40 Comments

I keep returning to Elizabeth Hand's Maine noir (just made that up as a subgenre) Generation Loss. Good writing, scary protagonist.

Expand full comment
Oct 20Liked by Books on GIF

I just picked this up on Libby - excited to read!

Expand full comment

I hope you enjoy it! Cass Neary is a scary lady 😬

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Milena! I love the idea of Maine Noir as a genre!

Expand full comment
Oct 20Liked by Books on GIF

I’ve got two recs:

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by the one and only Agatha Christie. No one does it like her! This is widely considered to be one of her best (and also overall best!) mysteries. A whodunnit with the coolest twist ending I’ve ever read.

The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji, a Japanese mystery novel about a group of friends staying at a remote house who start getting murdered one by one. Written in the 1980s in the “Honaku” style that was heavily influenced by Agatha so it would be a cool one to pair with the one above!

Expand full comment
Oct 20Liked by Books on GIF

Seconding "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" and also adding "And Then There Were None." (I also just think you really can't go wrong with Agatha Christie in general — "Death on the Nile," "Murder on the Orient Express," "The A.B.C. Murders," "The Mysterious Affairs at Styles" etc are all good. I totally turn back to her books all the time when I need something comforting... with a touch of murder mystery!)

Expand full comment
author

Hello Rad Dishes! Great to see you, friend! Thanks for the great recs! (Will we be seeing the newsletter again soon???)

Expand full comment
Oct 20Liked by Books on GIF

Well, given how bad I am at staying committed to blogging and/or newslettering, I think we should just assume no :( Life is just life-ing lately!

Expand full comment
author

Love this pairing, Sarah!

Expand full comment

Would Clarke’s “Piranesi” count as a mystery? Certainly mysterious. Ditto VanderMeer’s “Annihilation”

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Elizabeth! This is yet another reminder that I need to read Piranesi. I’ve seen so many recs!

Expand full comment
Oct 20Liked by Books on GIF

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle! What a wild ride. And Stuart Turton's follow-up, The Devil and the Dark Water was also pretty good and more of a capital M mystery.

Expand full comment
author

Thanks so much, Maren! Great recs!

Expand full comment

He has a new one out soon (or perhaps already) called The Last Murder at the End of the World!

Expand full comment

Mike, I think you'd like 7 1/2 Deaths! It's an odd one but it plays with form and structure in a really interesting way and is just weird enough that it seems up your alley!

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Cassie! I’ll check it out!

Expand full comment

Tana French obv

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Tara! Which of her novels would you recommend folks start with?

Expand full comment

Oh you have to start with the first. Each novel has a protagonist and secondary characters, and a secondary character from the novel prior will take over as protagonist for each book that comes after.

Expand full comment

I second Tana French and in order! Also love Nordic noir like the Harry Hole series by Jo Nesbo (I’ve only read The Snowman) or The Chestnut Man but Soren Sveistrup - actually hoping to read a few more in winter!

Expand full comment
author

Thanks for the great recs, friend!

Expand full comment

Simone St. James writes addictive paranormal mysteries like The Sun Down Motel and The Broken Girls. They're fantastic. I also love the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley that begins with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

I read a lot of noir, so I have to recommend the classics: The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Double Indemnity and The Bride Wore Black.

If you like the show Monk, the book series is just as fun. They are original mysteries, not novelizations of the tv episodes. The ones by Lee Goldberg are best, as he was a show writer and has all the quirks down.

Expand full comment
author

Thanks so much for these recs, Jennifer! Really great!

Expand full comment

Absolutely! 👍

Expand full comment

My favorite book of the year so far has been God of the Woods, and I'm sure you've seen it, but for good reason. Liz Moore is one of my go-tos for contemporary mysteries with complex characters and interweaving storylines that somehow all come together at exactly the right moment.

Angie Kim is another excellent mystery writer, and I'd recommend Miracle Creek to basically everyone!

Expand full comment
author

I keep seeing God of the Woods all over the place EXCEPT in the bookstore! Either I need to keep a better eye out or folks keep buying it.

Expand full comment
Oct 21Liked by Books on GIF

Betty Boo (again lol) and also Attica Locke starting with Bluebird Bluebird

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Ariana!

Expand full comment
Oct 21Liked by Books on GIF

The Man Who Was Thursday. Surreal, trippy detective/mystery/thriller might be right down your alley. Christopher Hitchens lauded it in his last essay, said Kingsley Amis told him he read once a year.

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Brian! That does sound like something I’d read. I’ll keep an eye out!

Expand full comment
Oct 21Liked by Books on GIF

I have nothing to add here -- I haven't read many mysteries this year, though I adore them -- but just wanted to say I love this thread and came for the recs!

Expand full comment
author

So many great recs!

Expand full comment

Love seeing all the mystery recs here! I often recommend Dead Woman Walking by Sharon Bolton, the opening hot air balloon scene is one of the most heart stopping scenes to read about. She plots hard to figure out mysteries with characters I become invested in

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Renee! Yes, folks have made so many good recs here!

Expand full comment
Oct 22Liked by Books on GIF

I feel like I've been waiting my whole life for this question. For you I would go literary thriller-ish:

- Seconding all the recommendations for Tana French and Liz Moore.

- WINTER COUNTS by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

- The Hotel Neversink by Adam O’Fallon Price

- Anything by S.A Cosby

- The Verifiers by Jane Pek

- Secret Identity by Alex Segura

- Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

Expand full comment
author

Thank you, my friend! I had been hoping you would weigh in on this, and I'm so happy you did! Great stuff!

Expand full comment
Oct 23Liked by Books on GIF

Seconding The Murder of Roger Ackroyd & And Then There Were None but also Murder on Orient Express by Agatha Christie. Ik it's probably not the right age-range, but I absolutely love the Murder Most Unladylike series (middlegrade fiction) & A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (ignore the Netflix series completely)!

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Nia! I definitely need to revisit Agatha!

Expand full comment

Definitely The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie (not the usual style for her and I loved it!), The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg and I have to agree on The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle...it's so good! 😎🙌🏻

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Nicole!

Expand full comment