LitQueuelitqueue

After

Crooked House

Agatha Christie1949

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Murder in the Maze

    Alfred Walter Stewart1927

    Twin brothers are found murdered in separate centers of a garden hedge maze. A detective examines the physical evidence of the estate.

    cold → clinical, still traditional mystery

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Amberes

    Roberto Bolaño2002

    A fragmented series of fifty-six short sections follows a police officer, a redhead, and a hunchback through a series of loosely linked crimes.

    Same cold register

    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.

    cold → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • American Psycho

    Bret Easton Ellis1991

    A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.

    Same cold register

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Assistant to the Villain

    Hannah Nicole Maehrer2023

    A woman takes a job as an administrative assistant to a local villain to support her family. She manages his office while ignoring his evil deeds.

    cold → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Marriage Bargain

    Jennifer Probst2012

    A bookstore owner enters a one-year contract marriage with a billionaire to save her family's land. They must follow a set of rules to stay platonic.

    cold → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • A Quick Bite

    Lynsay Sands2005

    A vampire who faints at the sight of blood finds a psychologist tied to her bed as a gift. They navigate his kidnapping and her family dynamics.

    cold → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Housemaid's Secret

    Freida McFadden2023

    A housemaid with a criminal record takes a job for a wealthy couple. She becomes obsessed with the wife she is forbidden from seeing.

    cold → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Behind Closed Doors

    B.A. Paris2016

    A woman is held captive by her husband in a high-security home. She must find a way to escape before her sister moves in with them.

    cold → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Verity

    Colleen Hoover2018

    A ghostwriter moves into a secluded estate to finish a series for an injured author and finds a hidden, disturbing autobiography.

    cold → tense

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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.

    cold → 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.

    cold → 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.

    cold → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Native Son

    Richard Wright1940

    A young Black man in 1930s Chicago accidentally kills a white woman. The story follows his flight and the systemic forces that shape his fate.

    cold → bleak, still crime fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • American Psycho

    Bret Easton Ellis1991

    A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.

    Same cold register

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Sharp Objects

    Gillian Flynn2006

    A reporter returns to her hometown to cover the murders of two girls while grappling with her own history of self-harm.

    cold → tense

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1