Category: Unusual Suspects

If you’re in the mood for a foodie cozy and one set at a fall festival (mind you, we’re talking Miami fall), here you go! When the houses are decorated for Halloween it isn’t strange to find a corpse in your yard; but when it’s someone you know and human, things take a turn. That’s how things are going for Miriam Quiñones-Smith, a local food show host who has a knack for getting involved in murder mysteries. So naturally she’ll have another body on her hands when a chef is found dead at the bottom of a staircase — the chef for the gala Miriam is in charge of and who was just fighting with the club’s manager. It’ll only be a matter of time before Miriam herself is in danger…If you want to start at the beginning, pick up Mango, Mambo, and Murder.

For fans of recent historical mysteries, the “is it a murder or not” trope, and books set in a home where everyone is a potential suspect. Andy Mills was an inspector for the San Francisco police until he was caught in a gay bar, was outed, and fired for being gay. Which is how he ends up being hired by a recent widow to look into the death of Irene Lamontaine, the head of a soap empire. Irene lived on an estate with family and staff that created a safe place to live for members of the LGBTQ+ community, while keeping the world out. The question is whether Irene’s death was a murder (remember: big ol’ company and money at stake), and if so: is someone who lives on the estate a murderer? As Andy visits the estate and gets to know everyone, who can he trust?

I was in the middle of writing this when the Angela Lansbury news broke 🙁 Jessica Fletcher has a grandniece following in her footsteps! Bea Fletcher is a teen who writes a cold case column for a website. One night she’s meant to meet up with her best friend Jackson and he doesn’t show up. Startled, she runs off and ends up instead meeting three students from the elite boarding school Broadmoor Academy. It turns out they’re playing a secret society game and she’ll have to join in if she wants to find Jackson…I’m halfway through the audiobook and I like that it’s written as a modern thriller with teens, and mental health, in mind rather than trying to create another version of the show Murder, She Wrote.

For fans of graphic novels and the Enola Holmes Netflix adaptation! It’s a new story that is the life of Enola Holmes between the first film and the upcoming new film. The younger teen sister of Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes sets out to find not only Mycroft, who has been taken by anarchists, but especially to retrieve something he has taken from her…

And here’s the second trailer for Enola Holmes 2.

This is a fun, family of spies book that also tackles important topics. Soon after finding out that her parents work as spies for a world organization, Andréa Hernández-Baldoquín ends up with her first solo assignment. She’s the only person the agency knows who can pass as white and is 14, the age they need to go undercover in a high school to befriend the estranged son of a white nationalist that they need to find. Not only is Andréa going to have the challenges of being in a new school, a new crush and friends, but she’s going to have to drop the accent in her name, pretend to not speak Spanish, and strip her culture from her life.

The audiobook narrated by Victoria Villarreal is great and I really recommend picking this up next time you need some action, spies, friendship, and fandom in your life. It was my pick for The Best Books We Read July-September 2022.

Here’s a true crime and narrative political nonfiction that is my current (as of writing this halfway through) audiobook. In 2016 Seth Rich was walking home drunk from a bar and was shot dead in the street. It was the kind of case that would normally only make local news and devastate his family and friends. Instead because he was a Democratic National Committee staffer, his murder and career was weaponized by Fox news creating ludicrous conspiracy theories, including that a pizza restaurant was involved in a global child-trafficking ring. Rather than Rich’s family getting to mourn him and focus on finding his killer, they were thrown into a world of people trying to use their son’s life and murder for political conspiracies. Kroll lays out the timeline of how the DNC’s leaked emails and Seth Rich’s murder were weaponized to fuel right-wing conspiracy theories and who Seth Rich was as his family tried to find justice for Rich. It’s also a look at how the people fueling these kinds of conspiracy theories operate — including making themselves rich – and how the media and social media has played a huge role in it happening.

For fans of MCs returning home to their hometown, past and present missing girls mysteries, and a dash of horror. Liz Rocher is returning to her small hometown in Pennsylvania and has a strained relationship with her mom. She’s only there for her best friend Mel’s wedding. That is until Mel’s daughter goes missing and Liz is forced to deal with sudden memories of her childhood, hiding in the woods the night another girl was murdered…

This is my current audiobook listen, which has dual narrators I’m enjoying: Sandra Okuboyejo and William DeMeritt.

For fans of Victorian mysteries and delightfully precocious kids. Myrtle Hardcastle’s father has a new case: prove or disprove that a girl who once went missing is in fact the current person claiming her family’s fortune. She’s either the girl once lost at sea with her parents or a con artist after money. But things get extra complicated when Mr. Hardcastle is in the hospital for surgery and claims to witness a murder. Now Myrtle has to figure out if it was a delusion or ifin fact her father may be in danger…

This is a delightful series I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. If you want to start at the beginning, pick up Premeditated Myrtle.

Lila Macapagal is back! And since she’s opening her own cafe – The Brew-ha Cafe – there are plenty of delicious food and drink descriptions. There’s also murder and mystery! But the cozy kind (you know what I mean!). Plus, all the family drama when Tita Rosie’s son Ronnie returns from living in Florida, because soon follows murder and a blackmail email sent to Tita Rosie that Ronnie’s past wasn’t on the up and up… If you want to start at the beginning pick up Arsenic and Adobo. And I really enjoy Danice Cabanela’s narration on the audiobook and her ease in switching between characters.

This sounds like a fun mystery if you’re looking for a book set over the twelve days of Christmas. The deed to the Armitages’ grand family home is a prize this year to the winner of the annual Christmas Game. Lily Armitage refuses to attend until her aunt tells her that playing will finally give her the answers to who murdered her mother decades before…

The pitch for this one is You meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before which L O L talk about serial killer obsessive meets pudding pie cozy– or something. Anyhoo, Laney Villanueva and Nico Fiore are the loving IT couple at Holy Family High School. And Rafi is obsessed with them. So much so she’s determined to become their best friend…What could go wrong?

If you’re a fan of Naomi Alderman, Leigh Bardugo, Alyssa Cole, Lucy Foley, Elly Griffiths, Natalie Haynes, Jean Kwok, Val McDermid, Karen M. McManus, Dreda Say Mitchell, Kate Mosse, Ruth Ware AND Agatha Christie’s Jane Marple character, this collection is for you! It also makes a perfect holiday gift. It’s twelve brand new stories, starring Miss Marple, written by some of today’s great mystery authors!

For fans of character-driven translation! Lee Hanjo’s wife, whose entire life is meant to cater to Hanjo’s career and private life, disappears. It’s the morning of his birthday and they’d had a lovely celebration the night before. It’s baffling that the house is tidied and she’s just gone, leaving behind a manuscript for a novel that appears to center an artist a lot like Hanjo—and it’s not a great look for Hanjo. More importantly the novel will soon be published…

For fans of amateur sleuths! Morgan Carter, a bookstore owner and cryptozoologist in Wisconsin believes in plausible existability: it’s not that she is certain for example that Big Foot exists, it’s that without proof it doesn’t there’s still the chance. After some strange deaths on Lake Michigan, police chief Jon Flanders hires Carter to look into the deaths to rule out murder by creature. What Flanders didn’t count on was Carter not being the best rule follower, nor staying out of danger. Carter, dealing with trauma from her parents’ murder and having been a suspect, isn’t looking to jump into any personal relationships but she has no problem throwing herself into an adventure or mysterious case with her loving dog in tow. I enjoyed Susan Bennett’s narration of the audiobook, especially since her transition to male characters was smooth and didn’t feel exaggerated or like she was hurting her throat.

(TW mentions maternal and child death, not graphic nor detailed/ mentions death by suicide, no detail/ brief domestic abuse/ mentions past child death and accident)

Looking for a cozy mystery starring a librarian? Meet librarian Marvey. While at a library fundraiser she finds a list containing four names. Not so weird. Except, one of the names is a murder victim. Okay, not 100% not-weird. Innocent list of names? Or murder list? Marvey is on the case! If you want to start at the beginning pick up Murder by Page One.

For biography fans, here’s one on the queen of crime. We all know Agatha Christie for her very famous mystery books but not only did she have her own mystery (she disappeared for days, case was never actually solved) but also presented herself the opposite of her actual personality and passions. Why? What were all the sides of Agatha Christie? British historian Lucy Worsley took a deep dive into Agatha Christie’s life.

Here’s one for readers of complicated, gut-punching, legal cases and family dramas. Leila Syed was in charge of taking her young nephew and dropping him off at his nursery school. But on the way to work she’d gotten a call from her architecture firm about an “emergency” with a presentation she was giving that morning. It’s how she was so distracted that she left her nephew in the car on the hottest day of the year. It’s a complicated, more than one thinks story, told in three parts, including the court case.

For fans of historical mysteries, women groups, and interesting jobs. Set in Virginia, 1943, we start with a group of women working as code breakers, including one who technically was given a dead woman’s identity – which will obviously complicate things. The women are all very different from each other but come together with one goal: solve the murder of a woman. A crime scene they stumbled across when they went out to find one of their own who hadn’t come home. Soon it’s clear this is a serial killer and the women spend their days working to break codes for the war and their off hours following clues, joining with a reporter, and doing their best to catch a killer. So clearly they’re also putting themselves in danger! I really loved the women, friendship, the sapphic love story, the details of their breaking codes, and rooting for each one of them. Bonus: Natalie Naudus and Kelsey Navarro do an excellent job narrating the audiobook.

(TW date rape drug use, no assault/ murder victims raped, not on page nor detailed/ antisemitism/ attempted sexual assault)

For fans of emotional literary mysteries, Celeste Ng, and Steph Cha (me!). This is a family drama and murder mystery as guilt propels our MC to search for answers. Ky is a Vietnamese Australian reporter whose 17-year-old brother was murdered after she’d told their parents he should be allowed to go out and celebrate graduation with his friends. But how could he have died in a busy restaurant without a single witness to come forward and say what happened?

Here’s a gritty YA for fans of being fully absorbed in a ripped-from-the-headlines ominous story that focuses on the emotional toll over the “thrills.” Georgia Avis’ life is in no way going the way she’d like. Her brother is her guardian after their mother passed, she’s just lost money she stole from him, and found a dead body before being hit by a car. And yet her obsession remains clear: she wants to be an Aspera girl, a job at the members-only resort her mother used to work at. As she begins to look into who murdered the teen girl she found, she finally gets a different job at the resort. She’s so close to what she wants.

(TW rape and murder of young teen case, not graphic/ past parent cancer death, not graphic/ teen sexual assault by adult on page/ brief suicide mention, detail/ predators)