LitQueuelitqueue

After

A Coffin for Dimitrios

Eric Ambler1939

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still noir

1 more ↓

  • Fatal Voyage

    Kathy Reichs2001

    Forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan investigates a plane crash in North Carolina. She finds a severed foot that does not belong to any passenger.

    Same tense register, still amateur sleuth

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Trainspotting

    Irvine Welsh1993

    A group of heroin addicts in Edinburgh navigate poverty, violence, and withdrawal. The narrative uses heavy phonetic Scottish dialect.

    tense → sardonic, still noir

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • My Name Is Red

    Orhan Pamuk

    In 1591 Istanbul, miniaturists investigate a colleague's murder. Objects and colors narrate chapters alongside the human characters.

    tense → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Blood on the dining-room floor

    Gertrude Stein1948

    A repetitive, circular narrative about a death in a country house. It uses experimental prose to obscure the facts of a traditional mystery.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Medusa

    Clive Cussler2009

    The NUMA team investigates a missing undersea lab and a bathysphere attack. They uncover a corporate plot involving a deadly virus and jellyfish.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The cat who blew the whistle

    Lilian Jackson Braun1994

    A journalist and his two Siamese cats investigate a missing railroad enthusiast and a bank scandal. It is a small-town mystery.

    tense → playful

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Larceny and Old Lace

    Tamar Myers1996

    An antique shop owner investigates the murder of her aunt, who was strangled with a bell pull. She navigates the local collectibles market for clues.

    tense → playful, still amateur sleuth

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

tense → propulsive, still espionage

3 more ↓

  • Use of force

    Brad Thor2017

    Navy SEAL Scot Harvath is hired to track a missing terrorist after a body washes up in Italy. He works outside the law to stop a summer attack.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Warriors

    Ted Bell2014

    Spy Alex Hawke attempts to rescue a kidnapped scientist while the United States and China move toward nuclear war.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • One Rough Man

    Brad Taylor2011

    A former covert operator discovers a terrorist plot involving a powerful weapon. He works outside the law to stop the attack.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Gödel, Escher, Bach

    Douglas R. Hofstadter1979

    An exploration of how cognition emerges from hidden neurological patterns. It uses math, art, and music to explain self-referential systems.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2

  • Ulysses

    James Joyce1914

    Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • A maça no escuro

    Clarice Lispector1961

    A man flees into the Brazilian interior believing he killed his wife. He works on a remote farm while navigating his own internal monologue.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Killer Inside Me

    Jim Thompson1952

    A small-town Texas deputy maintains a boring public persona to hide his identity as a serial killer. He describes his crimes in a flat, cold voice.

    tense → cold, still noir

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Shutter Island

    Dennis Lehane2003

    Same tense register, still noir

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Every Dead Thing

    John Connolly1999

    A former detective haunted by his family's murder tracks a serial killer known as the Traveling Man. The story includes supernatural elements.

    tense → bleak, still noir

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1