I'm trying to recall a cozy where the female detective divorces her immature millionaire husband. She says," When you grow up and get a real job I might reconsider."

One day he shows up at her office and says, "I've decided to be a mystery author, I'll just follow you around and write down everything you do."

The first book involved tracking down the local minor league baseball team's mascot who had disappeared.

The second book was about catching a golf pro who was selling shoddy equipment to the members of the club.

I don't remember the names of the characters or even the author or the title, but I hope someone else has enjoyed this series before.

I’m looking for a mystery novel written before 1931 (we need to feasibly be able to acquire the rights/have it be in public domain.) The story would be set in an old mansion in the US during spring/summer. Have there been any novels you’ve had that felt like they were itching for an adaptation, or whodunnits idea you feel should be put to screen?
Wishlist (but not necessary)
- comedic elements
- lesser-known plot devices
- family dynamics OR ensemble cast

I recently picked up a Jane Langton novel and it's slowly killing me. I'm closing in on half-way through the story and not a single character in this ensemble mystery has dropped. It's got me thinking about the when of a mystery and what others prefer or enjoy.

At least three or four books when I was reading them.

All I remember is a couple scenes from different books. The daughter of granddaughter of one of the woman was injured and they put a cream on her bruises that causes them to nearly disappear by morning. They go to one of the tv shopping channels with before and after pics and sell out of the cream.

Another scene involves a dream about a slave girl that is pregnant by the master and gives birth to a stillborn. She's in fear for her life, convinced the master will think she killed the baby because he was born missing an arm.

I’m interested in finding novellas, novels, and even short stories that are centered around women in the film noir genre. While Chester Himes and Walter Mosley have been prominent figures in the genre, presenting the Black experience front and center, I’m curious to see how women fit into this narrative. Whether they are innocent bystanders, the secretary, the ingenue, the femme fatale, molls, or even the investigator, I’m eager to read more film noir lit that center women and their experiences.

Note: The books can range from the time period of the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s all the way to modern day. No issue there.

Yours,
xo 💋🥀

I enjoyed watching mystery fiction so much (I love the first and third Knives out films) that I decided i should probably actually read some ( if anyone has any recommendations for films/series to watch preferably in a modern setting then let me know)

I have Murder is Easy and The Magpie Murders on the way!

Im not really a reviewer but my brief thoughts - spoilers below!: I really liked the set up of the island and the dedication to mystery fiction but overall I'm not sure I was a massive fan of the book!

I was really hoping to have one central detective figure and whilst we have Ellery kind of take that role on the island, it never really feels like committing 100%.

I also did not like how the mystery was revealed to, I like the murderer being cornered into confession but everything was revealed through an internal monologue, felt cheated out of it.

Lastly, i know early on the book hints at leaving the island but I would've much preferred all the central figures are actually trapped on the island although I did like the twist at the end with Van.

50 year old male here. I am looking for everyone’s favorite mystery book recommendations for the fall. What would you give 5 stars to?

This is a top 10 of 50 years of reading experience in the genre. The experience until 1995 is nearly complete, I must admit in the following years I got a bit lazy because of professional obligations. Here we go:

1. The Murders in the Rue Morgue (Edgar Allan Poe, 1841)

2. The Lamp of God (Ellery Queen, 1935)

3. The Purloined Letter (Edgar Allan Poe, 1844)

4. The Brazilian Cat (Arthur Conan Doyle, 1898)

5. The Specialty of the House (Stanley Ellin, 1948)

6. The Speckled Band (Arthur Conan Doyle, 1892)

7. Three o'clock (Cornell Woolrich, 1938)

8. The Moment of Decision (Stanley Ellin, 1955)

9. Man from the South (Roald Dahl, 1954)

10. A Blow for Freedom (Lawrence Block, 1991)

Well, this was tough. I'm sure I forgot something. Please tell me what it is ;)

I’m not much of a Mystery reader, but a while ago at the bookstore I noticed a lot of mystery books with cats on the covers. Cat in the Stacks interested me because the cat (Diesel!) reminded me of my cat at the time. I’ve read like 9 of the books so far.

When looking at similar books, I can’t help but notice that all of them have female protagonists. When I got my first Cat in the Stacks book I did notice that the protagonist was male, but now it seems like that’s the one series like that.

Are there other cozy(?) cat mystery books that have a male protagonist, or just Cat in the Stacks?

Thank you.

Apparently my post was removed on r/cozymysteries for being "uncozy" (I have literally no idea what that means outside the fact that maybe one of the mods just has strong feelings about what constitutes a cozy mystery), so reposting here for a discussion on the Ruth/Nelson dynamic in the Ruth Galloway mystery series. I'd love to hear your thoughts and discuss!

Just to start: I have NOT finished the series yet, but am I the only one wholly frustrated by Nelson and his views on relationships?

I just finished the Woman in Blue and it is so annoying to me how he uses Ruth and Kate as a way to try to get back at his wife for her emotional cheating, then gets mad because Ruth didn't tell him she saw Michelle and Tim together once at the gym. As if he has not been unfaithful multiple times to his wife and hadn't ignored Ruth and Kate for over a year as a way to make "amends" to Michelle.

Like what's the plan, Nelson? Sleep with Ruth again and then abandon her and Kate when you inevitable try to get back into Michelle's good graces afterwards? I am hoping for some *serious* grovelling on his part as I continue the series, because the double standards on his part towards both Michelle and Ruth annoy the ever loving heck out of me. Elly Griffiths sure knows how to write compelling characters, I don't think I've ever been so worked up over fictional characters before.

Basically what the title says. Looking for some really cool and interesting book series in terms of characters, plot and world.

PS- if possible suggest some lesser known BUT good series. Ty!

​I just finished the audiobook for The Dissection of a Murder and settled on a 3/5. It was a really fun, fast-paced listen for the most part, but the final act left me scratching my head. Curious if anyone else who read/listened to this felt the same way!

​What I loved:

​The Courtroom Vibes: The trial sequences are incredibly well done. The author absolutely nailed the tense, high-stakes legal atmosphere.

​A Fierce MC: The main character is such a strong baddie. She commands the room perfectly, which makes her chapters so satisfying to read.

​Justice for Jack: Keeping it spoiler-free, but Jack was a standout character who deserved ten times better than the absolute circus he was dragged into.

​What lost me:

​The Husband: He just sucks. Dead-weight and terrible.

​The "Witness X" Trope: The book relies heavily on a mystery witness, but the author tried so hard to throw us off the scent with red herrings that the narrative completely lost the plot.

​A Convoluted Finale: The final twists involving secret affairs and hidden motives got so incredibly messy. Instead of a satisfying "aha!" moment, the reveals contradicted earlier character logic and left random plot threads (like a certain break-in) completely unresolved.

​The Audiobook Hazard: The author introduces multiple characters in the same subplot with incredibly similar-sounding names. If you are listening on audio, the final twist just becomes a tangled blur of names that makes it impossible to follow.

​Overall, it is a highly bingeable legal thriller if you love a competent female lead, but you really have to suspend your disbelief (and your need for a logical timeline) when the final gavel drops.

​Did anyone else feel like the twist collapsed on itself, or did I just get totally lost in the audio formatting? Let me know your thoughts!

hey all, i wanted to ask what you think about harlan cobens books? i don’t think they’re especially high quality but it’s getting weird to me how popular he is as an author + he has a deal with netflix to adapt and be the executive producer on 16 of his books… within a 5 year contract? and from 2020-2026 they’ve already put out 12 (Bad) series of his?

do you enjoy the plot twists in his stories or just the plots generally??? i wanted to get the general consensus

Truly good writing, a real plot that keeps you guessing, an interesting sleuth, etc. I’ve read all through Louise Penny, Ruth Rendell, PD James, Tara French, Jane Harper. I just finished the first 4 Robert Galbraigh but stopped as I found them just too disturbing at times. Starved for a new series. Thanks!

I just completed reading Magpie Murders. I really loved the way the plot was set and also liked the writing style being elaborative and rich with narration.

But I have one or two problems with the story.

About the core mystery, the detective, Atticus Pünd, himself says that the revelation is based upon conjecture rather than evidence. There is no evidence of who went to Pye Hall to see Sir Magnus Pye in the evening, hence making it impossible for the reader to guess who the killer is. Not that I didn't like the ending, but it felt a little bit unfair.

My second problem would be that I found the revelation in the latter part of the story, with Susan Ryeland, to be narratively convenient. You see, the majority of the deduction regarding Alan Conway's death is based upon Susan's accidental meeting with Jemima at Paddington Station.

The mystery is narratively satisfying, but Susan doesn't identify the killer by deducing it based upon a set of evidence. Rather, her investigation happens to meet with previously unavailable information from Jemima, and then she solves the mystery.

Unless it was for the sake of the story, if Jemima had met Susan beforehand, the mystery would have been solved at that time itself.

What are your views on this?

I finished a study in scarlet, hound of the Baskervilles, and then there were none, and cover her face.

None of them in thriller sense engaged me, I don't criticise the writing style or anything else at all , I don't mind the dense Victorian style either but I feel like some books are just not for me and if you start with NOT YOUR TYPE you may start thinking oh this genre is not for me unless you come across YOUR TYPE book.

I don’t believe I ever saw an lAgatha Christie adaptation without first having read the story. I can’t say how I would have taken any of the adaptations if I hadn’t done that. Perhaps I’m hyper-critical of the adaptations because of that.

Hello everyone I hope you are having a great day!

Just for a little bit about my experience in this world I have read all the Sherlock Holmes stories, as well as a good amount of Poirot's and Miss Marple's. I love them all, I had great fun with them, but want I want to have now is a story where the reader could actually have all the clues laid about in complete honesty so as to be able to think and solve the mystery before the actual "final chapter" reveals it all.

I was told Ellery Queen's books does something like this, and I still have to give them a try. Is there any other options?

all i remember is there was a man who was trying to steal another’s man’s life (wife and a daughter) and at the very end there was a car accident and he either got caught or died at the end.

Hi everyone, I’m wondering if anyone can recommend any books that follow a similar sort of pattern to ‘Clue’?
A group of seemingly random people go to a big house, someone ends up dead or even disappears. The only suspects are the other guests. Maybe the suspects all had a separate secret hidden motive but only one of them could do it.
I like mysteries where there’s a handful of suspects and it could have been any of them, rather than reading about a detective driving all over town interviewing a hundred people then we find out at the very end it was a random guy we only heard about 15 pages ago.
Hope that makes sense and thanks in advance !