Category: Unusual Suspects

Hello mystery fans! This is not an adaptation but the trailer for Knives Out seems perfect for fans of a good whodunnit–and Chris Evans swearing and a fantastic cast. It definitely nods at Agatha Christie and Clue so you know I’m excited.

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Sponsored by Book Riot’s Amazon store. Shop our favorite summer reads (including some of our favorite books of 2019 so far), bookish accessories, deals, and more.

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From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Jean Kwok on how Searching for Sylvie Lee became this summer’s book club sensation

United States of a Mystery: Essential Florida Crime Fiction

A Teen Assassin and Other Favorite Mysteries And Thrillers!

Chanelle answered our questions about her inspiration, The Gone Dead audiobook–narrated by Bahni Turpin–and her love of independent bookstores!

Post-Gone Girl, Here’s How These Authors Are Moving the Psychological Thriller Genre Forward

Giveaway: Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha

Rioters Chose Their Best Books Of 2019 So Far and of course there’s a mystery/thriller section.

This week’s All The Books has Liberty talking about three mystery releases she enjoyed: Second Sight by Aoife Clifford, Girls Like Us by Cristina Alger, Lock Every Door by Riley Sager. (And Rebecca talked about a nonfiction release I loved: I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution by Emily Nussbaum.)

News And Adaptations

Idris Elba On The Racism That’s Impacted His Viewpoint Of Playing James Bond

Report Says Grace Jones Quit ‘Bond 25’ Shortly After Arriving On Set Due To Lack Of Lines

Agatha Raisin producer Free@Last TV is developing a TV detective drama based on Freeman Wills Crofts’ classic Inspector French novels.

“He’s already working on his next project, one he started before writing The Nickel Boys: a crime novel set in Harlem in the 1960s.” (Colson Whitehead is writing a crime novel!)

Kindle Deals

For historical mystery fans A Necessary Evil (Sam Wyndham #2) by Abir Mukherjee is $1.99! (Review) (TW suicide/ addiction)

For cozy mystery fans Dim Sum Of All Fears (Noodle Shop Mystery #2) by Vivien Chien is $2.99! (Review) (TW suicide)

For a twisty domestic read For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt is $1.99! (Review) (TW brief discussion about child suicide/ pedophilia)

AND HAPPY DAY to you all Steph Cha’s Juniper Song PI trilogy is on sale–and they are never on sale! Follow Her Home (Review); Beware, Beware (Review); Dead Soon Enough (Review) are $2.99 each! (Off memory I think the series has TW for suicide and rape.)

Watch Now

In case you needed a reminder the first three seasons of Veronica Mars are now streaming on Hulu. And, it’s not an adaptation, but I just saw that The Spy Who Dumped Me is streaming on Hulu and if you want a funny “spy” thriller totally watch it. It stars Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon and I really want there to be a sequel!

And A Bit Of My Week In Reading

I finished reading: Stephanie Oakes’ The Arsonist which had a character I loved, and I really enjoyed the story even if it felt predictably slotted. The audiobook has great narrators! And The Gone Dead by Chanelle Benz has the amazing Bahni Turpin narrating and was a great Southern Lit, return home, past mystery!

All my library audiobook holds came in at once, as they do, so these will be my in-my-ears-book friends: Tan France’s memoir Naturally Tan (I love him so much!); A Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Edvardsson, Rachel Willson-Broyles (Translation) (Scandinavian legal thriller!); The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda (I’ve enjoyed all her mysteries!)

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! It’s a new month and I’m starting you all off with three new releases: I’ve got a whydunnit, a return home mystery, and a past and present mystery stuffed with all the reveals.

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Sponsored by Book Riot’s Amazon store. Shop our favorite summer reads (including some of our favorite books of 2019 so far), bookish accessories, deals, and more.

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Whydunnit! (TW child abuse/ suicide attempt)

The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu: This was a page-turner for me that opens with you knowing the crime: Elise shot and killed her best friend Remy’s boyfriend. We get Remy in the present talking to her lawyer, and a police detective, as she explains what happened that night. And we get the recent past where we see Remy meet Elise and Jack, separately, and how their relationships evolve. Adult and YA toxic friendship novels are not new, and I’ve read a ton of them, but this one could have taken many turns it didn’t and surprised me with the ones it did in a good way. It felt thoughtful. It explored quite a few things while always keeping the suspense and tension of the why threaded through–especially when we learn Remy is lying… If you like a whydunnit and toxic friendship novels this was a really good read.

Return Home Mystery! (TW addiction/ PTSD/ statutory rape/ suicide mention with detail)

Girls Like Us by Cristina Alger: I really enjoyed Alger’s previous novel, The Banker’s Wife, and was thrilled to discover that this one, while totally different, is also super good. It hits a lot of notes for different crime fans: return home; FBI agent on leave; murder mystery; procedural; thriller ending. A thing I really liked about this novel was that it set up a lot of things that are tropes for the genre but never took the worn path. For example the main character Nell Flynn, is an FBI agent on leave after being shot who returns home for her father’s funeral. You think she’s going to be self-destructive and angry but she’s not. And I say this as someone who loves a hotmess, self-destructive woman character–it’s just nice to get something that feels different in the current trends. Flynn ends up assisting a local detective, her father’s last partner, on a murdered woman’s case and quickly finds herself in over her head when things start pointing at her father leading her to question what she actually remembered from the long ago night when her mother was murdered… If you like mysteries with thriller endings, past and present mysteries, and a main character you root for don’t miss this one. And while it’s a great standalone I’d love for it to be the start of a series so I can get more Flynn.

Past And Present Mystery With So Many Reveals! (TW suicide/ child murder/ past pedophile without detail/ partner abuse/ rape mention/ sexual harassment/ addiction)

Never Look Back by Alison Gaylin: This is one of those vacation reads for me: it had a great hook in the first 60 pages; was plot driven; kept making me lean forward with the reveals whether I saw it coming or not. I’m going to give you a bare bones summary of the plot–you can find the full everywhere else–but I loved going into this one not knowing the initial reveal. Quentin Garrison is a true crime podcast host and he’s currently working on one about two teenage killers from the ’70s. But it’s a personal podcast for him, since he has a connection to one of the crimes… This one is told from multiple points of view, although mostly from three: Quentin Garrison; one of the teen killer’s letters; Robin Diamond, an online columnist. If you want a twisty book, filled with reveals, and don’t mind “diary” type entries amongst the chapters lay back and enjoy the ride!

Recent Releases

The Gone Dead by Chanelle Benz (Currently listening to the audiobook– with the amazing Bahni Turpin narrating!–and it’s a really good Southern past mystery.)

Stone Cold Heart (Cat Kinsella #2) by Caz Frear (Good new-ish British procedural series.)

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager (Apartment sitter at mysterious apartment building starts to uncover secrets, including that sitters disappear…)

Second Sight by Aoife Clifford (Looking forward to reading this Australian crime.)

Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott (Paperback) (One of my favorite crime authors–Review) (TW suicide)

This Body’s Not Big Enough for Both of Us by Edgar Cantero (Paperback) (Dark comic noir.)

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!

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Sponsored by Amazon Publishing.

A forensic psychologist must outthink two serial killers at once… or she might be next. But unearthing these sinister monsters comes with its own deadly—and personal—complications. From Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestselling author comes the latest thriller in the Zoe Bentley series.

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From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Rincey talked quite a few mystery releases on New Release Tuesday.

Rincey and Katie talk Australian mysteries and a lot of recent mystery news on the latest Read or Dead.

Why is This Ted Bundy Book So Hard to Find?

By the Book: Denise Mina

Attica Locke and Tembi Locke Talk Sisterhood, Writing, and Being Brave

News And Adaptations

Exclusive: Maureen Johnson is wrapping up her Truly Devious trilogy in style

‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Drama From David E. Kelley & A+E Studios Gets CBS Series Production Commitment

‘When They See Us’ Watched By More Than 23 Million Netflix Accounts Worldwide

Michael Fassbender to Star in Action Spy Thriller ‘Malko’ for Lionsgate

Paramount Makes 7-Figure Film Deal For ‘The Chain’; A Life Changer For Uber Driver-Turned-Hot New Author Adrian McKinty

Kindle Deals

Aya de Leon‘s Uptown Thief (Justice Hustlers #1) is $0.99 and an awesome crime romance–Full review! (TW rape /domestic abuse) And the follow up books are also on sale (!!) $0.99 and $1.99: The Boss; The Accidental Mistress.

Heather Gudenkauf’s recent release Before She Was Found is $1.99 and great for fans of multiple point of view that includes adults and children–Full review. (TW suicide attempt/ talk of pedophile)

Last week I told you Abby L. Vandiver’s Secrets, Lies, & Crawfish Pies was $2.99 and now it’s $0.99 so if you’re a cozy mystery reader get it–Full review! And the sequel is also on sale: Love, Hopes, & Marriage Tropes.

A Bit Of My Week In Reading

Just loaded on my phone these audiobooks: Whisper Network by Chandler Baker (Sounds like a 9 to 5 in the #metoo era!); The Wedding Party (The Wedding Date #3) by Jasmine Guillory (I need my romance fix and Guillory always delivers!)

Finished the audiobook: Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey which is a good read/listen if you’re a fan of P.I. and fantasy or if you’re a fan of P.I. and curious to read fantasy. It’s set in our current world, with witches and non-witches, is a whodunnit, and family (twin sisters!) drama.

Can’t Put Down: The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu which starts with a murder– a girl shot her best friend’s boyfriend dead–and then slowly unravels how they all came to be friends, their revenge pranks–and I still don’t know what happened and I need to know!

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 one of my favorite reads this year, a true crime amateur sleuth, and a unique P.I series.

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Sponsored by A Nearly Normal Family by M. T. Edvardsson, published by Celadon Books.

M. T. Edvardsson’s A Nearly Normal Family is a gripping legal thriller about eighteen-year-old Stella Sandell, who stands accused of the brutal murder of a man almost fifteen years her senior. She is an ordinary teenager from an upstanding local family. Told in an unusual three-part structure, A Nearly Normal Family is a twisted narrative of love and murder.

 

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Excellent Crime Novel (TW addiction/ past child abuse/ human trafficking/ rape/ brief past attempted suicide mention with detail)

Girl Gone Missing (Cash Blackbear mysteries #2) by Marcie Rendon: Easily one of my favorite reads this year, I loved Cash so much! This is a character-driven crime novel with suspense that follows 19-year-old Chippewa woman Renee Blackbear, known as Cash, living in Fargo in the 1970s. She lives on the periphery of everything: she’s taking college classes but doesn’t understand the hippie students and their need to constantly talk, drives a beet truck alone late at night for work, lives on her own, and her only close relationship is with a sheriff who is like a father figure. She’s always observing, thinking, and questioning the things that are happening in her world and the larger world, especially when the brother she doesn’t know shows up to stay in her place and white girls are disappearing while calling to her in dreams. While it isn’t a mystery as you’re used to–person(s) actively solving–there is a mystery throughout that is important and has a full solve. I so very much need there to be another book about Cash, and while I definitely talk way too much for her I want to go play pool with her! (You can totally read this crime novel as a standalone, and seriously read this one!)

True Crime Podcast Listening Sleuth (TW suicide, suicidal thoughts/ eating disorder/ rape/ addiction/ animal cruelty)

Conviction by Denise Mina: The way this one started, I thought it was going to be a domestic thriller but it wasn’t, instead Mina kept taking me on a ride full of turns I wasn’t expecting. This starts with a wife and mother, Anna, whose husband leaves her for her best friend. And it gets worse: so that the kids settle into the change, and Anna gets her life together, he takes the kids with the best friend on a trip leaving Anna to her own devices. The thing is Anna has a past no one knows about, and her way of coping with things is to escape into books and podcasts. She tries to escape her current situation by listening to a true crime podcast–which we get to read as she’s listening to it–but she gets way more than an escape. Someone she knew is the subject. He’s actually accused of the crime by the podcast host even though someone else has been tried. This leads Anna (and her best friend’s famous, soon-to-be ex-husband) on a wild adventure of trying to solve the mystery themselves–and soon trying to stay alive. If you like mysteries, true crime podcasts, and the past-is-coming-to-get-you novels pick this one up. And a fellow Rioter was listening to the audioook and mentioned it was great–Scottish narrator!

Unique P.I. Novel! (TW suicide/ rape/ pedophile)

Case Histories (Jackson Brodie #1) by Kate Atkinson: The fifth novel in this series released this week–if you’re already a fan go get Big Sky–but for everyone who hasn’t read this series yet, I’m going to start you at the beginning and then you can marathon five books. Atkinson, which I only started reading for the first time this year, has very quickly become a favorite author of mine. All her novels are very different, while Transcription (Review) was a historical spy novel Case Histories is a very unique take on the P.I. genre that at times feels like a character study of not only Jackson Brody but also his clients as we’re given front row seats to their thoughts. The novel is about three cases from different decades: A woman in her kitchen next to her murdered-with-an-axe husband; a child who vanished from her backyard; a man who murdered a man’s daughter at his office. Englishman Jackson Brodie is a former police detective who is now a P.I., divorced with an eight-year-old daughter, working in Edinburgh and getting sucked into all kinds of things because of his empathy. I loved the balance of Brodie’s personality against some wild/ridiculous clients, the way the threads of the mysteries slowly came together, the caustic humor, and cynicism.

Recent Releases

Potions, Tells, & Deadly Spells (Romaine Wilder #3) by Abby L. Vandiver (Great cozy mystery series.)

The Black Jersey by Jorge Zepeda Patterson, Achy Obejas (Translation) (Zero interest in cycling and still really enjoyed this whodunnit set in the Tour de France.)

The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone by Felicity McLean (Missing sisters mystery.)

Side Chick Nation (Justice Hustlers #4) by Aya de León (I love this crime series of women fighting wealth inequality, racism, and sexism in NY.)

Wherever She Goes by Kelley Armstrong (Psychological thriller I liked: Woman thinks she witnesses a crime but no one believes her.) (TW suicide)

Murder in the Crooked House by Sōji Shimada, Louise Heal Kawai (Translator) (Reading: Enjoying this for-Clue-fans Japanese mystery from the ’80s.)

Big Sky (Jackson Brodie #5) by Kate Atkinson (See above Case Histories review.)

A Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Edvardsson, Rachel Willson-Broyles (Translation) (Swedish legal thriller.)

Kingdom of the Blind (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #14) by Louise Penny (Paperback) (Great Canadian procedural series.)

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!

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From Book Riot And Around The Internet

3 on a YA Theme: Summer YA Mystery Releases for Your TBR

Do Crime Like an Edwardian: 11 Nonfiction Recommendations

Giveaway: Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott

A great interview with Kate Atkins (with a terribly misleading headline)

Harlan Coben: ‘I cry a lot when I write – I need to cry more when I’m reading’

Barnes & Nobles’ The Best Books of 2019 So Far…

Amazon’s Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2019 So Far

News And Adaptations

5 Things I Want to See in the TALENTED MR. RIPLEY TV Series

Da Vinci Code Prequel Series Langdon Being Developed at NBC

Another article on the Scarlet imprint debacle: He wrote/she wrote. On gender in mystery writing and prompted for a response regarding everything that’s been published Pegasus’ Twitter account responded: “Hi Nick, our ownership has the highest respect for the integrity of Scarlet’s editorial board, but moving forward Pegasus will no longer be partners in Scarlet’s publishing program.”

Kindle Deals

Secrets, Lies, & Crawfish Pies (Romaine Wilder #1) by Abby L. Vandiver is $2.99 and a great cozy mystery series. The sequel, Love, Hopes, & Marriage Tropes, is also on sale for $2.99 and starts with a dude dying on his wedding day–the wedding being held at a funeral home!

What You Want to See (Roxane Weary Book 2) by Kristen Lepionka is $2.99 (This is one of my favorite P.I. series!)

Karin Slaughter’s Pretty Girls is $1.99! (This one is still on my must-read list so I don’t have TW for you but all of her books I’ve read are intense AF.)

A Bit Of My Week In Reading

Currently Reading: Girls Like Us by Cristina Alger on audiobook, which is a return home mystery starring an FBI agent; Vivien Chien’s 4th in the cozy Noodle Shop mystery series I really enjoy, Wonton Terror; Steph Cha’s Your House Will Pay set in early 1990s L.A. exploring racial tensions between Korean and Black communities; Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly which is an intense thriller with horror vibes that I can’t put down so far.

Finished reading and really liked: Conviction by Denise Mina; The Black Jersey by Jorge Zepeda Patterson, Achy Obejas (Translation)

And I plan on spending some time this weekend with Edward Lee’s Smoke & Pickles cookbook because yuuuuuum.

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 a literary mystery that explores the fallout of a crime, a P.I. in New Orleans, and an equally hilarious and emotional true crime memoir.

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Literary Mystery (TW addiction/ PTSD)

The Other Americans by Laila Lalami: This one works really well on a few levels: it’s great for fans of literary works, murder mysteries, multiple points of view, love stories, and explorations of the effects of a crime on a family and community. Driss Guerraoui is killed in a hit-and-run and we follow as his adult daughter, Nora, and wife, Maryam, cope with the grief, waiting for the case to be solved, and remembering the relationship they had with him. We also follow the life of Efraín, a witness to the hit-and-run, whose wife wants him to come forward but refuses because he is undocumented. There’s also the detective working on the case and a fellow officer, who is not directly on the case, but grew up with Nora. The audiobook had multiple narrators, which really worked well, and I enjoyed getting to know all the characters so even if it hadn’t solved the mystery–it does, you get the full solve and explanation–I still would have really enjoyed this one as a look at the effects of a crime.

New Orleans P.I. (TW mentions suicide/ pedophile)

Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead (Claire DeWitt Mysteries #1) by Sara Gran: It just so happened that I read this one right after reading Kate Atkinson’s start to her Jackson Brodie series, Case Histories, and I realized that fans of each would like the other if they enjoy the sarcasm, cynicism, and unique entry into the P.I. world of novels. In Sara Gran’s novel, though, it is much less a character study of various characters, and more just of Claire DeWitt as she focuses on solving her current case–and regales us with bits of her childhood, how she came to be a P.I., her mentor, and the lessons she learned from French detective Jacques Silette’s Détection handbook. We follow her in hurricane-destroyed New Orleans as she’s hired to find a missing District Attorney. Thanks to DeWitt’s sarcasm, drug using with potential suspects, quirky stories, and the overall meditation on the P.I. genre, this managed to make itself a fun read even though it’s in part a bleak novel.

True Crime Memoir (TW rape/ eating disorder/ addiction/ suicide)

Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide by Karen Kilgariff, Georgia Hardstark: Two things to know about this book: First, you don’t have to know anything about the podcast before reading this book; Second, if you’re an audiobook listener go with the audiobook! Not only because, being narrated by the authors, you get their personality but they got Paul Giamatti to narrate bits! And there are a few sections recorded in front of an audience and it really gives you a feel for their fan base. Okay, now on to the book: Kilgariff and Hardstark started the now very popular true crime podcast My Favorite Murder. This book talks about how they met and came to create the podcast, what they’ve learned so far from the podcast, their childhoods, the true crime genre, and very personal stories about addiction, mental illness, being in danger of a predator, victim blaming, and specific true crime cases. The women are equally funny and frank and I personally really related, having grown up in the ’80s with the popularity of true crime shows like Unsolved Mysteries during a time when kids played unsupervised outside with instructions to come inside when the sun set. It’s interesting to see the fine line they walk between being obsessed with true crime and the reasons why, and true crime being used as entertainment.

Recent Releases

The Betel Nut Tree Mystery (Crown Colony #2) by Ovidia Yu (Great historical mystery series set in 1930s Singapore.)

The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda (I’ve liked all of Miranda’s mysteries so I’m looking forward to this murder mystery set in a vacation spot that pits locals vs tourists.)

The Poison Thread by Laura Purcell (TBR: A Victorian Gothic mystery.)

Conviction by Denise Mina (Currently reading: A true crime obsessed woman realizes she once knew the victim accused in a podcast and decides to do her own sleuthing. I’m halfway through and really enjoying this one.)

The Cutting Room (Carver and Lake #2) by Ashley Dyer (British serial killer police procedural–curious to read this series.)

The Labyrinth of the Spirits (The Cemetery Of Forgotten Books #4) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (Paperback) (Historical mystery)

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! Claws is back with its third season on TNT and I love this show. If you’ve yet to discover it, it’s especially great for fans of crime shows and girl gangs and you can marathon the first two wild seasons on Hulu.

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From Book Riot And Around The Internet

5 True Crime Books to Read With Your Book Club

Rincey and Katie have a new episode of Read or Dead where they talk mystery books by LGBTQ+ authors, news, new releases, and what they’re reading.

9 books and movies to check out after watching When They See Us

40 New Thrillers Out This Summer That Make The Perfect Vacation Reads

Enter to win 1 of 250 digital audio downloads of Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman

And you can check out Book Riot’s Amazon storefront–we’ve put together a selection of our favorite books and bookish stuff for summer–and one of my favorite crime writers!

Adaptations And News

‘Veronica Mars’: Hulu Sets Premiere Date For Original Three Seasons Ahead Of Revival

Exclusive: The author of A Simple Favor is back with another juicy thriller

Dutton Will Drop Linda Fairstein

Lucifer Renewed for Fifth (and Final) Season at Netflix — ‘I’ll See You in Hell!’ Says Tom Ellis to Fans (The fourth season was so good I’m really excited.)

And this is a story that needs 2 links and a Twitter thread: How Did Mystery Writer Twitter Become Convinced This Debut Author Didn’t Exist?; Pegasus Books, Scarlet, And The Incredible Disappearing Male Authors; Steph Cha’s thread.

Kindle Deals

The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater is $2.99. I don’t remember seeing this on sale before so get on that–it’s a fantastic true crime that made me realize that the world really needs more nonfiction YA. (Sorry, I don’t remember trigger warnings.)

If you still haven’t gotten to Jane Harper’s The Dry it’s $2.99 and an excellent Australian mystery. (Review) (TW suicide/ child abuse–I’m going from memory here)

More people need to be reading Nic Joseph and you can start with The Night In Question which is $2.51! (Review)

And A Bit of My Week In Reading

My mystery break book was Saeed Jone’s upcoming memoir How We Fight For Our Lives, which I read in one sitting, and woo this is one of those memoirs that will live with me forever. It’s raw and powerful and it’s out in October, and if you’re a fan of memoirs definitely have this one on your radar. He’s also one of my favorite people to follow on Twitter.

And I’m currently reading: Murder in the Crooked House by Sōji Shimada, Louise Heal Kawai (A puzzle mystery and locked room mystery and I’m loving it.) The Black Jersey by Jorge Zepeda Patterson, Achy Obejas (I just downloaded the audiobook because I really enjoyed his previous book —Milena, or The Most Beautiful Femur in the World–and I was sold on the pitch for this one: “Murder on the Orient Express meets the Tour de France–someone’s killing off cyclists one by one.)”

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 missing woman surrounded by secrets, a past camp mystery that must be solved, and a thriller!

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Mystery + Family Drama (TW suicide/ mentions past domestic abuse/ statutory rape discussed)

Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok: This is a beautiful and sad mystery about sacrifices, family, belonging, and the weight of secrets. Sylvie Lee traveled to the Netherlands to visit her dying grandmother, a place where she was raised as a young child by relatives. And now no one has heard from her or knows where she is. Her relatives are certain she returned to the U.S. but her sister and parents were unaware of this and are unable to locate her. The mystery unfolds as we watch Amy Lee, Sylvie’s younger sister, search for her, along with chapters about Sylvie’s life just before she disappeared; we also get a few chapters from their mother’s perspective, along with news articles. The novel does a great job of balancing the family’s history, Sylvie’s childhood, and the present mystery making this a great read for fans of mystery and family dramas.

Indian Summer Meets Agatha Christie (TW suicide)

I’ll Never Tell by Catherine McKenzie: This reminded me of the film Indian Summer had it been siblings and wrapped in a mystery. The five MacAllister children return to the summer camp their family ran to listen to their parents will. They’re already expecting to have to make a decision on what to do with the camp and ready for that fight. What they’re not expecting, nor prepared for, is to be thrown into a mystery where the camp’s fate, and their futures, hinges on them solving a twenty-year mystery involving what happened to Amanda Holmes–one of the daughter’s best friends. And by solve the mystery I mean one of them is literally accused, and it’s made clear if they didn’t do it then one of the other siblings must have… Told in present day following the siblings, and their current life dramas, we also get to know Amanda, twenty years before, on the night of the mystery… This hit that perfect level of entertainment for me, while giving me family drama, and a summer camp setting.

Thriller!

If She Wakes by Michael Koryta: It had definitely been a while since I read a fast-paced thriller that I couldn’t put down–I listened to the audiobook in two sittings. And by sittings I mean I finally got around to a ton of spring cleaning. Tara Beckley is in the hospital believed to be in a vegetative state but is really in locked-in syndrome–she can hear, see, think, she just can’t move or speak. And Abby Kaplan is investigating the car accident that put Tara in the hospital. The problem is nothing was an accident and now Abby is in danger, as is Tara, but they don’t know each other and no one even knows Tara is alert! What I really enjoyed was that the plot moved quickly; you got to follow Tara, Abby, and a teen assassin (!); Abby’s past story was interesting and neither of the women’s stories were based on past violence. A good thriller to kick up your feet and read.

Recent Releases

Grab a Snake by the Tail: A Murder in Havana’s Chinatown (Mario Conde #5) by Leonardo Padura, Peter Bush (Translator) (Cuban detective series the Netflix adaptation Four Seasons in Havana is based on.)

Those People by Louise Candlish (Currently reading: A murder in the suburbs and everyone points fingers as they protect their own secrets.)

Lethal White (Cormoran Strike #4) by Robert Galbraith pseudonym for J.K. Rowling (Paperback) (Great series for British P.I. fans.)

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! We’re getting a second season of Netflix’s Dead to Me and I’m so excited because Netflix would have been dead to me if they’d cancelled it!

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Sponsored by Delusions of Clarity, by Vern Bryk

Karl Jommers is a down-to-earth police psychologist. After a cop is shot, Jommers must evaluate the two police officers involved. Both offer conflicting accounts, but neither is lying. Their divergent perspectives are blurred by their personal anxieties. One sees local corruption, the other a government conspiracy. Jommers tries to disentangle the discordance, but he can’t square their differing views without first finding the truth. But stepping outside his domain to investigate may jeopardize his practice and his life. While trying to correct the distorted views of others, he’s forced to question the clarity of his own perception.

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From Book Riot And Around The Internet

25 New Thrillers and Mysteries to Sink Your Teeth Into This Summer

Harper Lee’s Writing About A Preacher Serial Killer and Other Favorite Mysteries and Thrillers

8 of the Best Private Detectives in Mystery Series

Barbara Neely, The Activist-Turned-Crime Writer Who Inspired A Generation

In Conversation With: Tom Ryan and April Snellings

News And Adaptations

Exclusive: Cover Reveal for Cat Sebastian’s ‘Hither, Page’ (” I wanted to create a Miss Marple-style postwar murder village and populate it with queer characters.” I am SO sold.)

Phoebe Waller-Bridge: James Bond Is “Absolutely Relevant Now” But The Film “Has To Treat Women Properly” (Now I have to watch the upcoming Bond film because her writing is amazing: Killing Eve s1/Fleabag).

Watch Now (And Read)

Big Little Lies season 2, with the addition of Meryl Streep, starts Sunday June 9th on HBO. (‘Big Little Lies’ Cast on Season 2, Group Chats and Playing ‘Hysterically Funny but Tragic Women’)

When They See Us, Ava DuVernay’s dramatic series based on the Central Park Five case starring Felicity Huffman and Joshua Jackson, is now streaming on Netflix. (When They See Us Sparked a Boycott Against Central Park Five Prosecutor Linda Fairstein) (Before, and After, the Jogger Survivors of the real ‘Central Park Five’ attacker speak for the first time.)

Kindle Deals

Every Reasonable Doubt (Vernetta Henderson #1) by Pamela Samuels Young is $0 dollars. That isn’t a typo and this book is super good so like run! (Review)

The Lost Ones (Nora Watts #1) by Sheena Kamal is $1.99 and a great series for fans of darkish P.I. novels. (Review) (TW rape)

A Bit Of My Week In Reading

Some upcoming and recent releases I acquired: Miami Midnight by Alex Segura (The final book in the Pete Fernandez P.I. series!); The Truffle Underground: A Tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and Manipulation in the Shadowy Market of the World’s Most Expensive Fungus by Ryan Jacobs (You know I’m obsessed with this type of true crime book.); Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (My crime break, which is currently giving me life and is utterly delightful.)

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! I have for you a great legal mystery, an equally great procedural, and a page-turner serial killer mystery. These would all make great summer reads–they’ve got great hooks, pacing, and escapism.

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Sponsored by Forge Books.

In the words of Lee Child on Gone to Dust, “I want more of Nils Shapiro.” New York Times bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning writer Matt Goldman obliges by bringing the Minneapolis private detective back for a thrilling, stand-alone adventure. A prominent lawyer is found dead, tied to a dock by a fishing stringer through his jaw, and everyone wants Nils to protect them from suspicion: The unfaithful widow. Her boyfriend. The lawyer’s firm. A congressional candidate. A rudderless police department. Even the FBI. The Shallows delves into the threat of dark history repeating itself while delivering another page-turner with a fast pace, humor, and richly drawn characters.

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Great Legal Mystery

Every Reasonable Doubt (Vernetta Henderson #1) by Pamela Samuels Young: My first thought upon finishing this novel was how annoyed I was that I’d never heard of this series before. It had been a while since I’d read a really good mystery starring a lawyer and this hit a lot of sweet spots for me: court room scenes; twisty case; good balance of personal life with work scenes; great friendship.

Vernetta Henderson is about to get her first criminal case, which would be exciting for her if it weren’t for the fact she’s paired up with a lawyer she can’t stand: Neddy McClain. It also doesn’t help that Vernetta’s husband has decided it is now time to start having kids, and he’s super insistent even though Vernetta keeps saying now isn’t the right time because of her career. And then there’s the issue that Vernetta is certain her new client did kill her husband.

If you’re a fan of procedurals and legal mysteries this was a great start to a series–and there are four more books in the series!

YA Serial Killer Mystery

Keep This to Yourself by Tom Ryan: This was a page-turner about an unsolved small-town mystery with a teen that won’t let it go. It also had the added bonus of a serial killer, but for those who shy away from serial killer reads, because they’re usually really dark, this novel never went into dark territory.

It’s been a year since the killings ended in Camera Cove and the community is finally trying to find a new normal and put it behind them. But Mac Bell lost his best friend and when the library asks him to help finish the mural his best friend had been painting before his death, he finds himself digging into the lives of those murdered by the serial killer. It just never made sense to him how they were all connected or how the police let it go after determining the serial killer was no longer hunting in their town. While everyone wants him to stop and just leave things in the past, he meets a new boy who wants to help and date him–but they’ll have to survive first if they continue being the meddling kids!

I found myself equally caring about the mystery and Mac’s dating life, and I enjoyed the ride so much that I really didn’t care that a bit of the police stuff fell really into fictional land. I will definitely be reading his upcoming novel: I Hope You’re Listening.

Great Procedural (TW suicide/ PTSD)

One Small Sacrifice (Shadows of New York #1) by Hilary Davidson: This was so good I listened to the audiobook–a great ensemble cast–in one day.

The mystery is basically this: there’s a war photographer with PTSD who has been on an NYPD detective’s radar since a woman’s death. Now, with his girlfriend missing, the detective is here to finally nail his ass to the wall. But this was a great procedural so it’s not going to be that easy. I really liked the way the multiple points of view were used, that the detective has a new partner–so her catching him up felt totally natural and not like forced info dumping–plus, I loved their clashing and melding as they settle into a new partnership.

I thought this was a really good start to a series, where I equally liked the detective and the suspect and really look forward to where this may go in the future. It would also make a fantastic series adaptation so someone get on that, please!

Recent Releases

Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok (Currently reading and loving: Multiple POV as woman is missing and everyone starts to learn they didn’t really know her.) (TW suicide/ domestic abuse/ statutory rape discussed)

I’ll Never Tell by Catherine McKenzie (Currently reading: Camp setting where past mystery must be solved by those who may have been involved.)

We Were Killers Once (Brigid Quinn #4) by Becky Masterman (Fictional ex-FBI and ex-Priest working on a case tied to the case in the true crime In Cold Blood.)

Five Midnights by Ann Dávila Cardinal (Really good mystery/horror set in Puerto Rica.) (TW addiction)

Death in Kew Gardens (Kat Holloway Mysteries #3) by Jennifer Ashley (Victorian London historical mystery)

The Right Sort of Man (The Right Sort Marriage Bureau #1) by Allison Montclair (After World War II London historical mystery)

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 sounds like another good nonviolent true crime read.)

Your Life is Mine by Nathan Ripley (Return back home mystery where her father was a cult leader and killer.)

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.