LitQueuelitqueue

After

Hamlet, revenge!

J. I. M. Stewart1937

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Will and the Deed

    Edith Pargeter1960

    Heirs to a diva's fortune are trapped in a snowbound village after a disappointing will reading. A killer begins targeting the group.

    Same wry register, still locked room

    pace+1·prose-1·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-1·prose+1·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

    pace0·prose+1·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

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Legends & Lattes

    Travis Baldree2022

    An orc barbarian retires from adventuring to open a coffee shop in a city that has never heard of the drink.

    wry → warm, still cozy

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Love Is Blind

    Lynsay Sands2006

    A clumsy woman removes her glasses to appear attractive to a suitor, resulting in physical comedy and accidents. They navigate a Regency romance.

    wry → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • The Red House Mystery

    A. A. Milne1922

    An amateur sleuth investigates a shooting at an English country house. The victim's brother vanishes from a locked room during the incident.

    wry → playful, still locked room

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

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 cozy

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • 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+2·prose-2·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.

    wry → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    wry → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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-1·prose+1·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-1·prose+1·bleak0

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

    pace0·prose0·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

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • Shutter Island

    Dennis Lehane2003

    wry → tense

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2