Category: Unusual Suspects

For fans of Japanese detective series which are completed!

This is a great series that follows Tokyo police detective Kyoichiro Kaga and as the reader you get to watch each clue found and mulled over as he slowly solves the cases. This time around the mystery is a head scratcher of a case that connects to Kaga’s personal life. His cousin, Shuhei Matsumiya, also works for the police, and although there is no evidence, he starts to suspect two unrelated cases have to have some connection: the murder of an unhoused person and a strangled cleaning contractor found in a closet. And that’s before one of the murder victims has an item that is tied to Kaga’s mother’s death a decade prior…

If you want to start at the beginning pick up Malice.

For fans of fun mystery series with an amateur sleuth!

Morgan Carter lives in Wisconsin where she owns a bookstore and is a cryptozoologist, believing in plausible existability. Basically, she isn’t certain that creatures like the Loch Ness Monster exist she just doesn’t think it can fully be ruled out. So naturally when a man is found dead from a vicious attack in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest— following sightings of Big Foot— Morgan is asked to help investigate…

If you want to start at the beginning of the series pick up A Death In Door County!

For fans of thrillers, psychological horror, and gorgeous covers!

Sweet Cadence was an all-girl pop group until one member, Mina, died by suicide. Years later, one of the past members, Candie, joins a K-pop workshop with the chance to train in Korea. Except another past member, Sunny, has different plans: infiltrate the workshop to find out what really happened to Mina…

For fans of thrillers, dual timelines, and past secrets!

Maggie is a therapist whose sister has been missing for years. Erin is married to Will, and they’ve recently started marriage counseling with Maggie. When Erin mentions something related to Maggie’s missing sister, Maggie becomes obsessed with how Erin could possibly know that. Rather than recommending the couple to another therapist — per code of ethics — Maggie instead decides to find out what Erin knows and why…

For fans of narratives told in the past and present with diary entries and fictional true crime!

Simone’s father is in prison, having been convicted of murdering her mother when she was 13. Now an adult, she’s trying to prove what she’s always believed: her father is innocent, and her neighbor, the father of her best friend, committed the murder…

For fans of translated procedurals with older protagonists and fictional serial killers summoning the detective to prison!

This is a great series where the lead, Superintendent Teresa Battaglia, is in her sixties and has diabetes and dementia — the latter something she has kept hidden from everyone. So, while on sick leave, she’s just going to move into retirement — except a serial killer from her past summons her to the prison he’s held in. It turns out that during his recent escape, he was hired to commit a murder, but he won’t say anything about the crime, including who hired him. So, we watch Battaglia and her partner try to solve what is currently happening while also watching almost 30 years prior the cat and mouse game between the serial killer and Battaglia.

If you want to start at the beginning of this great series, pick up Flowers over the Inferno!

For fans of noir, anxiety-inducing genre blends, atmospheric and slow-burn reads, and translated crime!

Bak Insu is a forester living nearby with his family and a recovering alcoholic. The forester prior to him mysteriously disappeared, but Bak Insu—and those living in the small village dependent on the forest—claim no knowledge of the previous forester. Then an accident, death, attempted break-in, and mysterious note occur, and Bak Insu must question what exactly may be happening in this forest…

For readers of true crime and history!

Over the course of two years, in the late 1950s, Charles Starkweather (19) and his girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate (14) traveled across Nebraska and Wyoming. Starkweather killed 11 people, including Fugate’s family. It’s the case behind Natural Born Killers and Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska. Many questions have remained, including Fugate’s involvement, which MacLean sought out to answer not only with existing research but also by interviewing Fugate.

For fans of cozy mysteries starring a bookstore owner!

Samantha Washington runs a bookstore in Michigan and has just published a historical mystery, which she is on a book tour promoting. That’s where she witnesses Judith Hunter, a bestselling author, get accused of plagiarism and fighting with other authors. So when a publicist is poisoned, Sam thinks maybe the intended victim was Judith. She’ll need to prove her theory correct and get help from some friends at the Shady Acres Retirement Village.

Want to start at the beginning? Pick up The Plot is Murder!

For fans of murder mysteries, past and present storylines, and a main character that can’t remember the night in question!

Max has been having a bit of a rough time recently since transitioning: one parent is supportive and loving, and the other is not; his recent ex has become his bully. So when Gloss, a new girl in town who’s instantly the cool girl, takes him under her wing, he’s delighted. But they’re complete opposites on the surface: Gloss is rich, outgoing, and rule-breaking; Max is not wealthy, a musician lost in his lyrics, and trying to get by.

Then a party ends in murder, and Max is the main suspect until someone else confesses, throwing everything Max knows into turmoil, especially since his memory of that night isn’t coming back… (You find out very early on who was murdered and who confesses, but since the summary didn’t list it, I thought I’d not “spoil” it.)

Told in the past (Max meeting Gloss through the night of the party) and present (Max being questioned by police through the point of him remembering the night of the party), both narratives careen towards each other, giving you plenty of chance to try to figure out what did actually happen that night.

(TW alcoholic parent, child abuse/ misgendering, transphobia / mentions past suicidal ideation)

For fans of murder mysteries, investigative psychologists, and armchair travel sleuthing!

Philip Taiwo is an investigative psychologist who has been living in the U.S. with his family. Recently, they returned to Nigeria, where his younger sister has asked him to look into a case. It involves the megachurch she attends, where the pastor has been charged with his wife’s murder after she disappeared. It’s a sensational case that will challenge Taiwo and put his family in danger…

If you want to start at the beginning of the series, pick up Lightseekers.

For fans of history and reading about intelligence agencies!

Dive into seven decades of CIA history, from the CIA being created to Osama bin Laden’s assassination. Mundy, a journalist, uses hundreds of former CIA operatives’ interviews to bring to light women in the organization and their accomplishments in the face of discrimination.

You might also be interested in Mundy’s backlist title, Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II.

For fans of reunited friend groups, mysterious past deaths, secrets coming out, and remote mysteries set in New Zealand!

Nine years ago, Bea died by suicide. Now, her sister and Bea’s friend group have reunited in a crumbling estate in the New Zealand Alps. Luna, however, has partially accepted the invitation in order to demand Bea’s sister tell her what really happened and why she chose to cremate Bea’s body instead of allowing her friend a proper goodbye. Luna is already going into this reunion dealing with personal issues, including losing her sight and trying to follow her doctor’s advice of accepting what is happening in order to live a full life. Upon arriving at the reunion, her animosity toward Bea’s sister and her paranoia start to crank up when accidents start occurring and people start dying…

If you do audio and can keep track of a full cast of characters, I really enjoyed Saskia Maarleveld’s voice and narration.

(TW main mystery assumed suicide, mentions method/ brief mention past self-harm, suicide attempt/ brief mention rumor of pedophile, no details/ drugging without permission/ ableism)

For fans of history and true crime, not focused on serial killers!

Nothing exists in a vacuum, so while the crime of this book is alligator poaching, that’s not the only thing this book is about. You also are immersed in the Florida Everglades and its history, power, and politics; get bits of Renner’s life; meet the recruited Florida Fish and Wildlife officer tasked with investigating alligator poaching; and take a dive into learning the man vs the myth of Peg Brown — known as an alligator poaching legend.

For fans of PI series, community, and thriller action!

August Snow thinks something very strange is going on with the Catholic church in his hometown in Detroit, Mexicantown. Not only has the priest he’s always known, Father Michael Grabowski, suddenly retired because a group sent by the Vatican basically forced him to, but another priest died by apparent suicide. Soon, Snow finds himself in a full conspiracy and fighting to save Father Grabowski…

If you want to start at the beginning of this great action-packed series, pick up August Snow.

For fans of fictional true crime “investigators,” past and present chapters, and transcripts and diary entries!

This feels like reading a fictional version of a true crime memoir where the author investigates a crime they are loosely connected to while also trying to work through things in their own personal life. I went with the audiobook format, narrated by Anna Caputo, and got sucked in like I would a podcast.

Sam has been into true crime for a long time, so when she sees that a girl she once knew is now at the center of a true crime case, she inserts herself by trying to befriend the woman. Kiri was with her survivalist boyfriend, a man with a large following on social media, when he disappeared. There are a lot of questions and little answers to what happened in the desert, with many people labeling Kiri as a murderer. Will she open up to Sam and tell her the truth?

(TWs that may be incomplete because I couldn’t always write something down while listening: mentions of past child abuse, past domestic abuse/ disordered eating/ past statutory)

For fans of family dramas, following two women’s lives, and Celeste Ng!

In a rural village in China, Jasmine has been married since she was 14, having been told by her husband that her first child died after birth. She now learns that was a lie, and the baby girl was given up for adoption to a couple in New York because her husband wanted a boy. Jasmine flees her husband for NY to try to find her child, who is being raised by Rebecca and Brandon, and take her back. The adoptive parent’s lives aren’t perfect: Rebecca works in publishing but is threatened by a scandal, her husband is hiding something, and Rebecca appears to begrudge the nanny…

For fans of true crime that doesn’t involve serial killers!

Could people’s love and over-collecting, mixed with climate change, be leading to a plant being threatened with extinction? That’s what professor at the University of Alabama Jared D. Margulies dives into in this book. From theories of psychoanalysts to interviewers with collectors, you’ll learn what drives collectors to need more succulents and how poachers have created an illegal cactus trade.

For fans of Japanese crime novels and assassins!

Kabuto sees his physician, known as The Doctor, and during visits, is also given his assignments…because he’s an assassin. The problem is Kabuto no longer wants this line of work, and The Doctor doesn’t want to give him up, so a deal is struck: Kabuto will complete a few jobs and be released. Naturally, his final assignments are a challenge: take out fellow assassins. What could go wrong?!

If you want to start at the beginning, pick up Three Assassins, and if you like streaming adaptations, read Bullet Train and then watch the film on Netflix.

For fans of YA, prep schools, revenge games, nonlinear chapters, and articles, social media posts, interviews, and transcripts throughout!

Alyson Benowitz is hoping her prep school integrating from all girls to allowing boys will afford her a clean slate since she’s a hopeless romantic who is terrible at flirting. And all seems to be going great when she does get a boyfriend, except—it’s a mystery/revenge, so OF COURSE there is an ‘of course’—the girls learn that the boys have a secret contest that rewards points for sexual encounters. So, the girls create their own game to take back power…