Category: Unusual Suspects

Here’s a mystery book that isn’t about murder, has a fantastic narrator for the audiobook (JD Jackson), and takes you into the world of a classical musician.

I enjoyed this book so much! First, because I loved going into Ray McMillian’s life and world as a Black classical musician. Secondly, because I love JD Jackson’s voice and the audiobook plays little bits of music between the sections that were just lovely and the right amount to give a taste without making you feel like you wanted to fast forward.

We start with Ray McMillian having his violin stolen before the international Tchaikovsky Competition—a massive deal!—and not just any violin but a priceless Stradivarius. Ray immediately thinks one of two families must be responsible for the theft, one of the families being his own (I know!). From there we watch as Ray in the present has to find a way to continue practicing for this life-changing opportunity while also helping investigators and doing his own sleuthing to get back his violin. We also watch in the past how he acquires the violin and has to face immeasurable obstacles in order to continue on his path of wanting to become a professional musician.

I loved Ray, and he is a much better person than I’d have been in many situations, and greatly enjoyed getting to know him. If you’re looking for something that isn’t violent (except for a historical letter that depicts slavery), and want to get taken into the world of classical music, pick this one up. Bonus: that the author is writing from experience and I recommend reading the author’s note at the end.

(TW cancer death/ recounts cruel violence against enslaved people)

Speaking of author’s writing from experience: Dolly Parton takes us into the world of country music as AnnieLee Keyes, a spitfire young woman who is determined to make it in the industry. But she’s going to need a lot more than talent—something she has plenty of—not only because the industry is difficult but because danger keeps finding her at every turn… We get to watch the country music industry through the eyes of AnnieLee Keyes as she tries to make it and through Ruthanna Ryder, an established queen of country. We also get Dolly Parton’s humor and music as the book is filled with songs written just for the novel—and Parton will release an album to go with the 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)

We’ve done classical music and country music, and now it’s time for the world of hip hop! I went with the audiobook for this one which had a great narrator, Shayna Small, and was a one day listen for me at just under seven hours.

It’s funny that the book starts with a legal author’s note about it being completely fictitious since it name drops a lot of hip hop stars and events, which I found fun and a bit of a trip down memory lane.

D Hunter watches journalist Dwayne Robinson die in SoHo, clutching a tape. Not certain the police are doing their job, he decides to look into the murder himself, especially after finding out that Robinson was working on a book and maybe that is what got him killed. From there Hunter follows the trail and listens as people point him in the direction of conspiracy theories of the government wanting to contain hip hop…

(TW death questioned as suicide)

I have read, and will continue to read, every single book by Tiffany D Jackson and I’m thrilled to say she has two entries into this theme. In Let Me Hear A Rhyme, Jackson basically writes a love letter to Brooklyn while taking readers into the ’90s music scene. When Jasmine’s older brother Steph is murdered, she comes up with a plan with his two best friends to pretend Steph is still alive in order to get the record contract he was about to sign. Jasmine’s plan is to use the money to hire a PI to solve who murdered her brother, but grief, reality, and danger aren’t going to make this easy.

In Grown, Jackson takes readers into the world of R&B highlighting the dangers for young stars when they meet predators in the industry out to groom them–if this sounds like a ripped-from-the-headlines case, it is, and it’s really well done. (TW sexual assault and attempted, on page/ partner abuse/ emotional abuse, manipulation)

This cozy mystery series is mixed in with a few things to create a delightful reading experience. We get the American living in an Irish countryside. We have a ghost. Murders that need solving. And music, of course: Gethsemane Brown is a classical musician hired to turn a group of schoolboys into a professional orchestra. But she’s going to have her hands full with this pesky ghost—the original owner of the cottage she’s living in—who needs her to clear his name from accusations that he killed his wife and himself. This is completely set in our world with just the sprinkling of a ghost, who becomes a friend to Brown and makes for fun scenes when she needs to talk to him in public while appearing to not be talking to herself.

This is one of those books that is not fantasy nor magical but it feels like it is because there are so many fun elements, like hidden staircases and living in a treehouse.

Tempest Raj was a great magician with her own Las Vegas show until an accident happened, followed by accusations, and now she’s back home living with her dad and grandparents and trying to figure out what to do next. In the meantime her father has offered her a job on his crew, which builds fun magical things in homes like walls that move when you pull on a certain book on the bookshelf and hidden rooms. And that’s how she discovers a dead body in a wall that looks just like her! Turns out it’s her assistant/body double from her Vegas act and that just opens up a whole lot of questions… starting with: is the family curse that supposedly claimed her mother and aunt’s lives now after Tempest? Or is someone out to get her? Tempest will have to use her stage knowledge and magic to figure out how the body got there, and more importantly who is behind it.

This is filled with a loving blended Scottish and Indian family, delicious food, secret hideaways, magic, a second chance friendship, and “locked room” mystery solving. If you want to get lost into a book and envy homes with treehouses and secret reading nooks, curl up with this one.

(TW brief mention of past suicide assumption, detail/ past domestic violence mentions/ stalker)

This starts with a woman telling the reader she is going to kill her husband (the exact moment I was all in) and then proceeds with a past and present timeline to reveal all.

The Amazing Arden is a female illusionist in the early 1900s known for such amazing acts as sawing a man in half, until one night her husband is found murdered on stage and she’s disappeared. Depending on who you’re rooting for, lucky/unlucky for her, police officer Virgil Holt captures her. Holt is hiding a recent disability, terrified that he’ll be fired because of it, and views catching Arden as his ticket to keeping his job. But Arden swears up and down on everything that she is innocent and did not kill her husband. So while handcuffed to a chair, Arden tells Holt the story of her life, including how she became an illusionist, and how she came to be running away from the murder of her husband.

Past and present timelines only work for me when both timelines offer me enough interesting stories that I don’t feel like it needs to hurry up already so we can get back to the mystery. I was always interested in Arden’s story, from childhood to present, but especially when she first stepped into a traveling performance and how she worked her way up. Learning about all the tricks and illusions in the 1800s was fun, and I loved the did-she-or-didn’t-she running element.

(TW cutting/ attempted child sexual assault/ animal cruelty/ brief mention murder suicide headline/ mentions sexual assault/ stalking/ kidnapping)

This is the middle grade series adaptation of the graphic novel series that follows the fantastic character Goldie Vance. Goldie works as a valet at a Florida beach resort that her father works at and her best friend. Also, the resort has a PI on staff—this would make me not want to stay there? Like how much crime goes on here that you need a PI on staff?! But for story purposes, excellent! And of course Goldie wants to be the PI, which she technically is since she always inserts herself into investigations to figure out what is really going on.

In this case a magician’s convention comes to the resort and Goldie not only has to solve the mystery of who is stealing the magicians’ set items, but there’s also someone trying to solve the mystery away from Goldie—like she always does to the in-house detective. This is a fun book with a lot of magicians, mystery, crime solving, a first date, friendship, magic tricks, and chaos.

If you want full character development (and don’t mind mysteries starting halfway into the book) pick up Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit, but you can totally start with this book if you want the mystery from the start and a hotel crawling with magicians.

This is a great read for fans of literary mystery/crime (think Celeste Ng) that I found incredibly fascinating as it takes you into the Japanese legal system.

It’s a beautiful and heartbreaking book about love, loss, secrets, and the justice system that focuses on exploring the humanity of the situation. Sumiko is training as a lawyer when a strange phone call sends her down a long path of discovering what exactly happened to her mother years ago—she’d been lied to about her mother’s death being caused by a car accident.

The book is split into multiple points of view and time periods: in present day Tokyo, Sumiko gains access to the case files of her mother’s murder; in the past, Sumiko’s mother, Rina falls in love with a wakaresaseya—the man Sumiko’s father hired to seduce Rina so that he could use the affair to file for divorce and take what he wants.

I found the dive into Japanese culture and legal system fascinating (including how it was possible for Sumiko to go all this time without having been contacted about her mother’s murder; lawyer’s mentality; punishments, including capital punishment), and thoroughly enjoyed my time getting to know Rina and Sumiko, especially faced with difficult decisions. I went with the audiobook, narrated by Janet Song and Emily Woo Zeller, which really made me feel immersed in the character’s lives.

(TW forced kiss/ brief-ish recount of domestic abuse)

The sequel to Finlay Donovan Is Killing It contains just as much fun, chaos, and laughs with a bonus that felt like it had more Vero!

Finlay continues her knack for coming up with solutions that will only cause way more trouble than solve anything, which sucks for her but is fun for readers. This time a forum that lists crappy men, and seeks help in payback, leads Finlay to discover someone has put a hit out on her ex-husband. She may not like the guy, but he is the father of her two young kids, and she’s not actually a killer–just a sometimes pretend, accidental one.

So her and Vero, her kid’s nanny who has now become a good friend, go through all kinds of ridiculous situations to try and stop the hit, all while bringing along their own baggage. Finlay is also once again on deadline for writing a book that she has once again not even started.

I especially love Vero’s character who drops some hilarious one-liners, totally earned aggression, and honestly would be the actual competent criminal between the two. This was a super enjoyable listen, narrated by Angela Dawe, that was exactly what I needed during the world’s continued state of constant stress.

(TW chat board that posts about men who are sexual harassers and assaulters, mentions brief posts but not graphic)

Laura Coates takes readers into how our justice system is designed to intentionally be unjust for marginalized persons, including Black and Brown communities. She was a prosecutor for the Department of Justice and uses her job’s environment, cases, and experience to show examples of how the system works differently for different people. This one is high on my TBR.

For cozy mystery fans who want to drool over ice cream flavors, Collette is back with the third in this yummy, Ohio-set series. Bronwyn Crewse is enjoying life as an ice cream shop owner and now an ice cream truck owner, but it’s a cozy mystery so of course someone gets poisoned and you know who they’re gonna blame…

If you want to be the detective, this one is for you. The reader only knows that someone was murdered and someone is in prison, but did they do it? You get all the legal documents, post it notes, texts, emails, and crime reports to figure it out—if you’re up for the challenge!

If you like Japanese crime novels, psychological stories, revenge, that feeling of maybe nothing is as it seems, and want a quick read, this one is for you.

This is a reissue with a new introduction by Michael Nava that is the start to a classic mystery series. At the time of its first publishing in the ’70s, it was really rare for the lead character in a mystery to be gay (if you’re interested in the history of sodomy laws)–and sadly this is still rare in the crime genre. We follow Dave Brandstetter, who is an insurance investigator. In the first book he’s tasked with a death claim after a car went off a bridge during a storm. The catch is there is no body, so he must figure out what actually happened… The next two books in the series have also now been reissued: Death Claims and Troublemaker.

(TW past suicidal thoughts, detail/ questions whether main case could be suicide/ fatphobia/ racism/ ableism/ statutory)

This series is for fans of police procedurals, FBI, fictional serial killers, thrillers, and partnerships with potential for romance. It all began when as a child when Ellery Hathaway was rescued from a serial killer by FBI agent Reed Markham. They had no other contact until a boat load of years later when Hathaway is a cop and they team up on a case, which they keep doing. If you like entertaining thrillers that feel like you should make a tub of popcorn to go with them, pick up this series which starts with The Vanishing Season (Review)!

I can’t believe we’re already at #8 in this delicious cozy mystery series. The series started with Lana Lee moving back home and working in her family’s restaurant which quickly lead to her having to solve a murder. Lucky for readers she just attracts all the dead bodies. In this case after agreeing to help host a speed dating contest at the restaurant, it turns out her friend’s match is murdered. Sucks for them, fun for us! If you want to start at the beginning grab Death by Dumpling.

Here’s the start to a new procedural series for fans of fictional serial killers and the trope where the lead character’s life (past) and mystery are going to overlap, and their personal life has got problems—including a brother living with her that she doesn’t get along with. Sergeant Riley Fisher is put on the case of a woman found murdered in a field of corn (Iowa), only to realize she was once friends with the victim…

For fans of Samantha Downing, here’s a dive into two best friend’s lives, exploring a past and recent incident connected to both of them… (Review)

Here’s a crime novel set in the late ’90s that follows a group of strippers, one of their daughters, and the detectives. Samantha is driving home one of the new dancers when an accident leaves one dead and the other missing… You follow the investigation from the detective’s point of view, fellow dancers, and also get to know Samantha.

(TW domestic abuse/ past parent dementia/ past accidental toddler death/ rape/ mentions past accidental dog death)

For fans of fictional true crime authors and multiple storylines: a true crime author who has escaped her life to live in a remote cabin and focus on a case ends up finding a young child out in the snow; a mother and daughter living in one room seemingly always waiting for the patriarch to return; a family of four with two teenagers, the son acting out…

Backpage.com was the world’s largest sex trafficking operation whose ads regularly contained minors and people forced into sex trade. Maggy Krell, the lead prosecutor in taking down the site, tells her life story (part memoir) and the case that took down Backpage (true crime).

For fans of Rachel Caine’s Stillhouse Lake, fictional serial killers, and popcorn thrillers–I inhaled this audiobook. Chloe Davis is a medical psychologist whose father was found guilty of murdering teenage girls when she was a tween. Now as an adult she’s moved herself as far away from that as possible so of course the killing starts again and she has to figure out what is happening…

(TW cutting discussion/ recounts past suicide attempt, detail/ talk of pedophile, no details/ child abuse/ domestic violence/ briefly mentions past miscarriage/ suicidal thoughts, detail)

I love that Hur always takes us to a time period and place I never see in the crime genre (probably any genre?). This one especially works for fans of royalty, intrigue, medical dramas, and secrets. We’re in the mid-1700s Joseon-era Korea, inside a palace where a nurse becomes embroiled in a mystery to save a fellow nurse, her mentor, from torture and execution.

Hyeon and her friend Jieun are both eighteen, daughters of concubines, friends, and working as palace nurses. After a group of women are murdered and Hyeon’s mentor is taken into custody, she decides she must investigate–especially being one of the few people who knows the Crown Prince had a decoy that night. Not an easy feat but she has her medical training to help and Jieun’s half-cousin, who is a new police inspector. The more Hyeon investigates, the more danger she places herself and those around her in…

I really enjoyed the voice, the palace setting, the politics, the medical information, and the underlining possible romance buildup here. I continue to look forward to June Hur’s books.

(TW torture, police brutality/ mentions of childbirth deaths, not graphic)

Lisa Lutz wrote The Spellman series, which I love, so this was an automatic grab for me. It’s not zany like The Spellman’s, and feels very much like a hit for Samantha Downing fans, which made for a nice surprise to get another well-written yet different type of crime book from Lutz. What I mean by “for Samantha Downing fans” is it has that feeling throughout that even when something crime related isn’t happening, you’re just waiting, even if you don’t know why you’re waiting or for what. And with that said, I want to note that I grabbed the audiobook knowing not a single thing about it and really enjoyed watching how things unfolded. I may be giving away some things below that aren’t in the book summary, so if you like surprises skip the next part and just grab the book.

A thing I found super interesting about this book was that it almost feels like it’s set up like a domestic thriller focused on a couple, except they aren’t a couple. It’s a friendship. A real friendship. And I never get to read about men and women who are really friends and it’s not a setup for something more, or suddenly reveals that it once was more etc which is something I loved about this book. The friends are Owen and Luna. They met in college when Luna was having a seizure. Luna is super reserved, keeps her cards to her vest and Owen is from a wealthy family, a seemingly all around normal dude who’s just never really content.

In the present Owen’s wife is found murdered. In the past Owen is also linked to a woman’s death. In the present we watch as the police try to unravel what happened to Owen’s wife, why Luna found her, and why Owen seems so strange during interviews. In the past we watch Owen and Luna’s friendship, and get to know who they really are…

This was my first page-turner of the year, and I really enjoyed watching all the pieces come together as I got to know Owen and Luna.

(TW domestic violence, only on page for a brief moment/ seizures)