LitQueuelitqueue

After

Dallas noir

David Hale Smith2013

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same sardonic register, still noir

1 more ↓

  • Nobody move

    Denis Johnson2009

    A gambler in debt and a woman on the run cross paths in California. They flee from hitmen and the law in a series of violent encounters.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • My Name Is Red

    Orhan Pamuk

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

    sardonic → 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.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

To recover

sardonic → propulsive

3 more ↓

  • An Offer From a Gentleman

    Julia Quinn2001

    The illegitimate daughter of an earl works as a servant for her stepmother. She sneaks into a masquerade ball and meets Benedict Bridgerton.

    sardonic → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • King of Pride

    Ana Huang2023

    A buttoned-up billionaire heir falls for an impulsive bartender while trying to secure a CEO position. They navigate a forbidden workplace romance.

    sardonic → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries

    Emily Brightwell1993

    A Victorian housekeeper and her staff secretly solve crimes for their employer, a clueless Scotland Yard inspector.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Plugged

    Eoin Colfer2011

    An Irish bouncer in New Jersey searches for his girlfriend's killer while being hunted by the mob. He is also recovering from a hair transplant.

    Same sardonic register, still noir

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-1

  • Red Harvest

    Dashiell Hammett1929

    A private investigator arrives in a corrupt mining town and manipulates rival gangs into killing each other. The body count is high.

    sardonic → cynical, still noir

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • The Da Vinci Code

    Dan Brown2003

    A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Slower

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.

    sardonic → cold, still noir

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

    John le Carré1963

    A British agent pretends to defect to East Germany to frame a high-ranking official. The focus is on the bureaucratic coldness of espionage.

    sardonic → cold, still noir

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Dhalgren

    Samuel R. Delany1975

    An amnesiac wanderer enters Bellona, a city cut off from the world where time and geography shift. He joins a gang and writes poetry.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    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.

    sardonic → cold, still noir

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Shutter Island

    Dennis Lehane2003

    sardonic → tense, 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.

    sardonic → bleak, still noir

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1