Category: Unusual Suspects

The author of Miracle Creek is back with a new book for fans of a missing person mystery, family drama, and a dive into what happiness means.

Mia Parkson and her two siblings are staying in her parent’s home (COVID lockdown). After her youngest brother Eugene goes for a walk with their dad, he returns alone. It appears that something has happened to their father, but because Eugene is nonverbal, he does not recount the day’s events. While her father’s notes might lead Mia to conclude he’s behind his own disappearance, the police start to look at Eugene.

I’ve been rec’d this a lot by fellow reviewers and the only reason I haven’t gotten to it yet is because I wanted to go with the audiobook format. If you like reading the buzzy books, this one appears to be one for this fall.

For fans of family reunions and resort settings where one person is murdered…

Over winter break, the Mayweathers find themselves united in Cancún, Mexico thanks to an engagement. Except this forced week of family fun is filled with secrets and a murder that places everyone on the suspect list… This is giving me vibes for fans of The White Lotus who are impatiently waiting for a new season.

For fans of historical mystery series!

Lena Aldridge recently traveled from London to NY (finding her first mystery!) and is now settling into Harlem in 1936. Her life is in turmoil: her Broadway gig is no longer an option, her father died, and she’s staying with friends of a man she’s only just met. To complicate things even more, Lena finds herself thrust into her own family’s mysteries along with the case of the woman who fell (?) or was shoved (?) off the building where Lena now lives…

If you want to start at the beginning, pick up Miss Aldridge Regrets!

For fans of assassin stories, and two POVs by strangers whose lives will careen towards each other!

We start with a sniper shooting at a university and then follow two women connected to the event. Julia Bennett is a college professor whose daughter was shot (lived) and ex-husband’s new wife was shot (died). Julia reacts quickly, the first to realize there are shots being fired, which later brings questions from police as to why she was so alert. It ultimately dredges up her childhood trauma of coming home to find her parents murdered. Ren Petrovic is a pregnant contract killer, married to a contract killer, and the daughter of a contract killer. She has strict rules, though: she only kills people who deserve it. She thought her husband was on the same page, but is now questioning the shooting and the stories he’s telling her…

I loved the way this one unfolded! Pick it up if you want to be fully absorbed by a mystery with some contract killers.

The audiobook is narrated by Megan Tusing, who I enjoyed having in my ears while I did chores.

(TW brief mentions of past domestic abuse/ stories of past addict/ recounts past attempted sexual assault)

For fans of twisty psychological thrillers!

This starts with a self-diagnosed sociopath, Jane, who is constantly annoyed with her husband and still obsessed with her first friend, Thalia, from when she studied creative writing at Oxford. Back then, someone died, and the students left. But even that isn’t enough of a reason for Jane to explain why she’s never heard from Thalia again. That is until now, when she sees Thalia is a popular author and will be at a convention. Now Jane will do anything to get to talk to Thalia…

I continue to be a big fan of Sutanto’s, who has a range from dark-ish and twisty to cozy and fun, and always delivers an entertaining read. In this case, I love that we start in one place, get plunged into a character’s intense thoughts, and then…(like I would ever spoil a book!)

(TW quick cancer mentions/ quick diet culture, disorder eating mention/ brief recounts attempted sexual assault/ social anxiety)

For fans of quozy mystery series!

Ben Rosencrantz hits many of the loved cozy mystery tropes: he’s returned to his hometown in Utah after big city life as a university professor and a divorce; is back to care for an ailing parent; takes over a business (boardgames); gets accused of murder and must put on his amateur sleuth cap; and experiences a sweet romance. The murder part: an obnoxious person who tried to sell Ben a rare game (the inspiration for Monopoly!) is found dead behind Ben’s store, and Ben ends up with a bag full of cash! The romance part: Ezra McCaslin is the flower shop owner and hits it off with Ben. The two team up to solve this murder and keep Ben out of jail!

If you’re looking for a cozy mystery with humor, a sweet love story, and like board games, start this new series by our very own Book Riot contributor CJ Connor. And for audiobook listeners, the narrator, Robert Mac Minshew, is the author’s husband!

For fans of noir anthologies!

This is a great way to find new (to you) great writers in the crime genre. I love short story collections for when I want to read but only have small bursts of time. This collection, as the title makes very clear, focuses on Cleveland, Ohio, as the setting written by a bunch of great authors. “Cleveland is a working-class town, though its great institutions were founded by twentieth-century robber barons and magnates…”

For fans of amateur, elderly sleuths, translated novels, and quirkiness — it opens with a turtle finding a dead body!

Sunset Hall is a home in the English countryside where elderly residents, including Agnes Sharp, live. When a police officer visits and they learn of the dead body next door, they must remain cool, calm, and collected since they themselves are housing a dead body…And that’s how they set out to find the killer of the new dead body in order to pin their dead body on.

For fans of friends getting together to conspire to kill an abuser.

This is 100% on my TBR because I have been a huge fan of The Chicks since the late ’90s, and clearly this book is inspired by their hit song “Goodbye Earl.” So, yes: this novel imagines a group of friends, an abusive partner, and a plot to get together to kill the abuser…

Now excuse me while I go listen to The Chicks’ albums starting with Wide Open Spaces.

For fans of road trips, spies, mistaken identity, and romcoms!

I love books that blend together a ton of tropes and genres that I love, so the second I found out about this book (a day before I wrote this), I added this to the top of my TBR.

Imagining waking up in Paris with absolutely no memory and finding a gorgeous man telling you you’re in danger and have to run. Turns out you’re the identical twin of a spy and your twin’s attackers are now after you!

For fans of true crime and con artists!

John Ackah Blay-Miezah, who died in the early ’90s, was a Ghanaian con artist. Here his life, and frauds, are detailed including the famous con of convincing people into helping him with a trust fund (that didn’t exist) and with the promise that they too could get a piece of said (fictional) riches. It’s one of those really interesting true crime books that includes things like Nixon’s former attorney general as an accomplice.

If you need the audiobook, narrated by Jude Owusu, it releases at the end of the month!

For fans of mysteries and “a woman who finds herself the subject of her own popular true crime podcast.”

Alix Summers hosts a podcast and is out celebrating her 45th birthday when she meets her “birthday twin”: Josie, who is also celebrating her 45th birthday. Sounds fun, except Josie wants to be the subject of Alix’s podcast and while Alix agrees, she can’t shake off an unsettling feeling…

For audiobook readers, you get a full-cast narration!

For readers of true crime memoirs written by poets!

Before he was 2, Shane McCrae’s maternal grandparents kidnapped him so that he would be raised by their white family and they could hide from him that his father was Black. In order to keep the kidnapping a secret, Shane was deceived into participating in the lie — until the day Shane began to question his false memories and the lies, looking for his identity, leading him to the truth and his father.

For fans of thrilling procedurals!

Annalisa Vega is a Chicago police detective with a tangled new case that becomes more complicated when it brings in a family member! Sam Tran, a PI and ex-cop, is found murdered with a message that means the murderer is angry at the police. So Annalisa needs to go through his open cases to see what he may have stumbled upon and that leads her to discover her brother recently hired him as a PI to find a stalker.

The only reason I’ve yet to read this one is I’m waiting to get my hands on the audiobook. I love Joanna Schaffhausen’s books as they always hook me immediately and keep me fully engaged until the end.

If you want to start at the beginning pick up Gone For Good!

For fans of historical mysteries!

In the first book, Clark & Division, Aki Ito’s family was resettled by the government in 1944 to Chicago after being released from Manzanar detention center, and Aki ended up looking into her sister’s mysterious death. Now, two years later, Aki and her family are being permitted to return to their home state of California. Aki is married and working as a nurse’s aide when she finds herself once again looking into a mystery. It starts with a question of elder abuse that leads her to her husband’s best friend…

For fans of remote mysteries, past murder mysteries, stories that take place in a short window of time, and “do you choose revenge?” narratives.

Ten years ago after Meghan Chisholm died, her boyfriend was arrested but always swore his innocence. Now he’s finished his sentence and invitations have been sent to Meghan’s family to meet at an isolated home in Oregon. When they arrive, and a storm traps them with no power or cell service, they learn that Meghan’s boyfriend has been dragged there and they get to decide what to do with him…

For fans of protagonists returning home, past mystery colliding with current mystery, and island settings!

Twenty years ago Coco Weber survived a home invasion on Catalina Island and she was the only survivor. Now an obituary writer, she’s returning home to the island to be with her aunt and leave her partner. But as the obit writer, she realizes something is wrong with the deaths of the elderly island residents. Then she receives her own obituary as a threat. As the past and present collide, will Weber be able to survive this time?…

For fans of fictional serial killers, books set in Ireland, multiple points of view, and twisty thrillers!

If you don’t sleep with the lights on, I recommend not reading the opening of this one right before bed!

Nicki disappeared a year ago while out with friends. Her sister Lucy is still very much struggling and channeling her grief into finding out who is responsible. More women have disappeared — one even appears to have escaped, but while running for help she’s hit by a car and is now in a coma.

Angela really wants to be a detective for the Irish police but failed one component of the test so she’s currently answering hotline tips and working as a civilian in the Missing Persons Unit. Certain that she’s found a clue, she’s determined to help the assigned Detective, Denise Pope, or go it alone!

A man is driving his car with a woman captive, telling her his story of how he came to be a serial killer — including his opinions on all the true crime his wife watches beside him while he pretends to read.

Catherine Ryan Howard has become a consistent thriller writer for me who always delivers a hook that grabs me and a book I have to rush to the end of. After scaring me with the opening, I flew through this one, totally invested in the women. If you need a good thriller, grab this one!

The audiobook has great dual narrators: John Keating, Alana Kerr Collins!

(TW mentions past eating disorder, self-harm/ mentions past domestic abuse, not graphic/ suicidal ideation)

For fans of YA mysteries, monarchy, and romance!

James is only 17 when his father dies, making him the next King. If that wasn’t stressful enough he’s the first Black monarch in the UK. The press is especially coming for him, making things even worse for James who has a boyfriend working at the palace that he doesn’t plan on coming forward with. Then his boyfriend mysteriously disappears and secrets from the royal family begin to leak…Can James trust anyone?

For fans of multiple POV and neighborhood mysteries!

This has a fun addition to the whodunnit, where you also don’t know who the victim is. So you’re trying to solve two mysteries as you get to know the residents of an exclusive cul-de-sac. You get family, friendship, adults, and teens as you watch everything leading up to how and why someone is killed…

(TW mentions past miscarriages/ stalker/ recounts past child drowning/ alcoholism, addiction/ recounts past domestic abuse, including sexual assault/ survived overdose/ attempted suicide, detail/ racism/ mentions past date rape/ statutory/ suicide, on page)