Category: Unusual Suspects

For fans of domestic suspense!

Sophie and her husband Tariq are on very different career paths. Sophie would like to be known as a famous British Pakistani actress except she’s currently only known on a B-movie level by some and it’s for the unplanned on-camera birth of her son. And she’s being blackmailed, something she’s keeping from her husband by moving around money to pay. Tariq is a pillar of Bradford’s Muslim community when he goes missing, later presumed dead in a car accident that makes identification difficult. Between Sophie’s past, the blackmail, and this being her third marriage, is someone she knows responsible?

For fans of spy novels!

This is a new James Bond trilogy that isn’t really about Bond — while being a nod to and having favorite characters appear — that starts with Bond missing after having been captured by a private military company. We get to know new double-0 MI6 agents: Johanna Harwood, 003. Joseph Dryden, 004. Sid Bashir, 009. And of course the fate of the world is in their hands and they need to figure out if their current mission is in any way tied to what may have happened to Bond.

For fans of past murder mysteries, coming-of-age stories, and a dash of sci-fi time travel! In the current world, Justin Warren feels like his life has been shaped by his grandparents’ suspicious deaths which Justin wasn’t alive for. But he’s about to get an up close look at the past finding himself in 1985 – 20 years before his birth. Not only are his grandparents alive in this time, but he meets and teams up with Rose Yin – a fellow high schooler, but you know decades apart – because Rose and Justin’s future, and his ability to go back to his time period, rely on them solving the murder of his grandparents before it happens.

For readers of true crime, history, and narrative nonfiction! This is a look at the history of the Ku Klux Klan, D.C. Stephenson’s rise to Grand Dragon in Indiana, and how judges, politicians, ministers, and many in power joined as members controlling the state. Until Stephenson assaulted Madge Oberholtzer, and her deathbed confessional and court case led to Stephenson being sentenced to life in prison.

For fans of past and present stories, multiple POV, small town, and secrets! Three women, one dead: Ciara Dunphy is an influencer with the perfect life; Mishti Guha is stuck in an arranged marriage with an absentee husband/father; Lauren Doyle is the Irish village outcast. Ciara being found dead in her home quickly reveals that the “perfect life” she lived was a lie, as many had reasons to gain from her death…

For fans of past mysteries, snarky humor, and fictional podcasts! Lydia Chass’s entire life plan is immediately endangered when she finds out the school’s counselor messed up and she doesn’t have the credits she needs for college. So the school lets her do a podcast with a focus on the history of the town to make it up. Her focus becomes the town’s Long Stretch of Bad Days: a week that saw a flash flood, tornado, and an unsolved murder. Partnered up with Bristal Jamison, the two teens represent the opposites of the town. Chass is believed to be the wealthy kid, and every Jamison is painted with a wide brush, assumed to be a criminal. At first, their biggest problem is getting along, but soon they’ve added a missing young woman, fallout from Chass’s father representing a defendant the town wants punished, and a lot of things not adding up to the unsolved murder…

I was fully immersed in the audiobook, which is narrated by Brittany Pressley.

(TW mentions of alcoholism/ mentions attempted parental child kidnapping case/ past animal deaths caused by natural disaster/ past domestic violence, brief detail)

For fans of YA mysteries that explore grief, being Asian American, the pressure to succeed in high school, and mental illness. Chase Ohara and Lia Vestiano were best friends who became girlfriends and then broke up six months ago. Lia ended up with a new girlfriend, before she went missing. Now Chase is rattled with guilt because Lia sent her a text she never answered. When Lia’s body is found and her death ruled a suicide, Chase refuses to accept it. Battling her grief, pressure in school, and the loss of her best friend and ex-friend, she resorts to roping Lia’s last girlfriend into helping her find out what happened.

The audiobook is narrated by Natalie Naudus who you may know from many mystery (Mimi Lee Gets a Clue) and romance (One Last Stop) narrations!

(TW addiction to Adderall type drugs/ suicidal thoughts/ past attempted suicide, detail/ panic attack/ mental hospital/ suicide pact, suicide)

For fans of multiple POVs, “revenge” fantasies, and following the killers! Iris, Sissy, and Moody are identical triplets who grew up apart in the foster care system. Now, 25 year olds, Iris and Moody are bringing Sissy into their world of “revenge murder.” They’ve taken all the abuse from growing up and pick a man to have fall in love with them as they plot their murder. Sissy has to pick someone, which she’s all for in her mind as she plans out revenge fantasies. But reality can be different from fantasy and Sissy finds herself having to pick between the man she loves and her sisters…

For fans of Scandinavian crime novels! Gabriel Præst wears many hats from Blues musician to PI, the latter of which gets him a difficult case to look into: the brutal murder of right-wing politician, Sanne Melgaard. It’s an absolute no-win case — which he only took to please an ex — because everyone knows that Yousef Ahmed committed the murder. But Gabriel quickly learns that things feel off, and maybe he’ll just have to entertain the idea that Yousef was framed…

For fans of in-house investigators, murder mysteries, and romance. Reagan Reyes has left her life in the Air Force as an intelligence officer and is now working for a high end firm’s criminal attorney as an investigator. After a woman leaves a letter for the criminal defense lawyer who Reagan is secretly in a relationship with, the woman is found murdered. If Reagan wasn’t already aware that no one wants her looking into this case, she gets the message after she’s physically attacked to stop. How does the letter connect, who is willing to kill at any cost, and will Reagan and her boyfriend be able to stay safe?

For fans of spies! You can start with the sequel in this series and not be lost as it gives you the recap you need, but in case you care, it does give you the solve of the first book: Red Widow.

Emily Rotenberg is a British woman married to Mikhail Rotenberg, a very wealthy Russian. While living in London with their children, their home is broken into. Lyndsey Duncan is a CIA agent given an undercover assignment of taking on a false identity (stolen from a real woman) to befriend Emily in order to get her to turn on her husband. The state of Emily’s life may not make this too difficult, but the current state of the world, Mikhail becoming interested in Lyndsey, and Lyndsey’s personal life are all going to create serious challenges.

I loved that the audiobook gave each woman their own narrator: Mozhan Marno and Fiona Hardingham!

(TW briefly recounts past teen sexual assault/ domestic violence scene/ brief mention assumed date rape)

For fans of baking competitions, cozies, and murder mysteries where you know there’s a dead body but not who for a while…Betsy Martin hosts the baking competition show Bake Week at her Victorian estate only to have a few wrenches thrown into the new season’s current filming: she’s given a co-host, there is debate over whether mistakes or sabotage are happening to the contestants, and there’s a dead body! But who’s dead and who is responsible?

For fans of intricately put together puzzle mysteries, amateur sleuths, past family mysteries, food, and fun series! Starting here won’t have you lost story wise, but there is a running family mystery from the first book you may want to read from beginning in which case pick up Under Lock & Skeleton Key. This book also gives the solve for the first book.

Tempest Raj lost her Las Vegas career as a magician and moved back home with her her dad and grandparents, where she lives in a tree house! But she’s already had to put her amateur sleuth cap on, so why not again? This time it’ll be to save her grandfather who’s been accused of murder. And it won’t be an easy case because the dead man fell from the ceiling onto the table during a fake séance being held by his ex (hilarious, I know!) and everyone in the room was holding hands at the time it happened. This is a fun murder mystery that not only takes readers into solving the whodunnit but also the how!

(TW mentions a past unsolved case that has been ruled a suicide)

For fans of YA murder mysteries and royals! Evan Bright is not having a normal childhood — she’s been moved around boarding schools as the illegitimate and secret child of the King of England. Now she’s spending the summer with the family, and the dad she doesn’t know, in London. What could go wrong? Oh, a murder, her outing as the King’s child, and her being a suspect in the death of the guy that tried to sexually assault her. Being a secret princess is anything but fun.

(TW attempted sexual assault including drugging, on page/ mentions past death by suicide, method not detailed)

My favorite Sherlock is back! Before I dive into the review of this book — which I’ll do as best as I can without spoilers — this book heavily relies on the past entry and its ending. So what I’m saying is if you’re not already caught up go read Miss Moriarty, I Presume? first. Or start at the beginning of the series, A Study in Scarlet Women, if you’ve yet to — I highly recommend this series, especially for fans of Deanna Raybourn, funny female leads, reimagined Sherlock, adventure, mystery, and romance.

With that out of the way, onto the new release! Charlotte is now on the RMS Provence with the goal of recovering a dossier that she’ll trade for safety. Since nothing can be a simple job, while she’s on the ship a murder occurs. One that she can’t get involved in solving as Sherlock. But you know she can’t let it be either, so she’ll have to come up with creative ways to solve this case while staying alive and navigating who on this ship is an ally and who is an enemy…

For fans of stories that take place over the course of a day and murder mysteries where you don’t find out the victim until the end! We start with Nadine Walsh and a body in her basement while above a huge party goes on. Then we go back to that morning as Nadine is putting together the birthday party and reflecting on the past 30 years. Who is the victim? Killer? And why? So many mysteries to try and solve before the reveal!

A fun and thoughtful murder mystery with an older sleuth. I remain a big fan of Sutanto’s work, and always immediately reach for any new releases she has. I very much recommend taking a dive in her already well-sized backlist.

Vera Wong has opinions for days and is also quite funny — she named her tea shop Vera Wang. Boundaries are also not her strongest suit, so when she finds a dead body in her shop, she steals a bit of evidence and also uses a marker to outline the body — as one does when helping out the police. Naturally, the police are not happy about this or Vera trying to involve herself in the investigation after it’s determined the death was caused by an allergic reaction. And by involvement I mean she decides to get to know who she believes knew the victim most to rule them out, which includes the widow, twin brother, and a journalist. Sutanto does a great job of balancing humor and murder mystery while exploring the ties that bind us.

The audiobook is narrated by Eunice Wong, who you may already know and love from The New Girl and The Verifiers.

(TW neighbor with Alzheimer’s)

A fun book for fans of this genre mashup: romance + con artists crime novels. Cat is sure she will no longer have to pickpocket to make ends meet now that she’s getting a promotion at work… except that promotion is a demotion. Naturally she turns to planning a heist — with a recently met bartender — to steal a frenemy’s engagement ring at her destination wedding. The catch? Cat and her new partner will have to pretend to be in love. What could go wrong? Or right?

(TW brief recount past parent death from illness, not graphic)

For fans of true crime, history, and criminal justice/forensics. This is a really interesting dive into the history of the lie detector/polygraph — from its creation in the 1920s to its implementation through history to now – including how not all its creators ended up believing in it. The book alternates between the inventors and the creation, to dives into criminal cases through history where the lie detector was used – including to determine whether someone should be executed or not. It’s eye-opening and a big reminder that the lie detector doesn’t meet scientific standards, even if it’s once again back in popular use. You get legal cases, courtroom scenes, learn interesting things like where the term “3rd degree” comes from, and the history of police corruption and crime at the turn of the century.

I inhaled the audiobook, narrated by Paul Bellantoni.

(TW domestic violence/ brief mentions of past child sexual assault, no detail/ suicide, detail, including murder suicide)

For fans of fictional true crime, fictional authors writing a book in a book, unsolved cases, and alternating point of view by sections. The book starts with an author who is writing a book on a case from the ’70s: a lawyer with three kids was the suspect in his wife’s disappearance. But this is not a random case: the author grew up best friends with one of the children, one who is completely against him writing this book. The accused father now has dementia and can’t defend himself. What happens to a family when a mother just never comes home? When the father is accused? And the now grown kids don’t agree on digging into the case?