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Scott Blackwood2015

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

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  • Adios Hemingway / Goodbye Hemingway

    Leonardo Padura2005

    A retired inspector investigates a skeleton found at Ernest Hemingway’s Havana estate, alternating between 1958 and the present.

    Same elegiac register, still noir

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • My Name Is Red

    Orhan Pamuk

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

    elegiac → meditative

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    elegiac → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    elegiac → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Ghost Ship

    Clive Cussler2014

    Kurt Austin survives a yacht sinking but suffers from conflicting memories. He investigates a global cybercrime conspiracy to find the truth.

    elegiac → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3

  • This Girl

    Colleen Hoover2013

    A husband retells the story of his early relationship to his wife. It uses dual timelines to revisit events from the first book in the series.

    elegiac → earnest

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-3

  • The Score

    Elle Kennedy2016

    A college senior has a one-night stand with a hockey player to get over a breakup. They continue the arrangement as graduation approaches.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

Faster

elegiac → propulsive

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Kiss the Girls

    James Patterson1995

    Detective Alex Cross tracks two serial killers operating on opposite coasts who are communicating and competing with one another.

    elegiac → tense

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Verity

    Colleen Hoover2018

    A ghostwriter moves into a secluded estate to finish a series for an injured author and finds a hidden, disturbing autobiography.

    elegiac → tense

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Orbital

    Samantha Harvey2024

    Six astronauts orbit Earth over twenty-four hours. The narrative focuses on their routine tasks and observations of the planet below.

    elegiac → meditative, still literary fiction

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-2

  • Blackouts

    Justin Torres2023

    A young man cares for a dying elder in a medical facility. They use a 1930s study on homosexuality to reconstruct their personal histories.

    Same elegiac register, still literary fiction

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

  • The miracle at Speedy Motors

    Alexander McCall Smith2008

    Mma Ramotswe helps a woman find her long-lost family in Botswana. The story follows small domestic complications and slow-paced investigations.

    elegiac → warm

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-3