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After

Suspicion

Joseph Finder2014

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still thriller

1 more ↓

  • Stalemate

    Iris Johansen2006

    A forensic sculptor accepts a job from a dangerous criminal to reconstruct the skull of a woman who might be her missing daughter.

    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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → wry

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • When I'm Gone

    Abbi Glines2015

    A Texas rancher visits Rosemary Beach and becomes involved with a local woman while navigating his family's rock star legacy.

    tense → tender

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • Her Russian Billionaire: 50 Loving States, Texas

    Theodora Taylor

    A woman reunites with a wealthy Russian man she once knew, leading to the revelation of a child he did not know existed.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • An Offer From a Gentleman

    Julia Quinn2001

    The illegitimate daughter of an earl works as a servant for her stepmother. She sneaks into a masquerade ball and meets Benedict Bridgerton.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Faster

tense → propulsive, still thriller

3 more ↓

  • Dark Tide

    Elizabeth Haynes2013

    A woman living on a boat in London discovers a body in the water. The narrative follows the police investigation and her own history of debt.

    Same tense register, still thriller

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Pursuit

    Thomas Perry2001

    A specialist who tracks down killers is hired to find a man who committed a mass shooting at a restaurant.

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Baptism

    Max Kinnings2012

    A blind hostage negotiator manages a crisis involving a hijacked London Underground train and a series of related murders.

    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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1

Heavier

tense → 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+2·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·prose+1·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.

    Same tense register, still crime

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2