LitQueuelitqueue

After

Did she fall?

Thorne Smith1937

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Sacred cows

    Karen E. Olson2005

    A police reporter investigates the murder of a student escort while public art cows appear across New Haven.

    Same wry register, still mystery

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

    wry → cold

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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+2·bleak+1

  • Confidence-Man

    Herman Melville1949

    A series of masquerading figures board a Mississippi steamboat on April Fool's Day to test the faith and finances of their fellow passengers.

    wry → sardonic

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Dirty work

    Stuart Woods2003

    Lawyer Stone Barrington investigates a celebrity divorce, but becomes a suspect when the person he is tailing is murdered.

    Same wry register, still mystery

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Case of the Waylaid Wolf

    Erle Stanley Gardner1959

    A woman is accused of murdering a man who tried to assault her in his car. Perry Mason defends her by questioning the physical evidence.

    wry → propulsive, still mystery

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Tell Me Lies

    Jennifer Crusie1998

    After finding evidence of her husband's infidelity, Maddie finds him dead and becomes a suspect in a small town full of gossip.

    Same wry register

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

wry → propulsive, still mystery

3 more ↓

  • Ten Big Ones

    Janet Evanovich2004

    Stephanie Plum witnesses a gang hit and becomes a target herself. She balances the threat with her ongoing romantic indecision.

    wry → playful, still mystery

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Private Vegas

    James Patterson2015

    Jack Morgan investigates a man who trains women to become killers in Las Vegas. The story follows multiple perspectives in short chapters.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • Pines

    Blake Crouch2012

    A Secret Service agent searches for missing colleagues in an Idaho town he cannot leave. The townspeople and physics itself seem to work against him.

    wry → tense, still mystery

    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.

    wry → playful

    pace-2·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.

    wry → playful

    pace-2·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.

    wry → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    wry → tense

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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+1·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+1·bleak+2