LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud

Julia Navarro2006

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Last Seen in Massilia

    Steven Saylor2000

    Gordianus the Finder enters the besieged city of Massilia during Caesar's civil war. He searches for a missing woman and a potential killer.

    propulsive → tense, still historical mystery

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

    propulsive → meditative

    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.

    propulsive → 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.

    propulsive → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • This Man

    Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

    An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.

    propulsive → tense

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Real Murders

    Charlaine Harris1990

    A librarian in a small Georgia town belongs to a club that studies famous crimes. A real murder occurs that mimics a historical case.

    propulsive → wry

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Ready Player One

    Ernest Cline2008

    A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.

    Same propulsive register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    Same propulsive register

    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.

    Same propulsive register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • Kiss the Girls

    James Patterson1995

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

    propulsive → tense

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    propulsive → warm

    pace-2·prose0·bleak-1

  • 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.

    propulsive → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Dissolution

    C.J. Sansom2001

    In 1537, a hunchbacked lawyer investigates a murder at a monastery during Henry VIII's dissolution of the churches.

    propulsive → tense, still historical mystery

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

Heavier

propulsive → bleak, still historical mystery

3 more ↓

  • American Psycho

    Bret Easton Ellis1991

    A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.

    propulsive → cold

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Sharp Objects

    Gillian Flynn2006

    A reporter returns to her hometown to cover the murders of two girls while grappling with her own history of self-harm.

    propulsive → tense

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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.

    propulsive → clinical

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2