Category: Unusual Suspects

For fans of YA mysteries focused on past secrets with past and present chapters!

Harlow Ford’s life has never had stability: her mother moves them often like they’re on the run but has never shared with Harlow what exactly the danger is. Then, her mom dies in a car accident and leaves 17-year-old Harlow with instructions for where to find a safety deposit box. This leads Harlow to a house in a small town in Washington, along with photos that introduce her to her mother’s past. Now, instead of running, as she was instructed, Harlow is ready to make a decision for herself and stay in a possibly creepy house and find out what her mother was running from and why…

The audiobook has great dual narrators: Jade Wheeler and Kimberly Woods.

For fans of unsolved missing person cases, older protagonists, and two timelines!

In 1951, two teen girls, Edie Green and Lucy Theddle, became friends. Lucy tells Edie a secret, something Edie is conflicted over keeping secret, but then Lucy disappears.

In 2018, Edie, now 84, still lives in the same town and swears she sees Lucy. Except the Lucy she sees is the one still age 15, and so this gets brushed off by everyone as part of her dementia. But she won’t leave it alone and instead gets her granddaughter to help her finally find out what happened to Lucy…

For fans of bounty hunters!

Domingo is a Filipino American bounty hunter and also fancies himself a writer, working on an advice book for aspiring immigrants. One of his assignments has actually crossed Domingo’s path three times: she escaped the first time, he released her the second time, and now he’s once again given the job to apprehend her. Third time’s the charm and it looks like this time catching her will make him question his job…

For fans of groups of sleuths, older characters, and mystery fans who like books that don’t tip into cozy but aren’t too dark, either!

In a retirement village in Kent, England, four pensioners (Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron) meet weekly to discuss true crime and solve cases the local police have been unable to figure out. This is their fourth book in the series so they’re used to getting up to trouble and solving mysteries, the latest involving the antiques world when a friend guarding a package is killed…

If you want to start at the beginning, pick up The Thursday Murder Club.

For fans of fun YA, heists, and competitions!

Ross Quest is a thief because it’s the only life she’s ever known–her mom trained her for this life. But even though Ross is really good at heists, she wants her own life and to not be controlled by her mom. So she’s planning another life for herself until her mom is kidnapped, and Ross needs a billion dollars to save her. Enter the Thieves’ Gambit, a competition that pits thieves against each other in international heists. Quickly, Ross learns that she may be good, but there’s a lot of talent out there. She’s also been raised to rely only on her immediate family and be suspicious of everyone else, which is immediately put to the test with a past friend turned enemy and a potential romantic interest. Can she trust any of the other contestants as friends or more? Can she save her mom? Can she have the kind of life she wants, and what exactly even is that life?

Come for the fun action heist scenes (aplenty!) and stay for the dive into family and found family.

For fans of British spy series!

Emma Makepeace and her handler Ripley work for MI6 in a section that’s so secret it’s not listed as existing. So it’s especially troubling when an operative is found dead in a suitcase in his apartment. Now Emma is digging into what the murdered operative was looking into (Russian oligarchs), but if he was murdered because of his case, how is Emma going to fair?

If you want to start at the beginning, pick up Alias Emma.

For fans of gritty, historical crime novels!

Clyde “The Viper” Morton decided to leave Alabama in 1936 to pursue his dream of being a jazz musician in Harlem. But when his dream doesn’t happen, he finds a “career” in selling pot. That is until heroine becomes the drug, which he won’t sell, but it still manages to threaten the life he’s made for himself. Follow Viper from the ’40s to the ’60s as the music scene and crime scene unfold around him—including why he’s about to be arrested for murder.

For fans of murder mysteries with unique formats!

You will be fully immersed in solving this cold case murder mystery, which is entirely told through interviews, newspaper articles, text messages, and docuseries episode transcripts.

That docuseries you’re reading is put together by Guy Howard, who, as a child, was the only person in the house when his stepfather, Luke Ryder, was murdered in the garden. It’s been almost two decades since it happened, and no one was ever arrested, so Guy thinks this docuseries, and going over all the information of the case, will finally solve it. His mom has dementia, and his sisters want nothing to do with the show, but Guy is determined to have the case solved…

If you’re wondering how you know the author’s name, it’s because she’s had “controversial” and “Tiger mom” attached to her name since she published a parenting memoir in 2011. In 2019, she made headlines when her daughter got a clerkship under Brett Kavanaugh less than a year after Chua defended him in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

Her latest release is great for fans of historical fic, past and present mysteries, and procedurals!

Homicide Detective Al Sullivan is drinking in the bar of the Claremont Hotel in 1944 Berkley, California, when a presidential candidate is murdered upstairs. The case is immediately complicated because it draws in a wealthy family, the grandmother a socialite. Not only are two of her granddaughters on the suspect list, but years ago, her third granddaughter, Iris, died in this hotel at the age of 11 while playing hide n’ seek. Sullivan is going to have to navigate politics, his personal life as a caretaker for his younger sister, and the long tangled webs of the wealthy Bainbridge family to solve the most recent murder–all while trying to figure out if it ties to Iris’ death a decade before.

I was totally absorbed with this one, especially the bits of California history and following the lead detective who, while biracial, navigates a world of privilege because he passes as white.

If you go with the audiobook format, you get multiple narrators (Robb Moreira, Suzanne Toren, Tim Campbell), and there’s a bonus chat with Amy Chua on how the book came to be.

(TW child murder/ mentions past suicide attempt and suicides, detail/ brief mention past lynching/ mentions past assumed statutory/ mentions postpartum/ mentions past antisemitic attack/ farm animal butchering/ mentions of historical sex trafficking/ brief testimony of past rapes, including children/ past institutionalization/ suicide, partly on page, detail)

For fans of YA, teams of amateur sleuths creating a PI team, fictional true crime podcasts, and past and present mysteries!

Iris Blackthorn is on a serious deadline: she’s very close to turning 18 and the detective on her sister Stella’s missing person case has warned her the second she’s an adult, she will be prosecuted if she keeps investigating her sister’s year ago disappearance. So Iris, and her two friends who make up their amateur detective agency, are on the case. That’s all complicated enough–especially since Iris isn’t being totally forthcoming with her team–when another girl goes missing. This time it’s Iris’ ex girlfriend who just happened to be hosting a true crime podcast about Stella…

If you’re looking for a sapphic YA mystery with found family and hard lessons learned, grab this one.

(Tw questions parental emotional abuse, no details/ alcoholism, including parent in past/ mentions statutory involving teacher)

For fans of historical mysteries!

This is a great historical mystery series that starts with Captain Jim Agnihotri solving a murder mystery and meeting and falling in love with Lady Diana Framji (Murder in Old Bombay), then the newlyweds move to America with Jim teaching Diana how to sleuth and her having to find him after he goes missing (Peril at the Exposition).

The third book sets readers in 1894, and Jim and Diana are on a ship to England. They meet Don Juan Nepomuceno, but he’s murdered onboard. That leaves six days until the ship docks to solve this murder…

For fans of a fictional horror podcast and murder mystery!

Tinsel Monroe has the dream job without the dream life: she hosts a horror podcast she loves, but it’s for awful pay and a terrible time slot so as much as she loves it, it’s just a strain on her life. That is until there is a live on-air murder and people start getting murdered in historic film locations, drawing Tinsel and her sister into the investigation…

For fans of neighborhood social thrillers, current topics, and endings with a legal courtroom case.

I have learned that regardless of what you think you’re getting into with a thriller by Kia Abdullah (Take it Back; Next of Kin), it will be way more in-depth, nuanced, and more importantly, shift the ground out from underneath the reader at least once.

This time around we have Salma and Bilal Khatun moving to a new neighborhood with their son Zain. Zain had an incident in college and Salma and Bilal are in the process of closing the family restaurant so this move to a new neighborhood is meant as a fresh start, even if they’re concerned about the cost now. Upon arrival Zain puts up a BLM poster and Salma witnesses their new neighbor deface it. From there the two families are caught in an escalation of emotions, racism, and retaliations all the while their teenage sons form a friendship and work on an app together. It’s an unflinching look at the high cost of bigotry and division.

(TW ableism / miscarriage)

For fans of fictional serial killers, slasher films, high body counts, and October-y mood reads!

Dearie and Cole are gay best friends and whew is that friendship going to be put through the wringer when an inactive serial killer becomes active again and fingers point at Dearie and Cole! Mr. Sandman killed lonely people decades ago and he’s suddenly resurrected – or inspired a copycat – at Stone Grove High in Arizona. This time around the lead-up note telling you you’re going to die comes via text and the targets are members of the school’s Queer Club.

You’ll get to know Dearie and Cole in alternating chapters as they navigate being teenagers, their friendship, loves, and relationships all while trying to prove they are not the killers by having to solve who actually is. Oh, and most importantly: staying alive.

This book is fun with a lot of tropes, characters to root for, and others to root for their demise. It has different personalities and senses of humor, including funny cattiness, and it’s my favorite blend of murder mystery + horror slasher film. I’ve read all of Adam Sass’ novels (Surrender Your Sons; The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers) so far and continue to look forward to what comes next.

(TW emotional partner abuse)

If you’re looking for an outside-the-box true crime + memoir I highly recommend this one.

It is impossible to categorize this book, which is one of my favorite things about it, and the same can be said about the author, Myriam Gurba. It’s a memoir of sorts, with stories from her life and family, including her grandfather’s life as a publicist and her prima’s childhood abuse that led to her joining a gang. But it’s also a true crime book and a book on history that dives into the actual heart of the events, crimes, and criminals, focusing on the victims and society. It’s a spotlight on the very title word, creep(s), and how we create them, allow them, defend them. The book is an essay collection, but again can’t be categorized easily as such because there is play with the narrative and structure in itself.

I was a huge fan of her previous genre-bending memoir Mean, so I ran to this one and once again continue to love her work, infused with her dark humor and observational insight mixed with research. She narrates the audiobook, and while I love hearing work in the author’s own voice, I can also see this being a book readers will want to highlight or mark with sticky notes in a print/ebook copy. I may have almost burned dinner while pausing the audiobook to go jot down a line that has since stayed with me: “The living expect a lot from dead women.”

(TWs she talks about so many stories, cases, and histories that it’s easiest to just say everything, though I’ll note it never feels gratuitous or graphic for the sake of being.)

For fans of coastal town settings, murder mysteries, and three generations of amateur sleuths!

It’s a big month for fall mystery books and book clubs: GMA chose Happiness Falls and Reese’s Book Club chose Mother-Daughter Murder Night.

Lana Rubicon is an LA businesswoman currently living in a coastal town with her daughter and granddaughter following a cancer diagnosis. She’s obviously not thrilled about all the life changes but finds herself less bored when her granddaughter finds a body. Lana may have seen something important to the investigation and it’s time for this family to start sleuthing in order to solve a murder, dredge up small-town secrets, and save themselves.

For fans of dark academia, social thrillers, and paranormal!

Leon has recently disappeared from the expensive Nithercott School as Ife Adebola begins attending on a scholarship. She soon learns about the rumor that the Changing Man must once again be at it. Adebola isn’t here for myths but it isn’t long before another student, Malika, disappears only to… return changed. Is there something to the rumors about the Changing Man or is something else going on in this school?

It may not technically be fall until Sept 23rd, and it certainly isn’t anywhere near fall in weather where I’m at, but I just started the audiobook on this one for some vibes and I’m loving the dual narration by Afolabi Alli and Fola Evans-Akingbola.

For fans of past murder mysteries, a ghostly detective partner, and fun reads!

Claire is a medium. At least it’s how she makes money, thanks to the fact that a ghost follows her everywhere she goes. The ghost is Sophie, who is perpetually a teenager, exactly as she was when Claire last saw her during their childhood. They were best friends, and still are, although it’s a bit difficult at times seeing as Claire has now grown into an adult and Sophie has stayed the teenager she was when she died. No one knows, including Sophie, what happened to her. Claire ended up punished for trying to tell people that she knew Sophie was, in fact, dead since everyone was holding out hope that Sophie was alive somewhere.

This is their current dynamic when Claire (and Sophie) end up performing a seance in an old English countryside manor for an 80-year-old grandmother’s birthday party, where the woman ends up dead. Her ghost wants Claire to know she wasn’t murdered, but she is certain one of her family members did murder someone else whose ghost is also in the house. That’s when Claire and Sophie set out to solve the mystery and figure out who in this family they can and can’t trust…

If you’re looking for a funny amateur sleuth team mystery set in a small English town, pick this one up! I got sucked right into this world–and especially Claire and Sophie’s banter– listening to the audiobook narrated by Sophie Roberts.

For fans of missing persons cases with the investigator tied to one of the cases, procedurals, and Native American leads.

Eva “Lightning Dance” Duran is a sheriff’s deputy whose best friend, Paloma, is one of four women who have gone missing from Taos Pueblo reservation. Because Duran doesn’t feel like her own department is doing enough, she teams up with Cruz “Wolf Song” Romero, a friend and tribal police officer. They’re up against a lot, including time, when the missing women begin to turn up dead. Can Duran save Paloma in time?

For fans of small town procedurals, family drama, and murder mysteries.

There are days where I randomly grab a book and see where the journey takes me, which I did with this one. It’s why I didn’t realize it was a sequel (it gives you the info you need from the first book, I was never lost) and am now planning on reading the first since I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

Deputy Ben Packard recently moved to a small Minnesota town and took on the role of active Sheriff due to the Sheriff being diagnosed with cancer. He’s not thrilled about the Sheriff part, because of politics and he feels like he has a social target on his back as an openly gay deputy. But soon he has to decide, while being begged by others, if he’s willing to run for Sheriff to take the job full-time. It’s all going on while he has a complicated murder investigation that is full of family drama—like you could put this family on a reality show!

Bill Sandersen was murdered in his home while his wife slept in her separate room. His wife was his first real girlfriend, who he broke up with years ago to marry her sister instead. Bill was divorced from the sister and married to the original sister (I know!). Obviously the sisters don’t like each other, neither does the third sister who wants nothing to do with these two–or the emotionally abusive mom they blame for all their problems. As you can imagine, Bill had plenty of people who wanted him dead, including a business partner he stole money from. So Packard has plenty of work between his professional life of deciding if he wants to be Sheriff and this case with a long list of suspects…

I did the audioook format and enjoyed Linda Jones’ narration, even if at first I briefly wondered why a male narrator wasn’t picked since the lead is a dude. Maybe because there were a lot of supporting characters that are women? Anyhoo, if you’re an audiobook listener, it’s a good pick!

(TW talk of past suicide, detail/ alcoholism/ former Sheriff dies of cancer/ mentions past overdose, not deadly/ parent with dementia/ past child abuse case recounted, emotional child abuse/ fatphobia)