Category: Unusual Suspects

The Past Is Coming To Get You

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date March 5, 2019

Hello mystery fans! This week I have a great historical mystery from a series I adore, a character driven procedural set in Canada, and a small-town murder mystery for you.

Sponsored by The Line Between by Tosca Lee

In this frighteningly believable thriller from New York Times bestseller Tosca Lee, an extinct disease re-emerges from the melting Alaskan permafrost to cause madness in its victims. For recent apocalyptic cult escapee Wynter Roth, it’s the end she’d always been told was coming. Filled with action, conspiracy, romance, and questions of whom—and what—to believe, The Line Between is a high-octane story of survival and love in a world on the brink of madness. “The perfect blend of spellbinding and heart stopping.” -NYT bestselling author Nicole Baart

Such A Great Historical Mystery Series! (TW suicide/ addiction/ PTSD)

Smoke and Ashes cover image Smoke and Ashes (Sam Wyndham, #3) by Abir Mukherjee: I adore this series and this is the best one yet! The series follows a Scotland Yard detective, Sam Wyndham, who left Scotland for Calcutta hoping to flee his PTSD from the war, his wife’s death, and his opium addiction. I adore this series in part because even though we get the addicted detective trope it feels different than others, and the setting of British ruled Calcutta offers so much history to explore. This time around Wyndham has found himself in two difficult spots: while fleeing an opium den during a raid he stumbled across a dead man whose body later disappears; it’s now 1921 and the British are trying to stop the surge of Indians protesting for independence, led by Mahatma Gandhi, and Prince Edward is visiting so Wyndham is asked to help strategize against the movement. When a woman is murdered similarly to the first body Wyndham encountered, he knows he has a killer he has to stop, but he can’t say anything without revealing his addiction. Quite a pickle he’s put himself in! The book navigates brilliantly between focusing on the unrest, the mystery, and Wyndham’s personal struggles. I really like Wyndham’s character as he seems caught between being British and understanding the horrible treatment of Indians, and I love Sergeant Banerjee, his now roommate and one of the only Indians in the CID. I can’t recommend this series enough!

Character Driven Canadian Procedural (TW alcoholism/ child abuse/ past suicide briefly mentioned with detail/ sexual assault/ pedophile)

the birds that stay cover image The Birds That Stay (A Russell and Leduc Mystery, #1) by Ann Lambert: Look at me starting at the beginning of a series! Okay, I don’t really get props since it’s the first one just released. This one did a really nice job of mixing a procedural with a character driven novel and exploring Canadian history. When an older woman is murdered in a small village north of Montreal the reader follows a few unrelated characters, with the focus on a detective and an almost sixty-year-old woman. Chief Inspector for Homicide Roméo Leduc, a divorcé with a daughter who has dropped out of college to move to another country with her boyfriend, takes the puzzling murder case which he looks into as either a robbery or possible hate crime. Also divorced is Marie Russell, a marine biologist and author, who is currently caring for her mother who has entered a stage of dementia that needs more intense care. This was a really good read for fans of watching everything come together while exploring characters’ lives, and readers who love the-past-is-coming-to-get-you mysteries. Also a great pick for fans of Lisa Jewell and Fiona Barton.

Small-Town Murder Mystery (TW attempted homophobic attack/ addiction/ pedophile/ talk of suicide)

Orient cover image Orient by Christopher Bollen: This was a great mystery perfect for literary fans. Set in an isolated town in Long Island there’s a culture clash amongst the residents, between the locals and the new residents coming from New York and new money. There’s a war with a nearby research facility that’s surrounded by plenty of rumors. And one of the residents has brought a nineteen-year-old gay man home with him to help around the house. When the town caretaker is found dead the already heightened emotions get cranked up even higher, with many pointing a finger at the newest “resident.” A town filled with new and old rich, secrets, affairs, conservatives and liberals, and a push for a historic village, it’s only a matter of time before this small-town is no longer safe to be in…

Recent Releases

Fallen Mountains cover image Fallen Mountains by Kimi Cunningham Grant (Currently reading: Small-town mystery where the past comes calling.) (TW suicide/ domestic abuse)

A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself by William Boyle (Crime writer I love.)

Auntie Poldi and the Vineyards of Etna by Mario Giordano, John Brownjohn (Translation) (I love Poldi’s character and can’t wait to read this one.)

The Reign of the Kingfisher by T.J. Martinson (A noir detective mixed with superhero fantasy that I’m excited to read.)

Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward (Psychological thriller.)

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths cover image The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths (Modern gothic mystery.)

The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane (Black Hollow Lane #1) by Julia Nobel (Currently reading: middle grade mystery set in a boarding school.)

A Question of Holmes (Charlotte Holmes #4) by Brittany Cavallaro (Charlotte Holmes, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Sherlock Holmes, and Jamie Watson, the great-great-great grandson of John Watson team up once again to solve another mystery.)

Drawn and Buttered (A Lobster Shack Mystery #3) by Shari Randall (New England cozy mystery.)

Fatality in F cover image Fatality in F (Gethsemane Brown Mysteries #4) by Alexia Gordon (Fun cozy mystery starring American musician in Irish town who sees ghosts.)

Call Me Evie by J.P. Pomare (Australian psychologist thriller.)

Her Father’s Secret (Ilka #2) by Sara Blaedel (New series I’ve been looking forward to starting about a Danish woman who inherits her father’s funeral home in the U.S. and finds herself in danger.)

If You’re Out There by Katy Loutzenhiser (YA mystery.)

The Last Woman in the Forest cover image The Last Woman in the Forest by Diane Les Becquets (Serial killer thriller.)

The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag (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.

Unusual Suspects

Mila Kunis Adapting Thriller

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date March 1, 2019

Hello mystery fans! We survived the shortest month of the year that managed to feel as long as a year so let’s celebrate with all the linkable crime things and a weekend in the mystery bookfort. (That was a very long sentence for a very long month.)

Another Fantastic Lady Spy!

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date February 25, 2019

Hi mystery fans! This week I have a psychological thriller, historical mystery, and true crime that is sadly very relevant. Also, if you’ve been anticipating Chelsea Cain’s One Kick adaptation it premieres tonight on WGNAmerica. It’s titled Gone and stars Leven Rambin, Chris Noth, and Danny Pino–I’m making popcorn!

Sponsored by Fierce Reads and What We Buried by Kate A. Boorman

“Do you ever just want to be believed?” Siblings Liv and Jory Brewer have grown up resenting each other. The only thing they have in common is contempt for their parents. When their parents mysteriously vanish, Jory and Liv are forced to work together. What starts as a simple overnight road trip soon takes a turn for the dangerous and surreal. And as the duo speeds through the deserts of Nevada, brother and sister will unearth deep family secrets that force them to relive their pasts as they try to retain a grip on the present.

Psychological Thriller (TW suicide)

The Stranger cover image The Stranger by Melanie Raabe, Imogen Taylor (Translator): I needed something for my brain to obsess on in order to ignore *gestures wildly over there at all the stress * and this delivered. Sarah’s husband disappeared seven years ago and she’s finally started to accept that he isn’t returning, and so she’s moving on with her life with her young son. And then she gets the call that her husband Philip has been found and is returning home. That’s when everything goes WTF because as soon as Sarah sees him, she says, “That’s not my husband.” The beginning of the novel had me questioning behaviors too much to fully sink in but the what-is-happening kept me engaged. And then it turned into almost a cat-and-mouse between Philip and Sarah trying to outdo the other’s reactions to the situation: he has her blackmailed with “I know what you did” as she tries to prove that he isn’t Philip. I kept thinking “but if this is true, then this is implausible,” throughout which kept me having to turn the page because I had to know. I like the way Raabe “settled” the WTF-is-happening.

Another Fantastic Lady Spy! (TW suicide)

transcription cover image Transcription by Kate Atkinson: This was my first Atkinson novel and I can see why so many love her work. She managed to write a great spy novel for crime fans and a great novel for historical fiction fans, while having the depth readers want in literary fiction. It’s RUL good! It’s two timelines: In 1950 Juliet Armstrong is a BBC radio producer for a children’s program when her past shows up. In 1940, just barely an adult, Armstrong is recruited into MI5 and trained to monitor British Fascist sympathizers by transcribing audio recordings. This isn’t a jumping-off-buildings-during-chase spy thriller, instead it’s filled with tension and fascinating scenes as it follows a group of spies during WWII. What I loved most was Armstrong’s character and her dry humor and observations in all the situations she’s placed in. I went with the audiobook, which I fully recommend for full immersion into this great story that will especially have you holding your breath as you reach the end.

Difficult But Important Read (TW mass shooting/ homophobia/ ableism/ suicide (thoughts included)/ PTSD and survival guilt discussed)

Columbine cover image Columbine by Dave Cullen: So yes, I’m technically late to this one in that it published ten years ago, but there are so many important things to ponder and learn from that it’s never too late to read this investigation into the high school massacre that occurred April 20, 1999. I’ll say straight out it’s not an easy read, as it takes you into the tragedy with details, but to this day there is still so much wrong information associated with what happened and the book does an excellent job of not only giving the correct information but of showing how the misinformation started and how it spread. In a time when mass shootings continue, and social media changes the way we digest news, and journalism many times aims for being the first rather than the most accurate, there is so much to sit with and discuss while and after reading this book.

Recent Releases

Last Night cover image Last Night (The Searchers #2) by Karen Ellis (I’m excited to read this next since I enjoyed the first in the series which follows FBI Agent Elsa Myers.)

The Lost Night by Andrea Bartz (“What really happened the night Edie died? Ten years later, her best friend Lindsay will learn how unprepared she is for the truth.”) (TW suicide)

The Huntress by Kate Quinn (“English journalist and a Russian female bomber pilot who join forces to track the Huntress, a Nazi war criminal gone to ground in America.”)

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe (True crime in Ireland)

Down the River Unto the Sea cover image Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley (Paperback) (Character driven PI–full review) (TW rape)

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara (Paperback) (One of the best true crime memoirs–full review) (TW rape)

Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent (Paperback) (Cruel AF–full review) (TW revenge porn/ Heads-up a character deals with fat shaming throughout the entire novel.)

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.

Unusual Suspects

Jack The Ripper’s Victims Get A Voice

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date February 21, 2019

Hello mystery fans!

Sponsored by Beautiful Bad, a gripping psychological thriller by Annie Ward. Order your copy today at BeautifulBadBook.com.

Maddie and Ian’s love story began with a chance encounter at a party overseas. Now almost two decades later, married with a beautiful son, Charlie, they are living the perfect suburban life in Middle America. But when a camping accident leaves Maddie badly scarred, she begins attending writing therapy, where she gradually reveals her fears about Ian’s PTSD and her concerns for the safety of their young son. Sixteen years of love and fear, adventure and suspicion culminate in The Day of the Killing, when a frantic 911 call summons the police to the scene of a shocking crime.

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Rincey and Katie discuss recent mystery news–of course that banana pants publishing story–on the latest Read or Dead.

The novel ‘American Spy’ breaks down barriers. It’s also a terrific read

Read Harder: A Cozy Mystery

Joseph Knox’s The Smiling Man Is Right Up True Crime Fans’ Noir Alley

Identity Theft: A Uniquely Old-Fashioned Literary Crime

Tana French: ‘Nobody with imagination should commit a crime. You wouldn’t handle the stress’ (Tana French quit acting to be a writer!)

10 Mystery Manga to Investigate and Unravel

News And Adaptations

Vanity Fair’s Gwyneth Hughes is writing a new drama about Jack the Ripper’s victims

Killing Eve season two trailer!

There’s going to be a season two of You!

Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese Developing ‘Devil in the White City’ Series at Hulu

Now On Hoopla Audio! (If you don’t know about Hoopla)

Far From You by Tess Sharpe is an excellent amateur sleuth mystery–Full review) (TW drug addiction/ statutory rape)

Kindle Deals

For fans of revenge For Better And Worse by Margot Hunt is $5.99! (Review) (TW brief discussion about child suicide/ pedophile)

Now on my radar is this Chinese mystery, that sounds dark, written by a medical examiner which is currently $0.99: Murder in Dragon City by Qin Ming, Alex Woodend (Translation)

A Bit Of My Week In Reading

I just started reading a German translated psychological thriller, The Stranger by Melanie Raabe, and a Canadian procedural, The Birds That Stay by Ann Lambert.

And my mystery break is Elizabeth Acevedo’s upcoming With the Fire on High because I would buy and read every word on a cereal boxes if that’s what she wrote.

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.

Unusual Suspects

Who Was Murdered And Why?

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date February 19, 2019

Hi mystery fans! I have a modern Japanese noir, a puzzle mystery, and a neighborhood murder mystery that doesn’t tell you who was murdered until the end!

Sponsored by The Truth About Archie and Pye by Jonathan Pinnock

After a disastrous day at work, Tom Winscombe finds himself sharing a train carriage and a dodgy Merlot with George Burgess, biographer of the Vavasor twins, mathematicians Archimedes and Pythagoras, who died in curious circumstances a decade ago. Burgess himself will die tonight in an equally odd manner, leaving Tom with a locked case and a lot of unanswered questions. Join Tom and a cast of disreputable and downright dangerous characters in this witty thriller involving internet conspiracy theorists, hedge fund managers, the Belarusian mafia and a cat called µ.

Modern Japanese Noir (TW child abuse mentions/ public groping)

The Thief cover image The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura, Satoko Izumo (Translator), Stephen Coates (Translator): It had been a while since I read neo-noir or a crime novel that had no mystery element and I really enjoyed this one. It’s a rather quick read about a thief–masterful pickpocket–who has a past partner/friend show up in his life with a too-good-to-pass-up job opportunity. As you can imagine, that job opportunity puts our thief in danger. He also finds himself tangled with a woman and her young son after helping the kid who he catches shoplifting, and soon becomes something of a mentor to the boy. My favorite aspect though was certainly the details of how each pickpocket scene was written, really taking you into how it’s done.

Past and Present Puzzle Mystery! (TW anxiety attacks/ mentions suicide)

The Vanishing Stair cover image The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious #2) by Maureen Johnson: I’m going to say something I never say around here–you have to read the first book in the series before reading this one. It starts basically on the edge of the cliff that Truly Devious left us on because Maureen Johnson is both evil and a genius and this is why she’s now my enemy. The series follows Stevie, a mystery/true crime obsessed teen who is selected to attend Ellingham Academy, a rather unique school. She’s there determined to solve the 1936 kidnapping of the creator’s wife and daughter. But she also ends up on the mystery of who killed a current student. I’m going to be vague on the mysteries this round since it gives away a lot of the first book, but I will say the present mystery does move along some and we get more information. As per the past mystery we get a good chunk of answers and reveals! I love that this book is both set in the ’30s and in modern time, has dual mysteries, is a major nod to old school mysteries that give you all the clues along the way for solving, and has a wonderful teen girl sleuth dealing with anxiety attacks. The next in the series can’t come soon enough because my new enemy once again left me on the edge of a cliff!

Who Was Murdered And Why? (TW suicide/ stalking/ domestic violence/ statutory rape discussed throughout)

Watching You cover image Watching You by Lisa Jewell: I feel like Jewell always delivers for me in great characters and immersing me in stories I can’t put down. This time around we get a neighborhood in Bristol, England and follow a bunch of residents. The thing is someone has been brutally murdered in their kitchen. This we know, but who? And why? We follow Joey, a woman living with her brother and sister-in-law who is struggling on a few fronts including finding happiness. There’s a school headmaster and his wife and son, the son who spends his time at his window spying/stalking the neighbors. We meet two school girl best friends, one with a crush on the headmaster, and the other who thinks he’s overstepping a line. And there’s the mother who is convinced there is an organization stalking her… As we get to know each character we also get scenes of police questionings related to the murdered person as slowly we wait for everything to get stitched together into the solve of what happened! I love that Jewell gives me a variety of characters and struggles in daily life while always weaving a solid mystery throughout. I went with the audiobook on this one, and so long as you can pay attention to the dates, I recommend it.

Recent Releases

Blood Orange cover image Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce (Thriller starring a lawyer.)

The Next To Die by Sophie Hannah (Mystery about a serial killer targeting best friends that follows the police and also extreme personalities like only-kindness-will-solve-a-problem and foaming-at-the-mouth feminist.) (TW child abuse and suicide mentioned)

Death in Provence by Serena Kent (Cozy mystery set in France)

Hunting LeRoux: The Inside Story of the DEA Takedown of a Criminal Genius and His Empire by Elaine Shannon (True crime)

the birds that stay cover image The Birds That Stay (A Russell and Leduc Mystery #1) by Ann Lambert (Police procedural set outside of Montreal.)

The Vanishing Man: A Prequel to the Charles Lenox Series by Charles Finch (Historical fiction London, 1853.)

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.

Unusual Suspects

An Agatha Christie Alternate History

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date February 14, 2019

Hello mystery fans!

Sponsored by Fate, An Uncle Chow Tung Novel

Hong Kong, 1970. The Dragon Head of the Fanling Triad has died and there is a struggle to replace him among senior members of the gang. Sensing opportunity, neighboring gangs begin to make threatening moves and it’s obvious to the Fanling Triad that they need a leader who can fend off the threats, unite the membership, and maintain their prosperity. There are several candidates. The least conspicuous is the White Paper Fan, their young administrator. His name is Chow Tung, but many of those who work with him already refer to him as “Uncle”

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Rincey and Katie talk latest news, recommend Black authors, and talk about their recent crime reads on this episode of Read Or Dead.

9 Thrillers About Siblings

The Best Psychological Thrillers to Add to Your TBR in 2019

9 Thrillers & Mysteries Becoming Movies Or TV Shows In The Near Future

7 Historical Mysteries Set Around The World

News And Adaptations

Samuel L. Jackson, Jessie T. Usher And Richard Roundtree Team Up As Three Generations Of ‘Shaft’ In Trailer For New Film

Stieg Larsson’s investigation of Swedish PM’s assassination revealed in new book

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries was a beloved cult hit. Now there’s a movie, out this year.

Watch Now

Streaming On Netflix: Agatha And The Truth Of Murder is an alternative history film that has Agatha Christie solving a murder during the very real event of her life when she disappeared for days. Watch the trailer here.

Kindle Deals

If you’re looking for a serial killer thriller Jennifer Hillier’s Jar of Hearts is currently $2.99! (Review) (TW rape scenes/ domestic violence/ pedophilia off page)

If you’re looking for an ex-prosecutor turned PI series the first in Marcia Clark’s Samantha Brinkman series, Blood Defense, is $1.99! (I don’t remember the trigger warnings but the series has them and definitely sexual assault was one.)

A Bit Of My Week In Reading

I finished the audiobooks for The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson (TW mentions suicide/ anxiety attacks) and Lisa Jewell’s Watching You (TW suicide/ domestic violence/ statutory rape discussed throughout) and loved both. I also finished the audiobook for the entertaining cozy mystery Beaches, Bungalows & Burglaries by Tonya Kappes (TW suicide), which is on Hoopla audio.

Looking to read next: Columbine by Dave Cullen, which sadly feels way too necessary; Excited to start Tiffany D. Jackson’s Let Me Hear A Rhyme, she’s so good and I loved her last two books; House of Beauty by Melba Escobar, because I read a comp to Claws and I am so in.

And my current mystery break is a delightful audiobook set in a bakery with a family of brujas: Love, Sugar, Magic: A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano. ALSO, I just got my dirty paws on The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory and that piercing scream you heard was my excitement.

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.

Unusual Suspects

Procedural, Remote Town Mystery, & Psychological Thriller!

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date February 12, 2019

Hello mystery fans! I have an excellent procedural, a remote town mystery, and a psychological thriller for you this week.

Was James Brown Murdered?

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date February 7, 2019

Hi mystery fans!

Sponsored by Never Let Go by Elizabeth Goddard and Revell Books, a Division of Baker Publishing Group

The case may be cold, but things are about to heat up Forensic genealogist Willow Anderson is following in her late grandfather’s footsteps in her quest for answers about a baby abducted from a hospital more than twenty years ago. When someone makes an attempt on Willow’s life to keep her from discovering the truth, help will come from an unexpected source. Ex-FBI agent—and Willow’s ex-flame—Austin McKade readily offers to protect the woman he never should have let get away. Together they’ll follow where the clues lead them, even if it means Austin must face the past he’s spent much of his life trying to forget—and put Willow’s tender heart at risk.

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Thieving Drag Queens and Other Favorite Mystery and Thrillers

Close to Holmes: 6 More International Sherlock Holmes Adaptations

Will ‘My Favourite Murder’ Tour The UK? You Might Be Waiting A While To See Your Podcast Faves In The Flesh

Fiona Barton turns the tables on her journalist heroine in third thriller, The Suspect

Jane Harper Started as a Business Reporter. Now She Writes Novels About Murder.

News And Adaptations

Netflix “has picked up “Pieces of Her,” an eight-episode adaptation of crime author Karin Slaughter’s 2018 New York Times best seller, with an all female creative team behind the show.”

Here’s what publishing couldn’t stop talking about this week: A Suspense Novelist’s Trail of Deceptions . It’s completely banana pants but more than that it shows a huge problem in publishing–and *gestures wildly around *–where white men are able to behave appallingly while somehow continuing to move up in an industry–and in this case get all the advertising dollars. If you just don’t have the time for a long-form article Vox did a response piece that sums it up pretty well: This profile of publishing’s biggest scam artist reveals the industry’s deep dysfunction

True Crime

Was James Brown murdered? More than a dozen people want his death investigated

Sexualizing Serial Killers Like Ted Bundy Has Its Consequences

Grundy County cold case to be focus of true crime podcast

Halfway Across: The Delphi Murders

Kindle Deals

Death By Dumpling cover image Death By Dumpling by Vivien Chien is $2.99 if you’re a fan of cozy mysteries! (Review)

A Map in the Dark by Karen Ellis is .99 cents if you’re a fan of FBI procedural thrillers! (Review) (TW cutting/ child abuse)

Now On Hoopla Audio (If you don’t know about Hoopla)

Spin by Lamar Giles is a great new YA mystery and the audiobook is on Hoopla so you should run to that. (Review)

A Bit Of My Week In Reading

Super excited to have gotten an ARC for the revenge thriller Beijing Payback by Daniel Nieh (Ecco, July 23.)

I currently can’t put down Watcher in the Woods by Kelley Armstrong which is a crime novel in a remote area in the Canadian Yukon that basically is a safe haven for victims and also criminals–I know!

My nonviolent true crime obsession continues with Black Edge by Sheelah Kohatkar. And my everyone-stranded-in-one-place-and-uh-oh-someone-is-a-killer obsession is being fed with No Exit by Taylor Adams and The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley.

My break from mystery is Meaty by Samantha Irby, on audio, and I just adore her, her humor, and her no-fcks-given-says-what-she’s-thinking essays.

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.

Unusual Suspects

Unlike Every Other Spy Novel

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date February 5, 2019

Hello mystery fans! I have a spy novel, a super creepy procedural, and the new Jane Harper this week! I’m excited, are you excited? Let’s all be excited because yay books! (I may have had too much sugar–but also, yay books!)

Sponsored by The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (Celadon Books).

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. She is a famous painter and her husband, Gabriel, is an in-demand fashion photographer. One evening, Gabriel returns home late from work, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face and never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, and she is hidden away at the Grove, a secure psychiatric unit. Enter Theo Faber, a psychotherapist obsessed with unravelling Alicia’s mystery. Shocking, thought-provoking, and deeply twisted, The Silent Patient is a spellbinding psychological thriller about violence, obsession, and the dark side of passion.

Character Driven Spy Novel!

American Spy cover image American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson (February 12): This is an excellent spy novel that is unlike every other spy novel I’ve read. For starters it isn’t a thriller, it’s character driven, like Who Is Vera Kelly?, and follows a Black woman FBI intelligence officer. Set in the mid-’80s the novel is a slow burn suspense–with a kick you won’t see coming–where Marie Mitchell is writing her young sons a letter in order to explain recent events. We not only get to see her upbringing and time with the FBI but also her recruitment into a task force that is the U.S. meddling in Burkina Faso’s politics. Mitchell is a fantastic lead who is smart, determined, and doing her best to do right, while working for an organization that tells you what to do–and is an all white boys-club. This is a great read for fans of literary mystery, character driven novels, and historical fiction–especially focusing on history that never gets taught. The audiobook is narrated by Bahni Turpin, who is hands down one of the best narrators–I will listen to any book she narrates.

Super Creepy Procedural (TW claustrophobia / rape)

The Craftsman cover image The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton: This book is a white-knuckle read to the point that even though it starts in the present, so you know how it ends, you are still freaking out during the entire novel, set in the past. It’s so good. It’s so creepy. And there’s witchcraft! Florence Lovelady was in her early twenties and was a constable when she helped catch a creepy af child killer in Lancashire, in the 1960s. She was the only woman officer at the time and she was treated exactly as you’d imagine. The novel starts with her and her teenage son, in the present, visiting to attend the serial killer’s funeral 30 years after his arrest, but a message is left for her, and of course the past is coming back! I love a thriller where you think you know everything and you really don’t know anything! I was so sucked in that I got so many chores done, which I’d been avoiding, because I needed an excuse to keep listening to the audiobook. But please be smarter than me and don’t start the book before bedtime–trust me!

Excellent Atmospheric Mystery That Will Have You Sweating (TW domestic abuse/ child abuse/ date rape/ suicide)

The Lost Man cover image The Lost Man by Jane Harper: Jane Harper is at the top of the crime writing genre along with Attica Locke, Megan Abbott, and Tana French. She steps away from her recent series for this standalone that is just as atmospheric. I honestly would have read this in one sitting if it weren’t for the setting giving me anxiety–it’s literally so remote and so hot that you’ll die if your car breaks down and you don’t have supplies with you. So when Cameron is found dead in the heat near his abandoned car, lots of questions are asked and speculated, including did he intentionally go out into the heat? His brothers Nathan and Bub, sharing property but still hours away from each other, reunite with Cameron’s wife and children and their mother in order to figure out what happened. Did the elements get someone who knew better or is there something they’re all missing? This takes you into the family members’ lives, while dropping you into this very harsh setting, as it slowly builds into one hell of a mystery! I will drop whatever I am doing to read a Jane Harper crime novel.

Recent Releases

Watcher in the Woods (Rockton #4) by Kelley Armstrong (Currently reading: I just started this and can’t put it down. A couple comes to beg a relative to assist in a bullet wound surgery at a remote location where no one can ask questions or know anything.)

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides ( A good psychological thriller about obsession.) (TW suicide)

The Dead Ex by Jane Corry (Currently reading: One of those mysteries where you’re following different, unrelated characters and are waiting to see how it all comes together.) (TW child abuse/ pedophile/ suicide)

Don’t Wake Up by Liz Lawler (Psychological thriller.)

Hong Kong Noir cover image Hong Kong Noir (Akashic noir) by Jason Y. Ng (editor)

Evil Things by Katja Ivar (Historical mystery procedural.)

The Coronation (Erast Fandorin Mysteries #7) by Boris Akunin (Russian historical mystery.)

One Fatal Mistake by Tom Hunt (Thriller)

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.

Unusual Suspects

New Psychological Suspense Imprint

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date January 31, 2019

Hello mystery fans!

Sponsored by Doubleday, publishers of The Plotters

THE PLOTTERS is like if Wes Anderson wrote a thriller: an ensemble cast of eccentric characters come together to form a truly unique crime novel. Set in an alternate Seoul where assassins gather in a headquarters known as “The Library,” the story follows Reseng, a lifelong hitman whose every move is dictated by the anonymous Plotters. Then, one day, Reseng steps out of line on a job and finds himself embroiled in a deadly scheme that’s totally off-book. From the writer the Guardian calls “The Korean Henning Mankell”, THE PLOTTERS is a stylish and sarcastic thriller that will also appeal to literary readers.

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Annotated Agatha Christie Bingo

20 Murder Mystery Book Series to Intrigue and Delight

Crime-Solving Cats And Cozy Mysteries Are A Publishing Juggernaut

Read the First 3 Chapters of Monday’s Not Coming

Read an excerpt of The Silent Patient, an unforgettable — and Hollywood-bound — new thriller

News And Adaptations

Muppets arms up: We’re even closer to getting to watch Meg Abbott’s Dare Me adaptation series now that Netflix and USA Network will be co-licensing. I am very much Veruca Salt, “I want it now.”

We’re getting a new crime imprint: Otto Penzler and Pegasus Books joined together to create Scarlet. The new imprint will focus on “Psychological suspense that features complex women.” I do wish this idea that by and about women can only be marketed to women would stop, and Steph Cha has a point.

True Crime

A brief history of every Black Dahlia adaptation (and some conspiracy theories)

A new generation of kids get to grow up with nightmares: Netflix Reboots True Crime & Paranormal Series ‘Unsolved Mysteries’

Amazon Closing $14M Deal For Scott Burns-Helmed Drama ‘The Report’

Netflix’s Ted Bundy documentary is almost everything that’s wrong with the true crime genre

Kindle Deals

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson is $1.99 and that is the most ridiculous price for this fantastic book so run to it! (Review) (TW domestic abuse/ child death/ pedophile/ rape/ suicidal thought mentioned)

And from my TBR here’s a nonfiction that sounds really good and is also only $1.99: American Radical: Inside the World of an Undercover Muslim FBI Agent by Tamer Elnoury, Kevin Maurer

A Bit Of My Week In Reading

I started A Deadly Divide (Rachel Getty & Esa Khattak #5) by Ausma Zehanat Khan, which is one of my favorite series; it has an intense beginning and I can’t put it down!

My audiobooks right now are The Dead Ex by Jane Corry (A missing ex-husband and alternating stories between his ex-wife and a woman raising a young daughter to help her con and steal) and Find Me Gone by Sarah Meuleman (a past and present mystery with a young woman who has just upended her life and her childhood in Belgium when there was a serial killer).

And my mystery break is Helen Hoang’s The Bride Test. I have already hugged it and laughed a bunch, so clearly it’s going to be another perfect book from her.

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.