LitQueuelitqueue

After

Back to the Garden

Laurie R. King2022

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same meditative register, still mystery

1 more ↓

  • Rock with wings

    Anne Hillerman2015

    Officers Jim Chee and Bernadette Manuelito work separate cases involving a film crew and a solar plant. The setting is the Navajo Nation.

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    meditative → playful, still mystery

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • The Doves Necklace

    Raja Alem2014

    A detective investigates an unidentified woman's body found in a Mecca alleyway. The city itself narrates parts of the story.

    meditative → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • The Name of the Rose

    Umberto Eco1983

    A friar and his novice investigate a series of murders at an Italian monastery in 1327. Much of the text covers theological debate.

    Same meditative register, still historical mystery

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Two for the dough

    Janet Evanovich1996

    An inexperienced bounty hunter tracks a man who jumped bail for shooting his friend. She competes with a vice cop to find him first.

    meditative → playful, still mystery

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Secrets

    Fern Michaels2022

    Siblings who restore antiques find a locked diary and a carnival flyer in a mysterious steamer chest. They work to find the owner.

    meditative → warm

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Murder Past Due

    Miranda James2010

    A librarian and his Maine Coon cat investigate the murder of a former classmate in a small Mississippi town.

    meditative → warm, still mystery

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

meditative → propulsive, still police procedural

3 more ↓

  • Angels & Demons

    Dan Brown2000

    A symbologist and a scientist race through Rome to stop an ancient secret society from destroying the Vatican. It takes place over 24 hours.

    meditative → propulsive, still mystery

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • Tell No One

    Harlan Coben2000

    A widower receives an email from his wife eight years after her murder. He flees the FBI to discover if she is still alive.

    meditative → propulsive, still mystery

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • The Crucifix Killer

    Chris Carter2010

    An LA detective finds a signature mark on a victim that suggests a previously executed serial killer is still active or has a copycat.

    pace+2·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.

    meditative → playful

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    meditative → playful

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    Same meditative register

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

Heavier

meditative → bleak, still police procedural

3 more ↓

  • The Black Dahlia

    James Ellroy1987

    Two LAPD officers become obsessed with the brutal 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short. The investigation destroys their personal lives.

    meditative → bleak, still historical mystery

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Broken Harbor

    Tana French2012

    A detective investigates a family murdered in a failed housing development. The story focuses on the investigator's mental unraveling.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Shadow Man

    Cody McFadyen2006

    An FBI agent with a traumatic past tracks a serial killer who targets families. The narrative details extreme physical and psychological torture.

    meditative → tense, still police procedural

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2