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After

Pagan Babies

Elmore Leonard2000

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same sardonic register, still crime

1 more ↓

  • Righteous

    Joe Ide2017

    A private investigator in East Long Beach searches for the person who killed his brother years ago. He also tries to rescue a friend's sister.

    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.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·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.

    sardonic → 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.

    Same sardonic register, still con artist

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

sardonic → playful

3 more ↓

  • The Billiard-Room Mystery

    Brian Flynn1929

    A detective and an amateur sleuth investigate a body found in a locked billiard room during a weekend cricket party in Sussex.

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Bat

    Mary Roberts Rinehart1926

    An elderly woman refuses to leave her rented summer mansion despite a series of supernatural scares and a killer on the loose.

    sardonic → tense

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Christmas thief

    Mary Higgins Clark2004

    Two amateur sleuths investigate the theft of a massive Christmas tree and a hidden stash of diamonds. It is a holiday-themed caper.

    sardonic → playful, still caper

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

sardonic → propulsive, still crime

3 more ↓

  • The Pursuit

    Janet Evanovich2016

    An FBI agent tracks down a kidnapped con man she was secretly working with. The chase moves from Hawaii to the remote mountains of Europe.

    sardonic → playful, still caper

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Run Away

    Harlan Coben2019

    A father searches for his estranged, drug-addicted daughter in New York. The search uncovers a conspiracy involving a cult and multiple murders.

    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-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.

    sardonic → 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.

    sardonic → 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.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

Heavier

sardonic → bleak, still crime

3 more ↓

  • Páradais

    Fernanda Melchor2020

    Two teenagers in a luxury housing complex plot a crime to escape their lives. The prose consists of long, rhythmic, and breathless sentences.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Full Dark, No Stars

    Stephen King2010

    Four novellas explore the themes of retribution and the capacity for violence. Characters commit and suffer from crimes in isolated settings.

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • The Virgin Suicides

    Jeffrey Eugenides

    A group of neighborhood boys obsessively observes five sisters in 1970s Michigan. They document the girls' lives leading up to their suicides.

    sardonic → tense, still crime

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2