perveen in whether this was an accident or not and when the coroner says it was a murder, Perveen offers her service to the family.

I loved that as much as this is a murder mystery, we also get to see a lot of the legal side of cases during this time period, including a court inquest, a lot of different voices, and how Perveen always thinks about how her behavior can impact any female lawyers that are coming up behind her. I always look forward to what is in store for Perveen.

(TW questions if case can be suicide/ attempted forced undressing of woman/ brief mention of past domestic abuse, not detailed/ ableism)

Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March

And in case you missed my review earlier this year and want a standalone historical mystery, here’s another case of a woman falling to her death and the question of whether it’s murder. (Review)

From the Book Riot Crime Vault

6 Murder Mysteries with Classical Music

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on 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.