Category: Unusual Suspects

Now in paperback!

For fans of historical novels, journalist leads, and family mysteries!

Past: In 1929, carpenter Robert Lee Harrington, his young daughter, and his pregnant wife move to Birmingham, Alabama, to start a new life.

Present: Meghan McKenzie is working at the Detroit Free Press when she pitches a new story based on her own family — her great-grandfather’s murder. She doesn’t have anything to go on other than the age he died at and that he was a woodworker, so Meghan travels to Birmingham to research her article and her family…but not everyone is welcoming. Past and present storylines slowly unfold, revealing answers and increasing in danger.

The audiobook format is a great choice if you like having a narrator for each time period: Jade Wheeler and Ronald Peet.

For fans of fun, clever historical mysteries (Victorian) with an opposites attract pairing and great banter!

Veronica, a lepidopterist, and her partner Stoker, a natural historian, have once again walked right into a mystery. Stoker has been commissioned to place a mechanism in a life-size waxwork so that it appears to breathe, but he makes the horrifying discovery that it is, in fact, a dead woman and not a waxwork. I know! Veronica and Stoker have to not only figure out who the woman was, but how she came to be preserved to look like a wax statue.

I continue to adore this series, reading each book the second I can get my hands on it. Raybourn’s series has not lost any quality and continues to absolutely delight.

If you want to start at the beginning, pick up A Curious Beginning!

For fans of journalist leads and solving missing person cases!

Jordan Manning is a Chicago news reporter who is now even more known after solving what started out as a missing girl case. It’s why Shelly comes to Jordan: her sister Marla disappeared after leaving her kid at school. She knows her sister Marla would never leave without her child, and she’s staying with Shelly after having left her verbally abusive husband. Jordan is once again on a case!

If you want to start at the beginning of the series, pick up As the Wicked Watch!

For fans of fictional true crime podcasts, hilarious grandma, sarcasm, and rooting for a main character who doesn’t know if they are a murderer or not!

Lucy and Savvy grew up best friends in a small Texas town — until a handful of years ago, while in their twenties, Savvy was murdered, and Lucy was found covered in blood with amnesia. Many are certain Lucy killed Savvy, but Lucy herself has no idea. After her life in L.A. implodes, she finally accepts her spitfire of a grandma’s invitation to come home to visit, and that’s where she finds the host of a true crime podcast digging into Lucy’s story. The question is, who will get to the truth first?

I inhaled the galley for this one last year and thought it would be one of the best mysteries of 2024. It’s paced really well, with dark humor and plenty of twists.

(TW brief diet culture/ domestic violence/ side character alcoholism/ brief recount that alludes to non-consenting)

Now in paperback!

For fans of music, dual POV and timelines, and historical fiction!

The Delaney Foundation has found an unknown score by the famous composer Frederick Delaney, so they call in an expert on Delaney’s work, Bern Hendricks. He’s overjoyed to work with the foundation in authenticating the piece, but the deeper he looks into it, the more questions he has and the less thrilled the foundation is about Bern’s research…This is more of a mystery if you don’t read the publisher’s summary.

If you haven’t already read Slocumb’s debut, and enjoy theft mysteries, definitely also pick up The Violin Conspiracy!

For fans of atmospheric, character-driven crime novels, and revenge!

This is the sequel to The Searcher: you can start here and not be lost because French gives you all the info you need, but if you don’t want the first novel spoiled, start there.

American Cal Hooper is still not treated as a local in a rural Irish village he retired to, but he’s fitting in a bit better. He now has a girlfriend, Lena, and he’s continued to mentor Trey, a local teen who has been learning how to woodwork and restore furniture. Then, Trey’s absent dad shows up with a wealthy business partner and a whole plan to find gold on their lands. Cal is a retired cop, so he knows trouble and criminals and is immediately on guard. He has to dance delicately, though, because this isn’t his town, and the locals are very clear on that. The longer Trey’s father and his business partner stay, the more the town is in a frenzy over whether to join in the gold search or not, and the more fractures start to show in relationships. It’s only a matter of time before there’s a murder, and anyone seeking revenge is ready to take their chance…

Any year that a new Tana French novel comes out is a good year.

(TW past domestic, child abuse)

For fans of estranged couples coming together to solve a case, a Colorado setting, and missing persons cases!

Olivia Blake and Brandon Hall are divorced; their marriage not surviving after their eight-year-old daughter became a missing persons case four years ago. Now Brandon finds two harmed kids in a broken-down car, and Olivia is the doctor on call. Focusing on separate parts of the mystery — Brandon looking for connections to his own child’s case and Olivia trying to care for Jane Doe — they’ll have to face their own grief while getting answers.

For fans of funny books where the lead keeps accidentally finding themselves involved in crime!

Finlay Donovan is a writer always struggling with a current manuscript, a mother of two young kids, and a divorcée — but unable to shake her annoying ex-husband completely from meddling in her life. She also keeps finding herself in the crosshairs of criminals, ultimately choosing to commit some crimes herself to get away, partnered with her kids’ babysitter, who is always quick with a hilarious one-liner. This time around, Finlay and Vero need to go to Atlantic City to free the love of Vero’s life, who has been kidnapped, but since they can’t say why they are really going on this “girls trip,” they end up having to bring along the kids, Finlay’s mom, and her ex-husband. What could go wrong? For one thing, a hotel room with two dead men and Finlay and Vero once again up to their eyeballs in heaps of trouble. Did I mention Finlay is now dating a cop who works with her sister, and he’s shown up in Atlantic City…?

This series works really well for fans of comedy of errors/hijinks with a good mix of heart and crime that rides dead center between cozy and dark.

Fans of audiobook reading should be delighted by Angela Dawe’s ability to weave through characters, including the kids, without tipping into annoying voices.

If you want to start at the beginning, pick up Finlay Donovan is Killing It!

Pishima, a child bride who wasn’t allowed to remarry, is determined to spend her afterlife making the Mitra family pay for it. She recruits young Somlata to guard her box of gold, but things may not go as expected. And where does Boshon fit into it?

When two young artists meet in a London pub, they seem destined to be together. But that doesn’t mean that the world will let them stay together.

Upon a friend’s death, librarian Jasmine Ware finds herself involved in a mystery revolving around an artifact from the ancient library at Timbuktu. She must work with Air Force veteran Torr Noble in order to find her way out of this chaos…and save her life.

For fans of contemporary family novels with a missing person thread running through (resolved at the end)!

This was one of my favorite books of 2023, and it’s now out in paperback!

In high school, Ruthy Ramirez disappeared after track practice and has been a missing person case since. We get to know the women in her family, her mom and two sisters, their childhood and adult lives, as they’ve carried the weight of Ruthy’s disappearance with them. Now, one of Ruthy’s sisters swears she recognizes Ruthy on TV — in a reality show, no less — and they’re determined to find that woman and see if it’s their Ruthy. This is one of those genre-blended novels that shows the weight and aftermath of a missing person case and how trauma is carried by those affected.

For audiobook readers: Claire Jiménez does a wonderful job bringing to life the Ramirez women and the rhythm of their voices.

(TW mentions of past child abuse/ talk of diet culture/ recounts of past child sexual assault, not graphic/ mentions past domestic abuse)

For fans of past family mysteries, alternating past and present POV, and armchair traveling to an island!

Mercedes Spivey grew up in Cuba, where she lost both her parents and was raised by her abuela: her father died as a soldier in Angola after her mother had mysteriously vanished. Her abuela, now ill, has Mercedes packing her bags in Miami to return to Cuba, and the visit home rekindles her need to find out what happened to her mom…

For fans of dark academia, family drama, and murder mysteries blended with social horror and a bit of slasher film!

Sunny Behre is one of five kids when her mom, owner of a private school, dies. Sunny had been taught she’d be taking over her mom’s role one day, but instead finds that the only thing her mom left as instructions is that she’s to watch out for her brother Dom. She’s not really close with Dom and would rather be an ambassador for the school her mom ran, but after a murder that implicates Dom as the killer, Sunny has to make difficult choices. Especially since she’s not even sure if Dom is innocent and the murders continue…

I’m currently listening to and enjoying the audiobook, which is narrated by Kimberly Woods.

For fans of home invasion thrillers!

A mother is with her two kids (eight and five) in a secret room in her home in New England. She’s hiding from an intruder and must keep the kids quiet so that he doesn’t figure out where they are. As they hide, petrified, debating what to do, there are flashbacks to her life as a child and her marriage. Who is the intruder, what does he want, and why is she hesitant to call the police…?

This is high on my list, and I’ve heard nothing but good things—I am just a chickenshit and have to pep myself up to read this and not sleep for a month! (I have gotten so far as downloading the audiobook, so wish me luck!)

The Lady Sherlock books are a gender-flipped reimagining of Sherlock Holmes where there is no Sherlock at all. In Victorian England, Charlotte Holmes and her benefactor Mrs. Watson pretend to assist their brother Sherlock with his cases, but are really solving them on their own through some light subterfuge (“he’s just in the other room!”). Charlotte is one of my favorite characters ever, a woman whose powers of deduction are matched only by her love of a good slice of cake. She’s found a way to live independently in a society that does not typically allow women agency, cracking cases while also pursuing the object of her affection in the mother of all slow burns—as in we’re eight books in, and the game has only recently been afoot.

This series is another excellent one on audio—Kate Reading could read me the back of a shampoo bottle, and I’d pay for the privilege.

TW: violence against children, off-page

In the 1950s, a young girl named Flavia lives with her widowed father and sisters in a dilapidated estate in the English countryside. Flavia has a habit of stumbling upon dead bodies and can’t help but stick her nose in other people’s business, a winning combination for an amateur sleuth. Flavia is smart and delightfully snarky, precocious but not annoying like I just know I was (sorry, Mom and Dad). The mysteries in each of the books in this completed series are great on their own, but there is a separate mystery running throughout the series that really takes a turn if you stick with it. Can I just say how much I adore Flavia’s relationship with Dogger? The gardener saved her father’s life during the war and now experiences symptoms of what we know as PTSD. Their bond is just so damn tender and makes me go all soft.

I know I keep saying this, but it’s just true: this series, read by Jayne Entwistle, is fantastic on audio.

In 1426 Joseon (Korea), Hwani is searching for her father, a detective who went missing while investigating the disappearance of 13 girls in a forest with a dark history—and a connection to Hwani’s own past. Hwani and her sister also went missing in that very forest years ago, but she has no memory of the incident. The disappearances are all linked, and Hwani must figure out what the connection is in order to find her father. Doing so will mean diving deep into buried memories and the secrets of the forest. This is such a suspenseful, atmospheric mystery, and it kept me guessing until the end.

For fans of returning back to a hometown where a past mystery remains involving a group of childhood friends, a bit of the supernatural, and a giant nod to a huge classic book (not gonna say in case of spoilers!).

In the ’90s, six teens went to a party in a coal mine, and after what they witnessed, they were never the same again. They all escape the town and don’t speak for twenty years — until now, when Jia, one of the original six who has been dealing with visions, is called to return home to help with a missing person case. Jia helps and ends up finding one of the original six dead. It’s evident that the five remaining “friends” must return to town and once again join together to rid the town of evil…

If you like revenge thrillers, definitely pick up Kurian’s debut, Never Saw Me Coming!

For fans of historical fiction (WWII, Boston) with dual POV, including an FBI agent and a reporter!

Anne Lemire is a reporter for the Boston Star, writing a gossip column and recently using it to look at antisemitic attacks, including one involving her brother. Special Agent Devon Mulvey, whom Anne knew in childhood, ends up teaming up with her when her brother’s attack and Devon’s dead factory worker case intersect. They’ll face organized crime and domestic fascists as they try to solve their cases and dabble in a relationship.

For fans of foodie cozy series starters and a dash of magic (adding emotion into food)!

In Pixie, California, Felicity Jin grew up a part of her mom’s magical bakery, but Felicity has never had her mom’s gift for baking or having people feel joy with her food. Through a turn of fortune (heh), Felicity finds herself making fortune cookies and coming up with the fortunes written inside. It’s one of these cookies and a dead rude customer that lands Felicity in the hot seat as a murder suspect! Guess she’ll have to learn to sleuth while honing in on her new cookie-baking hustle.

For fans of historical mysteries, a Dublin setting, and reporter leads!

Julia Bridges, an actress in Dublin, disappeared in 1943, with her last known sighting being at Gloria Fitzpatrick’s home. Years later, Fitzpatrick, tried for a separate murder, dies from an apparent suicide in an institution.

In 1968, Bridges’s bones are found, and junior reporter Nicoletta Sarto decides to dive into the mysterious case of what happened to Bridges and Fitzpatrick’s role in illegal at the time abortions.