After
The case of the musical cow
Erle Stanley Gardner1950
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Sprinkle with Murder
Jenn McKinlay2010
Two bakery owners are accused of murder when a difficult bride is found dead. They investigate their customers to clear their names.
propulsive → playful, still amateur sleuth
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Death on Demand
Carolyn G. Hart1987
A mystery bookstore owner becomes the lead suspect when a local author is killed. She must find the real murderer to save her business.
propulsive → playful, still traditional mystery
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The case of the mythical monkeys
Erle Stanley Gardner1959
A woman finds a corpse in a remote cabin. Perry Mason defends her in court against witnesses who are hiding their own connections to the victim.
Same propulsive register, still traditional mystery
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak0
Better Off Dead
Lee Child2021
Jack Reacher investigates a staged car crash in Arizona and infiltrates a dangerous local crew to find a missing woman.
Same propulsive register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
The list of Adrian Messenger
Philip MacDonald1959
A man gives a list of names to Scotland Yard before dying in a plane crash. An investigator discovers the names are victims of staged accidents.
propulsive → tense, still traditional mystery
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+3bleak+2
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+3·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+3bleak+2
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.
propulsive → cold
pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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+3·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+3bleak+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.
propulsive → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+3bleak+3
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+3·bleak+3
Faster
Same propulsive register
- pace+1prose0bleak0
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.
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak+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.
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
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+1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose+1bleak+1
Dark Matter
Blake Crouch2016
A physics professor is kidnapped and wakes up in an alternate reality where he chose career over family. He must navigate the multiverse to return.
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
You
Caroline Kepnes2014
A bookstore manager becomes obsessed with a customer and uses social media to orchestrate a relationship. He removes obstacles through murder.
propulsive → sardonic
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
Slower
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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+3·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+3bleak+2
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+3·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+3bleak0
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.
propulsive → playful
pace-2·prose+3·bleak0
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
propulsive → playful
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+3bleak+2
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.
propulsive → meditative
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2
Heavier
- pace-1prose+3bleak+3
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+3·bleak+3
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
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·prose+1·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+3
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+2·bleak+3
- pace0prose+2bleak+3
Lord of the Flies
William Golding1954
Schoolboys are stranded on an island and try to organize a society. Order collapses into tribalism and violence.
propulsive → tense
pace0·prose+2·bleak+3
