LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Broken Girls

Simone St. James2018

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Hangman's Daughter

    Oliver Pötzsch2008

    A Bavarian hangman in 1659 investigates a series of child murders to prevent a witch hunt. He must find the killer before he is forced to torture.

    Same tense register, still historical 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.

    tense → cold

    pace-1·prose+2·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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • To Sir Phillip, With Love

    Julia Quinn2003

    Eloise Bridgerton travels to meet a widowed baronet she has only known through letters. They consider a marriage of convenience.

    tense → warm

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Single White Vampire

    Lynsay Sands2003

    A book editor travels to meet a reclusive author who writes vampire novels. She does not realize he is an actual vampire.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • All Rhodes Lead Here

    Mariana Zapata2021

    A woman moves back to her Colorado hometown after a breakup and rents a garage apartment from a grumpy single father.

    tense → warm

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Housemaid's Secret

    Freida McFadden2023

    A housemaid with a criminal record takes a job for a wealthy couple. She becomes obsessed with the wife she is forbidden from seeing.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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+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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Falling Angel

    William Hjortsberg1978

    A 1950s private investigator searches for a missing singer in New York. The case leads him into voodoo rituals and ritualistic murders.

    tense → cold, still supernatural thriller

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Tokyo year zero

    David Peace2007

    In 1946 Tokyo, a detective hunts a serial killer while struggling with his own actions during the war. The prose is repetitive and rhythmic.

    tense → bleak, still historical mystery

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Final Destination I

    Natasha Rhodes2006

    After surviving a plane crash they were destined to die in, a group of teenagers is hunted by an invisible, lethal force.

    Same tense register, still supernatural thriller

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2