LitQueuelitqueue

After

Dead as a doornail

Charlaine Harris2005

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

    Agatha Christie1926

    Hercule Poirot comes out of retirement to solve the murder of a wealthy man in a locked study. The story is narrated by the local doctor.

    Same wry register

    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.

    wry → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·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.

    wry → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

  • Niccolò Rising

    Dorothy Dunnett1986

    A dyer’s apprentice in 15th-century Bruges uses his intellect to navigate the world of international trade. He builds a mercantile empire.

    Same wry register

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Totally Folked

    Penny Reid2021

    A deputy sheriff in a small town reconnects with a famous movie star he has known since they were teenagers.

    wry → warm

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Smoke and Shadows

    Tanya Huff2005

    A stuntman and a vampire work on a television set in Vancouver while investigating a series of supernatural murders.

    wry → playful, still urban fantasy

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Warping Minds & Other Misdemeanors

    Annette Marie2020

    A telepathic thief is blackmailed into working for a magical guild. He must use his mental powers to navigate a series of supernatural heists.

    wry → playful, still urban fantasy

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Red, white, and blood

    Christopher Farnsworth2012

    A vampire working for the American government tracks an immortal serial killer during a presidential campaign.

    wry → propulsive, still urban fantasy

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Something from the Nightside

    Simon R. Green2003

    A private eye with the ability to find anything returns to a hidden, magical London underworld. He takes a case to find a missing daughter.

    wry → sardonic, still urban fantasy

    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.

    wry → propulsive

    pace+1·prose0·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.

    wry → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·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.

    wry → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·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.

    wry → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • In Cold Blood

    Truman Capote1965

    A reconstruction of the 1959 murder of a Kansas family and the subsequent investigation. It follows both the victims and the killers.

    wry → clinical

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Lord of the Flies

    William Golding1954

    Schoolboys are stranded on an island and try to organize a society. Order collapses into tribalism and violence.

    wry → tense

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Shutter Island

    Dennis Lehane2003

    wry → tense

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2