LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Double

George P. Pelecanos2013

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Six Easy Pieces

    Walter Mosley2003

    A school custodian in Los Angeles works as an unlicensed private investigator, taking on cases for people who cannot go to the police.

    tense → meditative, still noir

    pace-1·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.

    tense → 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.

    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 ↓

  • The cat who blew the whistle

    Lilian Jackson Braun1994

    A journalist and his two Siamese cats investigate a missing railroad enthusiast and a bank scandal. It is a small-town mystery.

    tense → playful

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • On a Pale Horse

    Piers Anthony1983

    After accidentally killing the personification of Death, a man must take over the office. He navigates the bureaucracy of the afterlife.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Apprentice to the Villain

    Hannah Nicole Maehrer2024

    Evie Sage assists an evil overlord while a magical threat endangers their kingdom. The story follows their workplace dynamic and a looming siege.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

tense → 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+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.

    Same tense register

    pace+1·prose-1·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.

    Same tense register

    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+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 ↓

  • A diet of treacle

    Lawrence Block1961

    A young man and woman drift into the 1960s Greenwich Village underworld. They encounter drug use and a predatory criminal element.

    tense → bleak, still noir

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • No Orchids for Miss Blandish

    James Hadley Chase1939

    A gang kidnaps an heiress, but a more violent criminal family seizes her for themselves. A private investigator searches for her months later.

    tense → cold, still noir

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

    Horace McCoy1935

    Two strangers enter a grueling 1930s dance marathon for prize money. The narrative is framed by a murder trial.

    tense → bleak, still noir

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2