Category: Unusual Suspects

If you’re looking for a 2020 historical mystery release here’s one I really enjoyed that is currently $2.99 and is set in 1800, Joseon (Korea)! (Review) (TW past suicides mentioned, detail/ mentions public groping/ torture/ past child murder mentioned/ dog killed, skippable)

Here’s a true crime memoir for social science fans where Ellin reveals her story about being conned by a con man and also talks to others who have been victims and looks at how our society creates and promotes liars and cheaters. And it’s $2.99! (Review) (TW suicide/ rape/ briefly mentions cases with pedophile)

Here’s a translated suspense novel for literary fans about a married couple, their facade, and lies… Currently it’s $3.99! (I don’t remember TW, sorry.)

I think Tana French fans would like this character-focused procedural about sisters on opposite sides of the law. Currently $4.99 (Review) (TW drug addiction/ rape, including statutory not on page)

Yolanda Vance, a lawyer whose firm got raided and was hired by the FBI, quickly learns she’s wanted for undercover work she’s not trained for because the FBI wants to infiltrate a teen activist group they’ve labeled as extremist. Vance ends up taking the assignment and her own views are challenged as she gets to know the group’s members, falls in love, and learns her life is in grave danger… I’m a big fan of de León and will continue looking forward to her work. (Review) (TW drug overdose, talk of addiction/ brief past mention of child-on-child attempted sexual assault)

Here’s a historical mystery with a little steampunk. In 1958 there are secret tunnels below London, and deep below the city you will find Miss Brickett’s Investigations & Inquiries–a team of detectives solving the crimes that Scotland Yard has been unable to solve. Okay, how do I go work for them?!

The third in the British procedural series that follows Detective Constable Cat Kinsella, who starts the series off with wondering if her father is responsible for the missing teenage girl case from almost two decades prior…Now she’s got a serial killer case and her superiors are still unaware that her family isn’t the most up-and-up bunch.

A new entry into the anthology noir series from Akashic Books. These are great to pick up for crime readers who want to find new authors to follow. “The stories that you will read in this collection highlight all things Accra, everything that the city was and is—the remaining vestiges of colonialism, the pride of independence, the nexus of indigenous tribes and other groups from all over the world, the tension between modernity and traditionalism, the symbolism and storytelling both obvious and coded, the moral high ground, the duplicity and deceit, the most basic human failings laid bare alongside fear and love and pain and the corrupting desire to have the very things you are not meant to have.“

This is the sequel to Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders (Review), which followed an amateur sleuth during WWII, Air Raid Warden Poppy Redfern. Now, in 1942, she’s a scriptwriter at the London Crown Film Unit. When her film project has her witness the death of a female fighter pilot, which is labeled an accident, Poppy puts on her sleuth cap again.

I actually didn’t know this was the start to a series when I read it but I assume now that it’ll follow more cases picked up by Zara Kaleel: a former barrister who currently works for Artemis House as a sexual violence advisor. This is a legal thriller that follows an entire rape case, from accusation through to the end of the legal process. (Review) (TW rape/ brief mention and details of past suicide attempt/ brief female to male partner abuse/ ableism and bullying/ brief recount of past animal cruelty/ addiction/ Islamophobia/ anti-Semite trope comment)

If you’re looking for a Swedish procedural, here you go. Fifteen years ago Detective Inspector Embla Nyström’s best friend Lollo disappeared. Now she’s just received a call from her, meaning she must still be alive. But then a man is found murdered and it’s the man Nyström remembers having seen Lollo last with…

This is the sequel to Death in the Family (Review), which is a mystery set on a remote island where a family member is missing and the two detectives are now trapped on the island during a storm with the family full of secrets. Now Senior Investigator Shana Merchant is back, but this time it’s her past that takes center stage, as her abductor (previous to the first book) has shown up again…

This isn’t connected on Goodreads as a sequel but it’s the same character, Killian Delaney, from Seven Crows, so I assume this is the sequel. Delaney is one of those characters that is seriously tough and takes no shit and will fight to save anyone she loves. And now she’s a part of the Network, which is “a group of well-funded individuals who help the weakest among us.”

Here’s a memoir that falls into the true crime category as Trethewey, a Pulitzer Prize–winning poet, writes about her mother being murdered by her stepfather. It’s currently $3.99.

If you like to read the classics over the holidays here is one of Christie’s best mysteries–trying to catch a serial killer–currently on sale for $1.99!

If you’re a fan of small-town unsolved mysteries here’s one currently on sale for $1.99! (Review)

As soon as I got an early copy of this 2021 mystery title written by an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians I started reading it. The voice from the beginning grabbed me and took me away and it has one of my favorite things ever: an elderly person that says whatever they want whenever they want and is hilarious. I can’t wait to spend the weekend curled up with this book.

I’m finally getting to all the nonfiction audiobooks I’ve been dying to read, including Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker and Sissy. Both are wildly different from each other while also being about the treatment of marginalized voices and both are excellent books with great narrations

Three generations of Black women, a heist, and revenge–what more could you want?! I’ve been a big fan of Roxane Gay’s work since I read her essay collection Bad Feminist, and have since made sure to read all her books, including her graphic novels/comics which I think started with Black Panther: World of Wakanda.

The Banks gave me everything I love in a heist story: the origin story, drama, revenge, thievery, and that ride-or-die mentality. The comic gives us past and present pages, so we see both how this family–a grandmother (Clara), daughter (Cora), and granddaughter (Celia)–got into the business of theft along with where they are now. Celia is pissed when she’s passed up for a promotion at work and proposes the go-big-or-go-home heist of a lifetime: she decides the family she wanted nothing to do with can now instead help her relieve her firm’s biggest client of all his money.

The problems: while Clara and Cora have made a lifelong career out of stealing, Celia has not and turned her back on her family because of it; Celia is hiding all of this from her coworker boyfriend; Celia is in way over her head; and there’s a detective following Cora and Clara…

I generally read an entire graphic novel volume in one sitting, but I was enjoying this so much that I actually sat down with one section a night so it would last longer. If you’re a fan of heists, graphic novels, and a single contained story, enjoy! (TW: one panel of possible sexual assault, quickly stopped)

If you’re a fan of revenge fantasies and Dexter type characters, here’s a fun thriller. We follow two stories at once, both at Gorman University. One is that of Scarlett Clark, an English professor at the university whose side—and very secret—job is to pick the worst man on campus (generally a predator) every single year and kill him, literally.

We also get to know Carly Schiller, a freshman who has not come into her own yet but is finally away from her oppressive father. She finds herself with a popular, self assured roommate–everything she is not.

While Scarlet hunts and finds herself getting too close to being found out—and dealing with the university bureaucracy and her personal life—Carly tries to protect her roommate from the fallout of an assault while trying to find her voice and the person she wants to be.

You can look forward to this becoming a TV series with Fargo tapped to write the pilot! (TW rape/ past parent abuse mentioned/ murders covered up to look like suicide discussed)

If you’re looking for a whodunnit mystery mixed with a courtroom drama–where everyone’s secrets come out–this was one of last year’s best crime novels and it is currently $2.99! (Review) (TW child abuse/ suicide/ sexual assault)

If you need a serious break from the cold weather how about it’s-so-hot-you’ll-die weather? This is a great remote family mystery where the atmosphere feels like a character itself and it’s currently $2.99! (Review) (TW domestic abuse/ child abuse/ date rape/ suicide) I recommend all of Harper’s crime novels, and if you’ve already read them all and enjoyed them, her upcoming 2021 The Survivors is totally worth the prebuy/having your library get it.

For a recent psychological thriller release for fans of dual POV Feeney’s latest is currently $2.99!

Prepare to armchair travel to Golden Cove, New Zealand in this slow burn suspense–with some romance–that is a missing person mystery. After eight years away, classical pianist Anahera Rawiri has returned a widow to her hometown. Being that she’d fled as soon as she could to London, her return is not something she’s excited about, but she definitely wasn’t expecting it to be as bad as having to look into a missing person case.

Which is what happens when she discovers that the beloved young woman Miriama Hinewai disappeared while out for a run. After searches turn up nothing, the disappearance begins to remind the community that over ten years ago three women disappeared in one summer, which you know always means we’re gonna start seeing secrets get unburied. And that bit of romance I mentioned comes when Anahera starts helping the only detective, Will Gallagher, who is an outsider with his own past in the mostly Maori community.

As a completely personal reader taste I am never up for any level of angst, and while this did have a low level of that feeling, the atmosphere and characters far outweighed that for me. This was a really enjoyable read in a great setting. I am definitely looking forward to Nalini Singh’s 2021 thriller Quiet In Her Bones, which is set in an exclusive cul-de-sac in New Zealand. (Okay, so apologies because my notes got garbled for this book but I’m pretty sure these are the correct TWs: mentions domestic violence, including past with detail/ mentions past miscarriage/ animal cruelty/ deals with predator, rape cases, not on page or graphic or detailed)

An absolutely delightful and fun start to a mystery series that is perfect for fans of Flavia de Luce and Enola Holmes. Myrtle Hardcastle is 12 years old in Victorian Swinburne, England with a passion for criminal science and knowledge of the law thanks to her lawyer father.

Myrtle is hilarious, nosy, and passionate, with a governess, Miss Judson, who is working on her being a proper young lady. But for Myrtle that involves snooping, lots of arguing, science, and refusing to back down on saying that her elderly neighbor was murdered. Enter antics, a cat, detecting, toxicology reports, false confession, and a child determined to get to the truth and stand up for what she believes. I not only loved Myrtle but also getting to watch her relationship with her father and governess. This is one of those books that is thoroughly enjoyable for children, adults, and all types of readers. I highly recommend the audiobook format with narrator Bethan Rose Young’s soothing voice–she does such a lovely job as spirited Myrtle. And there’s a sequel, How to Get Away with Myrtle, that I can’t wait to curl up with.

If you like fictional serial killers and are looking for a new FBI lead series Maldonado’s new release is $4.99!

If you want a really good start to a historical mystery series that works for fans of cozy mysteries definitely grab Yu’s start to the Crown Colony series for $3.99! (Review) (TW suicide)

This is a recent series based on the graphic novel series, of the same title, and both formats are absolutely delightful because Goldie Vance as a teen detective is a treasure. The first book, Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit, did much more character and world set up while this book (coming in January 2021) starts with the mystery. Once again it hinges on a fun set up where the hotel she works at is having an event: this time with magicians! Enter mystery, a date, friendship, and shenanigans for a fun book to get lost in. I really hope this series will continue with a new release a year.

My need for romance books in this garbage fire of a year continues and the audiobook of this is giving me life–pastelitos, Miami, needing to move on and find yourself, memories of abuelita, family, Espanglish and, ugh, I don’t want it to end.

And here are some upcoming crime books I’ve gotten my hands on early copies of that I am really excited about. Dead of Winter is the third in an action packed PI series set in Mexicantown, Detroit.

Deanna Raybourn has another novel in her Veronica Speedwell series, An Unexpected Peril, and I squealed as it loaded into my ereader.

And you know I’m a sucker for remote mysteries where one by one everyone is going to die so I am super excited for the upcoming Pushkin Vertigo release of The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji, Ho-Ling Wong (Translator).

This true crime memoir did not get the attention it deserves and I’m hoping now it finally will. Ronald Kitchen was a low level drug dealer in Chicago in the ’80s which would have made his arrest make sense if it had been for selling drugs. But it wasn’t. Instead the police decided he was a murderer and tortured him until he confessed. This is his story about how the justice system is an injust system for those it’s designed against. I highly recommend the audiobook. (Review) (TW torture/ suicide)

Fans of literature, history, biographies, and bananapants stories: this one is for you. Harper Lee, the author of To Kill A Mockingbird, assisted in Truman Capote’s research for In Cold Blood; she also wanted to write her own true crime book about a preacher accused of murdering people for their insurance money. He was then murdered by one of his victim’s relatives and the same lawyer took both cases. I know! (Review)

This is the rare case of a YA nonfiction book, which I really wish there were more of. This is about a 16-year-old Black boy who set fire to the skirt of a non-binary teen on Oakland Public Transportation. The book takes a compassionate look at both teens and their lives and also takes readers into the juvenile justice system.

This one’s for fans of the outdoors and true crime by journalists. I’m currently reading this book and it’s heartbreaking to see the families and loved ones of missing people deal with the unknown, while the parts about the procedures and searchers are fascinating.

Investigative reporter Somaiya takes a look at the 20-year-old unsolved case of diplomat and UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld. He was found dead in the jungle shortly after boarding a plane in the Congo with an ace of spades tucked in his collar. While Hammarskjöld was known for his dedication to peace, many wanted to see him fail. This wasn’t a story on my radar and I’m really looking forward to reading this.

For $4.99 you can read Roxane Gay’s crime graphic novel about a family of female thieves in Chicago. Yes, please!

One of my favorite crime novels of the year is currently on sale for $1.99, which is absolutely a ridiculous price and you should 100% run to it. (Review) (TW child, domestic abuse/ child deaths)

Another fantastic crime novel at an absurd price of $1.99, this was one of last year’s best crime novels and would have been one of the best no matter what year it published. (Review)

If you want a mystery thriller for horror fans to keep you up at night, then you want this book which is only $4.99! (Review) (TW suicide, including murder suicide and assisted/ graphic violence/ stalking)

Silvia Moreno-Garcia has finally gotten the recognition she should have gotten a long time ago for her new Gothic suspense/horror novel Mexican Gothic (so good!). But she has great work in many genres: for slow-burn suspense you have Untamed Shore (Review); she has one of my favorite vampire novels with her urban fantasy Certain Dark Things (Review); for a coming-of-age with some fabulism start with her first novel Signal to Noise set in Mexico City in the ’80s; for romantic historical fantasy you’ll want to pick up The Beautiful Ones; and for historical fantasy inspired by Mexican folklore grab Gods of Jade and Shadow.

Alyssa Cole put out her first social thriller this year, knocking it out of the park, but she was already an established romance author. And because romance is a vast genre, with many different types that Cole also writes in, there is definitely lots to explore: for a contemporary romance series that starts with an African prince the heroine mistakes for an Internet scam, pick up A Princess in Theory; if you want to see an author actually pull off a historical romance set during the Civil War (spies!), start with An Extraordinary Union; and if you need some romance in your dystopia, start with Radio Silence.

Lilliam Rivera is currently writing the middle grade series Goldie Vance based off of the graphic novel series. But she’s also an essayist and has YA novels that are contemporary, dystopian, and magical realism: The Education of Margot Sánchez is a great coming-of-age novel with a fantastic voice; the dystopian Dealing in Dreams explores family, addiction, and gender roles with a girl gang; Never Look Back is an Afro-Latinx retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice Greek myth; and you can find her essay in the anthology Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore Our Radical Anatomy.

Laila Lalami wrote a beautiful crime novel, The Other Americans, for fans of literary novels that has a hit-and-run mystery running throughout it (Review). But she also has a historical fiction novel that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, The Moor’s Account. Her latest work is nonfiction, Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America. And she also writes short stories, Gods and Soldiers: The Penguin Anthology of Contemporary African Writing. She has a deep catalog to dive into for anyone looking for beautiful writing.

In the last few years Caleb Roehrig seems to have been writing up a storm. Not only does he have three YA mysteries–Death Prefers Blondes (Review); White Rabbit (Review); Last Seen Leaving–but he also has a fantasy novel for vampire fans, The Fell Of The Dark and the start to a horror series for werewolf and Riverdale fans, A Werewolf in Riverdale. For fans of short stories he is a contributor to a few anthologies: Life Is Short and Then You Die: Mystery Writers of America Presents First Encounters with Murder; Out Now: Queer We Go Again!; His Hideous Heart. All the work I’ve read so far is both fun and heartfelt and I always look forward to what may be coming next.