Category: Unusual Suspects

The #MeToo movement, created by Tarana Burke in 2006, exploded on social media in 2017 following sexual abuse allegations about Harvey Weinstein. It’s been years and we are still living in a rape culture. What the movement did was publicly speak on how prevalent sexual assault is, the failings of our system to stop or punish perpetrators, and it helped victims feel less alone. This memoir moves us out of the US’s rape culture and takes us instead to Japan. Shiori Itō shares with us how she got into journalism, her studies, her pursuit of a job and how that led to her sexual assault by a fellow journalist promising to help her get a job. She takes readers into what she remembers of the assault, going to the police (being assigned a traffic cop and having to then explain it again to a detective), and all the ways the system fails victims of assault. Her goal with writing this memoir and sharing her story is to discuss trauma more openly, fix the legal system (she points out many places where a different option, type of help, and/or process could have helped her), and to end rape culture. As an American reader I couldn’t help but see the differences and similarities in our rape cultures, legal systems, and victim advocacy groups. It’s not an easy read, I spent most of it infuriated, but it’s an incredibly important read.

(TW rape/ talks of suicide, thoughts in diary, detail/ sexual harassment/ child public groping/ PTSD/ panic attacks)

This cozy mystery became a great audiobook pairing with jigsaw puzzle-making when my brain was just oozing out of my ears at the end of the work day. Hayden McCall is a teacher and blogger who goes home with a go-go dancer who accidentally kicked him in the face. After a night of just cuddling (it’s a cozy) McCall discovers that Camilo Rodriguez is no longer there, which is strange considering it’s Rodriguez’s home. Then the police knock on the door looking for Rodriguez and soon McCall is in a full blown mystery of finding where his one-night cuddle buddy has gone off to. He finds Rodriguez’s social circle and ends up joining with his friend Hollister to follow clues to figure out what was going on in Rodriguez’s life to make him leave his car abandoned and disappear. All the while McCall keeps coming up with ideas and writing blog entries—think Carrie Bradshaw but a short, redheaded gay man trying to solve a missing person’s case.

(TW mom passed away from cancer in past)

I really enjoyed this audiobook a lot. I’m a huge fan of Tamaki’s graphic novels and would also love to see this story adapted in her style and using a color story like she did for This One Summer and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me.

In Cold we get a slightly outside-the-box mystery, which I really appreciated. Todd Mayer is found naked and dead in the snow. Classmate Georgia didn’t know him but becomes obsessed with the idea of how she can relate to him and his death. Then she suddenly realizes she had recently seen him before he died… We get narration from Georgia and from deceased Todd.

Siblings: Georgia’s mom is a bestselling author of children’s books where she uses Georgia and her brother as characters. While no longer close, much of the book is Georgia trying to connect with her brother or orbiting around him as she tries to figure out who Todd was, what happened to him, and who she is.

(TW homophobia/ fatphobia/ brief mention of child predators, not graphic nor detailed)

The mother of a family has gone missing and the question is: could the father have had anything to do with it?

Siblings: We watch the relationship of four children, now adults, who were raised by tennis coaches and forced into tennis competitions growing up. They’re now all very different, struggling in their own ways, carrying grievances from childhood and now dealing with the disappearance of their mother.

(TW domestic violence/ briefly mentions past date rape, not detailed/ eating disorder/ mentions past teen having suicidal thoughts with no details/ anxiety)

This has all the fun of an is-the-house-haunted horror with all the smarts of a social thriller.

Siblings: Marigold (Mari) has a younger brother and now a younger stepsister. This newly blended family has moved to a new city to help Mari leave the past behind, but does the present mean having an evil stepsister?

(TW addiction/ past overdose mentions, not graphic/ obsessive thoughts/ past child murder mentioned, not graphic or detailed)

Ellice Littlejohn is a corporate lawyer who walks into work early one day to meet with her boss, also lover, and finds him dead. Wanting nothing to do with having to answer questions, she leaves and lets someone else find him. But the detective zeroes in on her as she’s suddenly fast tracked up the ranks. Now she has to keep herself from being the main suspect while also figuring out what actually happened, and how much danger she’s in…

Siblings: We get the past and present story of Ellice and her brother. In the past we watch them grow up with a surrogate mother as their birth mother deals with addiction and in the present we watch how the past still has its hooks in their relationship.

(TW main case questioned as suicide/ alcoholic parent/ dementia/ teen sexual assault recounted, not graphic/ child abuse/ brief mention partner abuse/ fatshaming)

Virgil Wounded Horse lives in South Dakota on the Rosebud Indian Reservation and is now responsible for his younger brother. That’s why he takes a higher paying job he would rather not touch for reasons that include that it’s his ex-girlfriend’s father hiring him. But when the case hits too close to home, he has to team up with his ex-girlfriend and the FBI to figure out what is happening on their reservation.

Siblings: Virgil is an introspective and curious person who has cleaned up his life and is now in the position of being a parent to his younger brother.

(TW addiction/ mentions suicides, one with detail/ past rapes including children mentioned, not graphic/ child death/ pedophile, crimes off page/ fat shaming)

For fans of historical mysteries, welcome to 1845, Yorkshire. A young mother has disappeared leaving only a pool of blood behind. Who will solve this case? The Brontë sisters! This works equally well for Brontë and classics fans and people who don’t care for either so long as you enjoy historical mysteries and old school detecting.

Siblings: Charlotte, Emily, and Anne all love each other while also bickering because they have totally different personalities.

(TW domestic violence/ addiction/ alludes to past statutory rape)

Here’s a mystery I like to call a “for everyone” since it never goes cozy nor dark and is a solid mystery that understands the genre allowing readers to help put together the pieces of the puzzle. Lena Scott doesn’t quite believe the story surrounding her sister’s death and she sets out to find out exactly what happened.

Siblings: Lena and Desiree are estranged half-sisters. Desiree got to grow up with a relationship with her father, while Lena did not. Now Lena has to delve into all the family issues and find her way back to her sister, even if she’s no longer alive.

(TW addiction/ speculation of suicide conversation)

Jess asks her brother Ben if she can crash with him for a bit, because as usual she’s in need. Ben isn’t ecstatic about it but surely he isn’t so upset that he just wouldn’t be at his apartment waiting for Jess like he planned? Except he’s not, and no one in the apartment complex seems to know where Ben is. So Jess starts trying to find out what happened to her brother…

Siblings: Ben and Jess are half-siblings who were separated as children in the foster care system and ended up with different lives.

(TW: diet culture, fatphobia/ brief mention past child abuse, not graphic/ potential partner abuse/ mentions past child predator, no details/ sexual harassment, flashing/ opiates/ mentions past statutory, not graphic/ date rape drug used, no assault/ stalking, obsession/ attempted suicide/ mentions past infertility/ forced prostitution/ brief mention of suicide, detail)

After Sadie’s younger sister dies, she sets out a plan for revenge only to disappear herself. We follow Sadie’s path and also a true crime podcaster who is following Sadie to find out what happened to her.

Siblings: Sadie had been raising her sister Mattie when Mattie was found dead and we get to know their relationship as Sadie sets out for revenge and as the podcaster looks into what happened.

(TW child abuse/ pedophile/ attempted suicide mentioned)

Fred and Sheila Merton are found murdered after Easter in their upstate New York home. The suspects: their three children. All claiming innocence, all wondering if the other did it.

Siblings: adult siblings who grew up wealthy who don’t get along and don’t trust each other not to be the murderer. They all look guilty.

(TW emotional abuse/ past child and domestic abuse, not graphic/ past suicide, detail)

Beth, Portia, and Eddie don’t get along and don’t even really speak to each other. And then they’re thrown into a car together, with spouses/partners, for a cross country road trip meant to relive a childhood vacation with their grandfather in order to inherit $3+ million. A thing I love about Downing is that you’re not even always sure you’re in a crime/thriller novel until she drives you off a cliff (figuratively).

Siblings: No one likes each other nor have even spoken in years. add in spouses and a clause in the will that nixes the inheritance if anyone is jailed, deviates from the plan, or doesn’t finish the trip: what can possibly go wrong?

(TW past partner abuse discussed discussions of molestation, not detailed or graphic)

If you’re a fan of mysteries, folk horror, and grew up on Scooby-Doo, you should absolutely pick this up. I think this book is also a great way for someone who has always been too scared to read horror to dip a toe in.

Twelve-year-old James and his ten-year-old sister Ava have moved from the home where they grew up in Texas to Oregon. Their abuela died shortly before the move and James and Ava are especially missing her and working their way through the grieving process. They are also in a huge prank war between each other, supported by their abuela, which their parents aren’t really fans of. As they try to find their place in this new town, James playing baseball and Ava managing the team, strange things also start to happen. It starts with creepy notes left for James which he initially thinks is Ava pranking him, but she swears it isn’t. And then they find out that the town has a history of children going missing over the years. It also doesn’t help when they start investigating who is leaving the notes and find some people to just be creepy…

I loved the sibling relationship of them fighting and pranking but also supporting each other and helping each other grieve their abuela and solve the mystery… I would love to read more of James and Ava—especially if it flips Ava to the lead.

(TW kidnapped children/ mentions past child deaths)

Drew Leclair is a 7th grader with a lot on her plate, including that her mom has run off with her school counselor. She’s dealing with bullies, has asthma, is trying to work out why she seems to only be romantically interested in fictional characters over real life humans, and she spends a lot of her spare time researching true crime.

That last bit is what makes her think she’s perfect to solve the school case: who is posting embarrassing secrets about other students? With her friends Shrey and Trissa and her true crime board, how can she fail?

I inhaled the audiobook, narrated by Devon Hales. I adored the friendships, Drew’s relationship with her father, the mystery solving, and watching the kids try to work their way through figuring out life. I really hope this is the start to a series and would love to see it age as we get to watch Drew grow up to work in criminal investigation as is her dream.

(TW fatshaming)

I will continue to read everything Jesse Q. Sutanto puts out. I love her range from dark YA (The Obsession) to fun, comedy-of-errors adult novels (Dial A for Aunties) that feature Chinese Indonesian characters and culture. While the sequel to Dial A for Aunties, Four Aunties and a Wedding, releases soon. The New Girl is more like The Obsession, although for me personally it was less dark/obsessive.

The New Girl was an audiobook that I hit play on and immediately got invested in the main character and ended up inhaling the book. Lia Setiawan has just transferred to a prep school, Draycott Academy, thanks to a full ride track scholarship. But from the second she steps on campus things aren’t great, starting with a student being literally dragged from the school. While Lia’s instinct is to go help her, the other students are just filming and laughing.

And then the bullying starts, because she’s there to take one of the track team spots and another student isn’t going to give up her place. Plus, the teacher that dragged the student out of the school is making her life difficult. There’s blackmail, a dead student, and Lia has to figure out what is going on or she’ll lose her scholarship and any chance at college…

This hit on a lot of things I like, including dark academia, a lead I was rooting for, and the balance many Americans live between being from an immigrant family and growing up in the U.S.

(TW suicide, detail/ talks about eating disorders/ disordered eating from stress, lack of money)

Technically we get two campus mysteries for the price of one since this is set in the past and present.

In the present day, Eve has been sent by her mother and stepfather to a boarding school—her stepfather has never allowed her to feel like a part of the family. She’s the new kid and the situation isn’t great, so when she gets tapped to be a part of a secret society in school, after friending a cool girl, she doesn’t question what joining the Fives may mean.

In the past, we remain in the same school but find ourselves in the early ’60s during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the panic over nuclear war. Enter a teacher who decides to have a group of students spend four days in a nuclear fall out shelter at the school as an experiment. Not all six students will make it out alive.

And in the present, anyone who dares ask or speak about the event is immediately threatened into silence…

For fans of past and present mysteries, watch as both timelines take you into two different teen girls’ lives and time periods, waiting for it all to connect.

A modern reimagining of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov set in Haven, Wisconsin with the family Chao, and their restaurant Fine Chao, at the center. When the patriarch is presumed murdered, the family is on trial… You get comedy, tragedy, a multigenerational and immigrant story, and mystery.

The sequel to Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder (Review)! This is set in the 1950s with a secret organization that works under the streets of London (think a little bit Get Smart) that this time has to stop a serial killer. But there’s also trouble amongst the organization when a letter arrives saying a new recruit is not to be trusted…

If you’re looking to start a new PI series, here you go. SJ Rook is hired as a guard on a Hollywood shoot in Harlem thinking it’ll be an easy, just annoying job. Instead, after a week of ignoring ridiculous claims of murder threats, there’s a murder on the last night of filming—whoopsie!

For cozy mystery fans! Odessa Jones is reluctant to ever believe any of her visions so she ignores her feeling about a wealthy businessman—who just hired her—being bad news. So naturally he drops dead after eating her food, making her and the friends who helped her cook the suspects.

A mystery, not about murder, that takes you into the world of a classical musician whose violin has just been stolen—a priceless violin that has two families fighting over it… (Review)

*Rings bell for dark academia fans* Lia Setiawan ends up with a full ride to a prep school based on her running skills, but things are immediately off from the second she steps foot on campus. By the time a student is found dead, she’ll have to figure out what is going on while also trying to avoid the wrath of fellow students trying to keep her from excelling.

(TW suicide, detail/ talks about eating disorders/ disordered eating bc of stress, finance)

I am a huge fan of Mariko Tamaki’s graphic novels (This One Summer; Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me) so I’m really excited to read her YA novel. We have a dead boy, a cop investigating, and a girl with only questions. This character-driven mystery is told by the dead boy leading us through the events of his life that ended with him naked and frozen in a park.

For a fun contemporary, follow along as Hayden McCall, a Seattle teacher, wakes up after a one-night stand with Camilo Rodriguez alone in Camilo’s home. Soon he discovers Camilo has gone missing. After realizing the case won’t be taken very seriousl,y he teams up with Camilo’s friends to find out what is going on.

If you like psychological mysteries/social thrillers, pick this one up. Two Black girls are best friends: Farrah has Black parents and they are currently losing their middle class financial standing; Cherish was adopted by white parents who are very wealthy. As Farrah’s home life feels like it’s crumbling around her, she starts to find a new home in Cherish’s family. But the more she tries to find a footing, the more out of control things feel…

A modern PI story with a unique-ish twist: she’s an amateur sleuth working for a detective agency that only works based on referrals and investigates online dating. Want to know if that catch you just found is really a catch? In comes Claudia Lin. But it’s not that easy: she’s still learning the job, has a client die who’s not who they said they were, and her family wants her to have a totally different life. (I’m halfway through and loving it, especially Claudia Lin’s character.)

Calling all gothic mystery fans! Lena is desperate for work, so she overlooks a strange interview to take a job with a super wealthy family with a job offering that doesn’t actually state specifically what the job is. Then Lena learns her new employer is responsible for the current demise of her family and well…revenge must be the only thing on the menu.

Another utterly delightful entry into this Victorian era series featuring the crime solving team of Veronica Speedwell, a lepidopterist, and Stoker, a natural historian. They are a grump and sunshine pairing who this time must investigate whether a missing-presumed-dead man is actually back and living or a fraud. For funskies: someone in this book never revealed a very important thing in their past and surprise! It’s back! If you want to start at the beginning, pick up A Curious Beginning.

The sequel to Arsenic and Adobo! We’re back with Lila Macapagal starting where the first book ended. She’s working on opening a coffee shop, is judging a pageant, and well it’s a cozy so she’s on murder-solving duty again. If you’re a foodie you’ll love the descriptions in this one as Lila works really hard to create new recipes and perfect old ones. If you don’t like spoilers, I’d start with the first one—but you can start here and never be lost. If you were so-so on the first one, I would still definitely give the sequel a try. If you audio, I’d pick that format. The author provides content warning at the opening of the book: “PTSD, fatphobia, fertility/pregnancy issues, predatory behavior, unresolved grief, parental death (occurred in childhood), and dismissive attitudes toward mental health.”

Our “accidental” criminals are back! Finlay Donovan should be working on finishing her next novel which she hasn’t even started yet—she’s too busy with two young kids and trying to keep her ex-husband alive when she discovers an online post that has put out a hit on him. Enter chaos, hijinks, and fun as her and her babysitter enter the world of crime to stop crime (Review). If you want to start at the beginning, pick up Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Review).

For nonfiction, crime, history, and science fans. You’ll learn about eleven poisons by looking at murder cases where said poisons were used.

A sister arrives at her brother’s apartment where he said he’d be at waiting for her only to find he’s not. No one has seen him and no one appears helpful or concerned in this apartment building. Readers watch his sister try to figure out what happened while getting to know her brother’s neighbors, all while everyone looks equally potentially guilty. The audiobook has a multicast!

TW: diet culture, fatphobia/ brief mention past child abuse, not graphic/ potential partner abuse/ mentions past child predator, no details/ sexual harassment, flashing/ opiates/ mentions past statutory, not graphic/ date rape drug used, no assault/ stalking, obsession/ attempted suicide/ mentions past infertility/ forced prostitution/ brief mention of suicide, detail)

Joe Ide, who authored the IQ series, has taken on a giant of the mystery world: Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe. Here he has reimagined the iconic detective and placed him in current day Los Angeles. And you get not one but two cases: a Hollywood starlet’s missing daughter and a custody dispute kidnapping.

For Agatha Christie fans, here’s a new reimagining of what happened during the 11 days where Agatha Christie disappeared in real life (not to be confused with Marie Benedict’s The Mystery of Mrs. Christie). In this novel the focus is on Miss Nan O’Dea, Agatha Christie’s husband’s mistress…

The story of the man convicted and sentenced to death for murdering a teenager who conned his way out of prison in the ’60s only to gain fame and fortune and attempt murder again.

From the author of Darling Rose Gold: two sisters lives split lives when one moves to an island for a sounds-like-a-cult experience that allows no contact. Six months later her sister receives an email from the “cult” threatening to expose a secret…