Category: Unusual Suspects

Hello mystery fans! Happy new month, hope you’re stuffed with Halloween candy and ready for pie season! I’ve got some links you may want to click, a new true crime film adaptation, and a bunch of Kindle deals–including Tana French!

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Quiz: Which Classic Mystery Should You Read?

Carolyn Keene and the Mystery of the Real Nancy Drew Author

Rincey and Katie talk Stephen King’s writers’ retreat, get confirmation on Tana French being the best living mystery writer, and more on the latest Read or Dead!

Giveaway: THE DEAD GIRLS CLUB by Damien Angelica Walters

15 of Your Favorite Medical Thrillers

If You Loved ‘Nancy Drew’ As A Kid, You’ll Love These 15 Thrillers Now

The Crimes Never End: A Guide to Mystery’s Biggest and Longest-Lasting Book Franchises

Lee Child: ‘If it comes to it, I’ll kill Jack Reacher. No problem’

News

Congrats to Attica Locke, winner of the Writer of the Year Award from the Texas Book Festival!

Women’s untold stories dominate Baillie Gifford prize shortlist

“Doubleday (in the U.K.) acquired Hallie Rubenhold’s true crime title Bad Women for six figures. The trade publication said the book follows “the 1910 murder of Belle Elmore by her husband… and the extraordinary women caught up in these events.” Rubenhold’s The Five is on the short list for the 2019 Baillie Gifford Prize.”

Ronan Farrow launching podcast offshoot of explosive book Catch and Kill

‘The Cartel’ Author Don Winslow Surprises With 5-Novella Book ‘Broken’; Reacquires Backlist To Better Control Hollywood Deals

Watch Now

For mafia fans: The Irishman, Scorsese’s adaptation of I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt, is now in select theaters (Netflix on November 27). You can watch the trailer here.

Kindle Deals

A Beautiful Poison by Lydia Kang is $4.99 and a great historical mystery! (Review) (TW suicide/ pedophile–not graphic)

If you’re looking for suspense and a modern retelling of Rebecca, The Winters by Lisa Gabriele is $5.99!

The Man Who Played with Fire: Stieg Larsson’s Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin by Jan Stocklassa, Tara F. Chace (Translator) is $4.99 and for fans of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and the author.

Faithful Place (Dublin Murder Squad #3) by Tana French is $1.99 and if you’re a procedural fan you should RUN to this series!! And don’t worry about #3 the books read as standalone since they rotate different members of the squad. (I don’t know the TWs, sorry.)

And if you want to start a cozy mystery series set in Ireland with ghosts (not the scary kind) Murder in G Major (A Gethsemane Brown Mystery #1) by Alexia Gordon is $4.99!

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Hi mystery fans! This week I have for you a fun-ish novel about vigilante spies, a look at online amateur sleuths solving missing person’s cases, and a procedural with a thirty year cold case.

Vigilante Spies! (TW human trafficking/ addiction/ child rape, death)

The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif: This is one of those books that, because of the subject matter of the “cases,” could have been dark to dark AF. But, instead, it veers away from that and felt more like a fun-ish novel thanks to the crew of vigilante women trying to take down the evil of the world. Which is what the Athena Protocol is: a top secret organization–with zero ties to any agency–that is led and run by women enacting vigilante justice. It starts with the group freeing girls from human traffickers, but the assignment goes wrong when Jessie Archer ignores protocol. Now, Archer finds herself kicked out of the group but unable to let the work go. So she goes rogue, continuing to help with missions even though her former spy partners have strict orders to bring her in… If you need a good dose of women kicking ass and saving the day, this did that with a good balance of great characters (character growth included) who have their own baggage and issues while trying to help others. If this is the start to a series, count me in as definitely reading the sequel.

Online Amateur Sleuths! (TW basically everything is talked about)

The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths are Solving America’s Coldest Cases by Deborah Halber: I love falling down rabbit holes and have always been kind of obsessed with human behavior–sit me on a bench to people watch and I’ll never bore. Which is why this book was kind of perfect for me as it takes a look at the online communities/web sleuths that take it upon themselves to solve missing persons cases by matching them to unidentified bodies that have been found (in all kinds of decay). Halber basically ping pongs (think nonlinear narrative) between cases, web sleuths, the creation of online communities–including the infighting because humans, of course–, law enforcement’s view on these groups/individuals, and opens up discussion for questions like, where is the line between helping and overstepping into people’s trauma and should law enforcement have all the power or is it good that these individuals are in a way bringing some power back to communities?

Procedural! (TW past child abuse/ rape, partially on page)

She Lies in Wait (DCI Jonah Sheens #1) by Gytha Lodge: My brain just needed a procedural to read where I could sit back and watch people work on solving something. In this case it’s the 30 year mystery of Aurora Jackson, a 14-year-old girl, who disappeared while camping with her older sister and her sister’s friends. Until now, when her body is found near the campsite, meaning she’d been there all along, so someone who’d been there that night must have been the killer? Or at least knows something they’ve never shared since? Told in past and present, we watch as investigators currently try to solve what happened to Jackson while also being taken back to 1983 as Jackson takes us into the excitement of tagging along with the older kids. Which timeline will reveal what happened first?…

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Hi mystery fans! Time to warm up your clicking finger, get some Kindle books at ridiculous prices, and see what’s streaming.

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Lamar Giles realizing that “Chidi” narrated his Fake ID novel is my favorite thing.

Amy Poehler Bringing ‘The Mother-in-Law’ Thriller to NBC

QUIZ: Which Nancy Drew Sidekick Are You?

Brontë Sisters Are Detectives! & More Must-Read Mystery & Thrillers

‘Gone Girl’ gave a face to an ancient monster of myth

The Best New True Crime Books You Can Read Right Now

2020 shaping up to be a busy year for Michael Connelly

Motherless Brooklyn Review: A Gorgeous Film Noir Masterpiece Has Arrived

Novel Suspects has a new podcast and first episode has Denise Mina and Alison Gaylin.

18 Best Sherlock Holmes Graphic Novels To Read Now: 2019 Edition

I started a Goodreads List for exciting 2020 crime, mystery, and thriller releases.

Watch Now

Streaming on Netflix: Meryl Streep stars in The Laundromat, based on Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite by Jake Bernstein. You can check out the trailer here. It doesn’t have the best reviews but it’s Meryl Streep so I don’t care, I’m watching it!

Kindle Deals

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson is $2.99 if you want to find out what happens when a friend resurrects her friend for answers on her death and accidentally brings back the school mean girls too! (Review) (TW suicide discussions)

Lay Your Sleeping Head by Michael Nava is $3.99–it’s the revised The Little Death which starts the Henry Rios Mystery series!

If you like snowed-in-with-a-murderer reads An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena is $1.99! (Review) (TW rape/ suicide)

A Bit Of My Week In Reading

Currently Reading: The Fragility of Bodies by Sergio Olguin, we do not get enough Latinx crime translations so I’m really excited for this book, which follows an investigating journalist. (TW suicide on page). And as soon as my audiobook for Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz came in from Libro.fm (Think Audible but % of $ goes to your chosen indie bookstore) I pressed play. This memoir is my crime break for the week and the voice–both of author and narrator–are so amazing I want to spend the day with them. (TW attempted sexual assault)

And I’m SUPER excited that What You Don’t See, the third book in Tracy Clark’s Cass Raines Chicago PI series, will be out in 2020!

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Hello mystery fans! Let’s do a themed round of recommendations this week. I work for Book Riot’s new Tailored Book Recommendations subscription service and one of the requests I see a lot of is for translated work and books set outside the continental U.S. So I thought I’d do a roundup of just that! Pack your imaginary bag–we’re going to solve mysteries and see some crime around the world.

Death Notice by Zhou Haohui, Zac Haluza (Translator): Set in the modern Sichuan province of China, this is a great read for fans of thrillers, procedurals, cat-and-mouse games, action, and vigilantes–Eumenides, a vigilante taunting the police. (TW suicide/ rape)

Out by Natsuo Kirino, Stephen Snyder (Translator): Set in the Tokyo suburbs, we follow along as a group of women come to their coworker’s aid by helping her dispose of her husband’s body–in parts! If you like dark crime novels and possibly laughing at things you should not, this is a ride! (TW I don’t remember them all but rape and domestic abuse are ones.)

The Devotion of Suspect X (Detective Galileo #3) by Keigo Higashino, Alexander O. Smith (Translator): In case you wanted to read a Japanese crime novel and dark is not your thing, you should seriously read Higashino’s entire catalog (at least what has been translated so far). His books are great procedurals, with meticulously plotted mysteries, and usually puzzles to solve.

Iced in Paradise: A Leilani Santiago Hawai’i Mystery by Naomi Hirahara: Travel to Hawai’i as Leilani Santiago returns home after years in San Francisco to help out her family and work in their shave ice shack–but it’s a mystery so really she ends up having to figure out if her dad murdered someone in their business or not?! A great mystery read that is filled with family, culture, and delicious food. (TW addiction/ sick parent/ past stalking incident mentioned)

Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay: This is one of my favorite reads of this year. This is a coming-of-age crime novel that starts in the U.S. and travels to the Philippines as a high school senior is determined to find out how his cousin really died, and ends up learning a lot about his family’s culture, himself, and where he fits in. (TW addiction/ discussions of sex trafficking/ past rape, not detailed)

 

The Things She’s Seen by Ambelin Kwaymullina, Ezekiel Kwaymullina: Here’s an Australian novel that follows Beth Teller, an Aboriginal girl who died at 15 and is now a ghost. But rather than haunting people she’s decided to help her dad–who can see her–move on from grieving her by helping him solve a case of a fire in a children’s home. A beautiful crime novel about grief, death, family, and friendship.

A Rising Man (Sam Wyndham #1) by Abir Mukherjee: This is a great historical mystery series set in 1919 British ruled Calcutta and follows an ex Scotland Yard detective now working in India trying to navigate the current political issues and his addiction.

The Unquiet Dead (Rachel Getty & Esa Khattak #1) by Ausma Zehanat Khan: This is one of my favorite series! It is technically a Canadian procedural series, but Khan takes us all over the world (including Iran and Greek islands) exploring current political crises. You’ll fall in love with Getty and Khattak who work for a department that handles minority-sensitive cases. (I don’t remember TW for most of these but it deals with real political/social issues and minority communities.)

 

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite: Set in Nigeria, a sisterly bond is put to the test when Korede is troubled by the amount of dead boyfriends in Ayoola’s life, and then Ayoola falls for Korede’s crush… Deliciously wicked and smart this is a fun ride! (TW domestic, child abuse/ past rape)

Wife of the Gods (Darko Dawson #1) by Kwei Quartey: Here’s a great procedural series set in Ghana that follows Detective Inspector Darko Dawson on his cases and takes you into his family life. Bonus: if you like completed series you can go marathon the five books in this series that recently finished. (I don’t remember all the TWs, sorry.)

The Missing File (Avi Avraham #1) by D.A. Mishani: This is a great series–following an Israeli detective–that is perfect for procedural fans who like morally straight detectives. Bonus: the main character is a big reader and goes into discussions about the mystery genre and also the lack of Israeli crime novels. (I don’t remember TWs but I think there’s child abuse/rape cases)

Betty Boo by Claudia Piñeiro, Miranda France (Translation): A character driven crime novel set in Buenos Aires that follows a novelist and journalists as they try to piece together the murder of a man three years after his wife was murdered while also exploring gender roles, youth vs middle age, gated communities, secrets…

The Black Jersey by Jorge Zepeda Patterson, Achy Obejas (Translation): A whodunnit on the Tour de France as accidents–including the deadly kind–start to happen to the cyclists competing. Who would have the most to gain from this? One cyclist, our narrator with a military background, is asked by an investigator to help him figure it out!

Flowers over the inferno (Teresa Battaglia #1) by Ilaria Tuti, Ekin Oklap (translator): A darkish police procedural that use psychology/profiling set in a small Italian village following Superintendent Teresa Battaglia, a woman in her sixties with diabetes who is hiding recent symptoms of dementia. (TW child abuse)

 

Recent Releases

Agent Running in the Field by John le Carré

The Fragility of Bodies (Verónica Rosenthal #1) by Sergio S. Olguín, Miranda France (Translator)

Ghoster by Jason Arnopp

The House of Brides by Jane Cockram

The Night Fire (Renée Ballard #3) by Michael Connelly

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Hello mystery fans! I’m back, this time with things I’ve seen and read around these here internets and thought you might be interested in reading too. Plus, I got your Kindle deals and a tiny bit of my week in reading–I’d never show you the whole thing it would melt your brains with too many books.

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Liberty talked about Steph Cha’s Your House Will Pay on All The Books!

And she joined Katie this week on Read Or Dead to talk creepy mysteries, news, and new releases.

Who and What Done it? Sleuth out the Culprit based on Your Favorite YA Books

A Drew for Every Mood: Which Nancy Drew PC Game Is For You?

Eat, Drink And Be Wary: Ex-CIA Agent Reveals How Eateries Are Key To Spycraft

A cute post of Hillary Clinton reuniting with her childhood copy of The Hidden Window Mystery.

Viral Story of Edmund Kemper’s Audiobook Narration Tells Bigger Story

Tinker, Tailor, Writer, Spy: John le Carré takes aim at Brexit and Boris Johnson in his new novel, “Agent Running in the Field.”

The Near-Mythic Inevitability of Olga Tokarczuk’s Novels: The Polish author, known for her fragmentary, far-ranging novels, tightens her focus in the mystical detective novel Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead (And she just won the Nobel prize in literature)

The ‘Dublin Murders’ Book Ending Caused A Huge Divide In The Literary World (#TeamLikedIt)

Kindle Deals

I’m really enjoying Ovidia Yu’s new historical mystery series and the first 2 are ridiculously priced right now: The Frangipani Tree Mystery is $3.99 (Review)(TW suicide); The Betel Nut Tree Mystery is $3.99.

Caleb Roehrig’s White Rabbit is $2.99 and perfect if you want a mystery with slasher movie body count! (Review) (TW rape)

If Sherlock meets Fantastic Beasts sounds good (it is!) Jackaby by William Ritter is $1.99 and the sequel Beastly Bones is $3.69! (Review)

A Bit Of My Week In Reading

I’m currently reading and really enjoying The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif which is about an elite group of vigilante justice spies with the “never kill” rule when one does just that. I love you all and don’t take this the wrong way but it’s so good I rather be reading it right now than writing about it. Did I say that out loud?

I just got my hands on a galley for Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit by Lilliam Rivera, which is the upcoming middle grade series inspired by the Goldie Vance comics. And Ottessa Moshfegh’s suspense Death In Her Hands–I don’t want to know anything about it yet I just want to inhale it.

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Hi mystery fans! This time around I have for you one of the year’s best crime novels, a did-he-or-didn’t-he mystery, and an interesting historical nonfiction.

One Of The Year’s Best Crime Novels

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha: I want to start by saying that if you’re a fan of crime novels, I recommend picking this one up without knowing anything about it as I really love the way Cha unfolds everything–basically you’ll get maximum impact. For those going, “Nope, I’m gonna need to hear more,” here you go: Cha’s novel is not only built upon the turmoil and unrest from the 1992 Los Angeles riots but also based on a real case many have probably never heard of. Following a Korean-American family (mostly through Grace, the youngest dutiful daughter) and a Black family (mostly through Shawn, helping out his cousin’s family) the novel explores family, racism, the injustice system, violence, revenge, culture, forgiveness and the inability to, with excellent characters and nuance. Your House Will Pay is a truly important and great historical fiction novel that also keeps Cha’s noir writing and influences alive. It’s been a month since I read it and I still randomly find myself wondering about the characters in the novel and thinking about a lot of hard questions.

History + Murder (TW brief mention of attempted suicide with detail)

Blood & Ivy: The 1849 Murder That Scandalized Harvard by Paul Collins: This takes a look at the vanishing of the wealthy Dr. George Parkman who was last seen visiting Harvard Medical School on November 23,1849, the man accused of his murder, the infamous trial, along with some Boston and Harvard history. This is one of those nonfiction books that works well if you’re into history, seeing the justice system in different time periods along with journalism, and playing the are-they-guilty-or-not game (if you don’t already know the story). Also, there’s some bits in here that are for fans of the “body farm” and um, well, how they basically used to study what happens to dead bodies. I went with the audiobook because you know I like being told these kinds of stories, and Kevin Kenerly has a really nice voice and speaking rhythm.

Is Her Ex A Serial Killer Or Not?! (TW panic attack on page/ stalking on page)

The Liar’s Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard: This was a really good did-he-or-didn’t-he mystery perfect for fans of past and present, fictional serial killers, and Irish crime novels. Alison Smith did not get the college experience she’d wanted since her freshman year ended with her best friend being the Canal Killer’s last victim and the serial killer being her boyfriend. I know! But now, ten years later, a woman is found murdered and questions arise whether the right killer is behind bars or if he had an accomplice all along? He’ll only speak to help the police if he gets to see Smith and now she’s forced to face the past herself… Told in alternating chapters between Smith’s college days and current life, we also get a few chapters of a killer…

Recent Releases

The Art of Theft (Lady Sherlock #4) by Sherry Thomas (My favorite Sherlock is back in another fun adventure, this time with a crew of people to help! I’ll do a full review soon but if you’re a fan of this series go forth and read for more of what you already love.)

The Black Ghost #2 by Monica Gallagher, Alex Segura, Greg Lockard, Greg Smallwood, George Kambadais, Ellie Wright (2nd issue in a new comic series that blends noir and superhero as a journalist searches to unmask a vigilante!)

Dead Girls by Abigail Tarttelin (I just started reading this one about an 11-year-old whose best friend is murdered and thinks she has to solve the crime.)

The Man That Got Away (Constable Twitten #2) by Lynne Truss (A huorous historical mystery series for fans of British humor.)

Curious Toys by Elizabeth Hand (I’m really intrigued by the premise of this dark historical fiction: 1915 carnival setting where a young girl, teamed with an adult, is after a serial killer.)

Owl Be Home for Christmas: A Meg Langslow Mystery(Meg Langslow #26) by Donna Andrews (If you’re looking for cozy and holiday!)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Hi mystery fans! Another week bites the dust and that means it’s time for clicking all the links, Kindle deals, and I found you some great audiobooks on Hoopla!

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

After Sacred Games, 5 other books on organised crime that would make for great shows

Attica Locke Left Hollywood To Write Novels Now She’s Found Success In Both Worlds

Start Reading ‘One Of Us Is Next’ By Karen M. McManus Right Now

3 Comics Recommendations for Mystery Readers

The Perfect Ghostly Lover: PW Talks with Tess Gerritsen

A new episode of Recommended with Kristen Lepionka and Kekla Magoon!

Romancing the Holmes What inspired Sherry Thomas to turn Sherlock into Charlotte?

Cover Reveal and Excerpt: YOU’RE NEXT By Kylie Schachte

Swamp and Circumstance: 11 Books Like WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING

The Ten Best Scooby-Doo Monsters

Adaptations And News

Tom Ryan’s Novel ‘Keep This To Yourself’ Optioned for Television

David Oyelowo to Star in ‘President Is Missing’ Pilot From Bill Clinton, James Patterson at Showtime

Nancy Drew and the Mystery of Her Enduring Relevance

These are the Nancy Drew books to reread before the CW show

Kindle Deals

Pamela Samuels Young’s In Firm Pursuit is $4.99! (The sequel to Every Reasonable Doubt, a great legal mystery which is $0–not a typo, seriously the first in the series is FREE and I really recommend it–Review)

One of my FAVORITE procedurals and detective is $1.99–ruuuuun to The Dime by Kathleen Kent! (Review) (I don’t remember TWs, sorry.)

And I just bought Gretchen McNeil’s Ten for $1.99 because it’s a YA horror novel based on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None!

Audiobooks On Hoopla (If you don’t know about Hoopla)

One of my favorite crime novels: Sadie by Courtney Summers (Review) (TW child abuse/ pedophile/ attempted suicide mentioned)

My next listen: Three-Fifths by John Vercher, which is from a brand new crime imprint which I’m loving.

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Hello mystery fans! This week I have for you a character driven psychological mystery, and two fun, totally different, mysteries: an elderly sleuth, and a locked-room YA mystery based on the Clue board game.

Character Driven Psychological Mystery (TW alcoholism/ social anxiety, panic attacks, agoraphobia, PTSD, on page/ past suicide mentioned)

Remember by Patricia Smith: This starts with a mystery where something horrible has clearly happened but the character, Portia Willows, doesn’t know what it is. We’re then taken back to her as a teenager with social anxiety and agoraphobia and get to know her family. The family she partially loses in an accident. Now she lives with her father, both drinking the day away and barely able to care for themselves and each other. Until a young man moves in across the street, forcing Portia to step outside of her comfort zone in hopes of her first romantic relationship. But we keep getting “now” chapters of Portia trying to figure out where she is, what happened, and where her father is… In a genre that too often grossly uses mental illness as the boogie monster this was a welcome change, and new voice.

Fun!

Auntie Poldi and the Vineyards of Etna (Tante Poldi #2) by Mario Giordano, John Brownjohn (Translation): Elderly Bavarian, Poldi, has retired to a Sicilian village and finds herself once again solving crimes. Auntie Poldi loves to drink, loves men, being independent, voicing her opinion, and is hilarious. Of course I love her! The way the series is written made me think a bit of The Princess Bride in that Poldi isn’t telling us the story but rather her visiting nephew, a struggling writer as she tells him her adventures. So we get all of Poldi’s escapades, crime solving–this time she’s trying to solve the poisoning of a dog and murder of a fortune-teller–along with the family bickering, Poldi criticizing her nephew’s writing attempts included. If you like the bigger-than-life characters who will not be told what to do, will-they-or-won’t-they relationships, and beautiful settings this is a super fun, and entertaining series that always makes me laugh.

Hello, Clue Fans! (TW discussions of suicide)

In the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery #1) by Diana Peterfreund: This is the start to a trilogy based on the Clue board game, that has fun references to the film. We get all the names we know so well, from Mr. Boddy (the Blackbrook Academy headmaster) to Mrs. White (in charge of the girl’s dormitory). And in between is all the students (Scarlet Mistry, Orchid McKee, Beth “Peacock” Picach, Vaughn Green, Samuel “Mustard” Maestor, and Finn Plum) who create the stereotypical overachiever, sports star, townie etc we come to expect. And of course they’ve all got secrets! And they all end up snowed in together in the girl’s dormitory. And someone is murdered…I enjoyed that this felt familiar while also new, thanks to the teenage perspective and the added twists to the story–not going to tell you! It’s the start of a trilogy so of course we’re left hanging at the end but what I especially liked was the end, and the door it opened for what is to come!

Recent Releases

The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif (Currently reading: I should not have started this before bed because 1. I want to play just-one-more-chapter! 2. It starts with an intense scene–women “snipers” rescuing kidnapped girls when things don’t go as instructed…) (TW child rape, not detailed)

The Furies by Katie Lowe (Currently listening to audio: Slow burn. Private school. Missing girl. Witchy history. The Craft vibes. Girl rage. <–If those are your things, this one is for you!) (TW date rape, on page/ past suicides, discussions/ animal cruelty/ child abuse, not on page)

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia (The author of Bellweather Rhapsody wrote a novel about a billionaire creating an Edgar Allan Poe inspired treasure hunt through the city of Boston and this sounds perfect for fans of The Westing Game and puzzle mysteries and it’s next on my list!)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Hello mystery fans! Are you ready for spooky October reading? I may have walked into a very real spiderweb immediately after putting up fake Halloween decorations because the universe will never not have a sense of humor apparently. Anyhoo, get your clicking fingers ready–I got interesting links and Kindle deals for you.

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

50 Must-Read Crime Novels for Fall and Winter 2019

Rincey and Katie talk mystery news and give readalikes for popular crime authors on the latest Read or Dead.

20 of the Top Mystery Books According to Goodreads Users

15 Creepy Scandinavian Novels By Women To Read This Spooky Season

Adaptations And News

Awesome Media Options Caroline Mitchell Novel ‘Truth And Lies’ In Bid To Create Female ‘Luther’(The book is a $4.99 Kindle deal)

Fox & Kenneth Branagh’s All-Star Agatha Christie Movie ‘Death On The Nile’ Begins Production In UK

Filming to begin on crime thriller based on true story of London estate agent

The ‘Stumptown’ Novels Are Worthy Source Material For The New ABC Series

‘Dublin Murders’: BBC Sets Premiere Date For Crime Drama Picked Up By Starz (It’s almost here!!!)

(The next two aren’t adaptations but something mystery readers who watch crime shows would probably want to know about.)

‘Claws’ Renewed For Fourth And Final Season At TNT

Exclusive: Get the First Look at the Newest Hallmark Mystery Series Starring Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper!)

True Crime

Chanel Miller On What Happened After Her Victim Statement Went Viral

An Author Confronts Her Rapist In ‘Things We Didn’t Talk About When I Was A Girl’

You can hear Liberty and Rebecca discuss the two books above in the latest All The Books! podcast.

‘In Hoffa’s Shadow’ Uncovers An Author’s Family Ties To A Mafia Mystery

Two true crime books (Furious Hours and Say Nothing) made the longlist for the ninth annual Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction!

Kindle Deals

The Perfect Nanny by Leïla Slimani, Sam Taylor (Translator) is $1.99 if a French literary suspense inspired by a true crime is your thing! (Review) (TW: child death/ suicide)

A Curious Beginning (A Veronica Speedwell Mystery 1) by Deanna Raybourn is $2.99 and perfect for fans of funny heroines, mysteries, will-or-won’t-they, and historical fiction. I love this series!

And I leave you with a little October reading:

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Hello mystery fans! I have two nonfiction books for you this week–a must-read true crime memoir, a bananapants nonfic about truffles–and a mystery with a dysfunctional found family.

True Crime Memoir (TW rape/ gaslighting/ discussions of past suicides, with detail/ discussion of mass shooters, event details/ misogyny)

Know My Name by Chanel Miller: Until now, Chanel Miller was only referred to as Brock Turner’s victim, Emily Doe, The Stanford Rape Case and defined by the media, rape apologists, her rapist, and her victim impact statement posted on BuzzFeed. Refusing to be reduced to a violent act done to her Miller decided to come forward with her name and story in order to show that she, like all victims, are whole, layered people. I hate that it is under these circumstance the world will discover what a fantastic writer Miller is–and it feels weird considering the subject matter saying how fantastic this book is, but it is. From her introspection to her observations on rape culture, this is a must-read memoir that not only takes you through the entire case but also lets you get to know Miller (who fiercely loves her sister and does standup!) and her family. Miller is a *beautiful and brave person whose added voice to dismantling rape culture will resonate, light a fire, and give hope to many. I went with the audiobook, which Miller narrates, and I 100% recommend that format if you listen to audiobooks. *She does not need to be any of those things to be believed and listened to.

Fascinating And Bananapants (TW animal abuse)

The Truffle Underground: A Tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and Manipulation in the Shadowy Market of the World’s Most Expensive Fungus by Ryan Jacobs: This is another one that I’d mostly put in the nonviolent true crime category (there’s a brief murder and dog poisonings) that works really well for fans of books like The Feather Thief. Once again you may think you have zero interest in the subject matter–fungus!–but let me tell you this is a ride! From how and where truffles grow, to food and region “snobs”, to how truffles became a delicacy and how that led to thieving, a task force, dog training, and of course fraud. And by fraud I mean are you sure you’re eating what you think you’re eating?! If you’re a fan of microhistory books and nonviolent nonfiction, this is a fascinating read basically on how humans can ruin anything. I went with the audiobook for the enhanced feeling of being told a wild story.

Dysfunctional Websleuthing Found Family (TW homophobia, including internalized/ panic attacks on page/ suicide/ pedophile)

Missing Person by Sarah Lotz: This is a past mystery that centers on a whydunnit and will they get caught but what I loved about this book was the dysfunctional found family element that centers around an online group of sleuths in the U.S. who work to solve cases with unidentified missing people. There’s the moderator and creator of the site who prefers to be a recluse. The cheery stay-at-home mom that only finds satisfaction in life when working on a case. The Irish young man who learns a family secret and sets out to find out what really happened to his uncle. And the professed killer who is pretending to be an ex-cop on the website “solving” the case he knows the answers to. While this deals with dark subject matter, the novel itself never felt like it sunk into darkness and really focused on the lives of these websleuths–and why they were obsessed with solving these cases. I really wanted to keep reading more about them!

Recent Releases

The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen (TBR: Rizzoli & Isles‘ author wrote a “sexy psychological thriller!”)

The Lying Room by Nicci French (Just started: Murder mystery where a married woman finds her lover murdered and clears any trace of herself from the scene…)

Now Entering Addamsville by Francesca Zappia (Currently reading: Zora is automatically suspect in a fire that killed the school’s janitor and decides to prove she didn’t do it. Loving this so far, especially Zora’s character and voice.)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.