Crime Reads - Suspense, Thrillers, Crime, Gun!
CrimeReads is a culture website for people who believe suspense is the essence of storytelling, questions are as important as answers, and nothing beats the thrill of a good book. It's a single, trusted source where readers can find the best from the world of crime, mystery, and thrillers. No joke,
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I guess it’s quiz season, because I can’t stop making quizzes. By that, do I mean that it’s quiz season so I’m making quizzes, or I’m making quizzes so it’s quiz season? I don’t know, but the finer points don’t really matter. What only matters is: quiz. This particular quiz conceit comes to you from my Lit Hub colleague Emily Temple, who, in 2019, went through the Library of Congress catalog and found the subject category listings for many classic novels, and turned her findings into a delightful quiz. You can take it here. What is a Library of Congress subject category? Well, I’ll tell you! It’s a designation that helps organize the 62 million items in the library’s co…
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I fell in love with Gothic fiction while teaching a night course in Gothic literature at a Midwestern college. It was winter and my drive was long and sometimes treacherous, traversing dimly lit, snow-covered roads. The journey seemed apropos of Gothic fiction’s dark themes, eerie atmosphere, and supernatural world. All those elements are present in my Gothic, historical mystery, The Darkness Surrounds Us—a decaying manor house, a wintry desolate Michigan island, and a ghostly presence that haunts the protagonist, Nellie Lester, who she fears is her dead mother. What lures Nellie to this isolated island are her mother’s secrets. As Nellie explains, “On the night my moth…
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On 14 June, prompted by the Good fiasco, Commissioners Mayne and Rowan sent to the Home Secretary a ‘Memorandum relative to the Detective Powers of the Police’. It laid out plans for a new branch of Scotland Yard comprised of two detective-inspectors and eight sergeants. The document has been lost to history, but in a follow-up letter they made clear that when not working a case, members of the proposed branch were to learn ‘the habits, haunts, and persons or parties known or suspected to live by the commission of crime, so as to prepare themselves for tracing and detecting offenders when any case occurred.’ The Home Secretary gave the proposal his stamp of approval for s…
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When asked to think about the horror genre, most people would conjure the image of teenagers being victimized in some way. Maybe it’s by a vengeful killer at a summer camp, or a crazed man with a chainsaw or a demon they’ve made the mistake of summoning via Ouija board. Regardless, people’s first experience with horror often starts with teenagers at the center of the story. It’s a trope of course, but one that understands the best way to cause the feeling of dread and unease for which the genre is known is to watch vulnerable people backed into a corner. It’s the feeling of “they don’t deserve this” and “why doesn’t someone help them” that is the cornerstone of horror an…
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It always starts the same way. The reality show host drives toward their destination in Smalltown, USA, discussing the details of the house and its owners. We, the viewers, are shown the exterior: majestic, imposing, possibly in a state of disrepair. We meet the owners, who tell us a little more about themselves and then run through the house’s myriad problems. I’m referring, of course, to both the paranormal investigation show and the home improvement show, which in their opening beats differ only in music and lighting. On the repair show, the hosts will next walk through the house, demonstrating everything that is wrong with it to exaggerated effect. On the paranormal …
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Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is itself a strange case. The fact that its initial success as a ‘shilling shocker’ was due to its thrilling conclusion is difficult to appreciate nowadays, given that the ‘punchline’ is known to all. The central revelation—Jekyll and Hyde are one and the same person—is unlikely to elicit a gasp of shock from anyone, and its fame is almost unrelated to the actual plot as it plays out in the novella. The main aspect of Stevenson’s novella that became lodged in the public consciousness is the concept of the duality of man being made literal: the phrase ‘a Jekyll and Hyde personality’ is commonly us…
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If Dudley Clarke had done nothing else in the war, his final job in London in 1940 would have secured him a place in history. On his return from Ireland he’d been appointed as military assistant to Sir John Dill, the new Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Dill and Clarke were old comrades. In Palestine a couple of years earlier, they’d been flying in a plane together and Clarke had leaned out to point to something, only to be thrown from his seat in the open cockpit by a moment of turbulence. In the version of the story that Clarke liked to tell, Dill had caught him ‘by the ankles’ and hauled him back into the plane. Now Dill had been put in charge of the country’s mil…
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I met Adam West in the summer of 2008, at a fundraising gala on the North Shore of Long Island to which my parents had managed to snag tickets for our family of four. The event was being hosted by a local historic institution, celebrating a mammoth anniversary with a benefit to raise money for the next chapter of its existence. To make the commemoration even more special, celebrities from classic television shows were promised to be there, as well. And while my parents were far, far from the “gala” type, they were definitely of the variety that attended, and frequently took their children to, events organized around the popular culture of bygone eras (which is the short …
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We all know the scene: at the end of the story, when the body count is out of control, the one girl left alive stands up against the monster and delivers a defiant, badass one-liner. These are the Final Girls—the ones who live. Everyone wants to be a Final Girl, because what’s the alternative? The only possibilities are victim or survivor, and for a long time, women were allowed to be only one. You can guess which. Early Final Girls from the 80’s tended to be one-note survivors rather than rebels. They were serious, nice, and smart, but didn’t seem to have a personality so much as a function. Further, while early Final Girls lived to see the end of the story, their victo…
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“The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born; now is the time of monsters.” — Antonio Gramsci The diminutive Italian philosopher was only partly right. Our world as we’ve understood it is, indeed, dying, and a new world will soon emerge. But monsters don’t suddenly appear. They’ve always lurked in the shadows just beyond the flickering campfire light. It’s only during times of upheaval and tumult that the monsters step into full view, fangs bared, claws extended. And if truth be told, not all monsters are out there. They lurk inside as well. For human beings, all stories are ultimately about monsters and the savagery they wreak upon us. The worst m…
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I’d only been working for the British government for a few days when I met my first spy. My new job was counter-terrorism communications, so I’d already had my background thoroughly checked before I ever stepped foot through the secure glass doors, and I’d thought that part was over when I first met Eve in the little kitchen at my office. I worked in one of those enormous London buildings that take up a full city block and hold thousands of desks. I met someone new every day and I wouldn’t have noticed her at all, except she stopped me to ask for help. She was new, she said. Working in the legal department. And did I know if everyone had their own cup or if people share…
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Another week, another batch of books for your TBR pile. Happy reading, folks. * Kristin Pérez, The Many Lies of Veronica Hawkins (Pegasus) “A must-read that’s dark, disturbing, and suspenseful while also being a compelling story about identity, deception, and ambition.” –Booklist Midge Raymond and John Yunker, Devils Island (Oceanview) “This is one nightmare vacation worth taking.” –Publishers Weekly Ava Glass, The Trap (Random House) “Fans of Ian Fleming’s work are sure to enjoy Emma Makepeace. No, she isn’t a Bond clone, although they could be cousins. Near the culmination of a bloody fight with a mortal enemy, she declares, ‘His Majesty says hello.…
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As if gazing into a crystal ball—and through the prism of Ranger Darren Mathews’ battle against The Brotherhood’s murderous reign—Attica foresaw how the political climate would embolden white supremacy groups and how that would play out for a Black man with a badge and a gun. Darren is a man of honor, from a family devoted to the law. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his demons, though. In the series’ final installment, Darren meets those very demons head on. Some are familiar and others are not who he thought they were. Nancie Clare I am sad that Guide Me Home is the last installment of the Highway 59 series. I really like Darren Mathews. So, this is a writerly ques…
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Perusing a mystery shelf in your local bookstore, you may have wondered—just how many thriller subgenres are out there? You have medical thrillers, psychological thrillers, domestic suspense thrillers, spy thrillers, procedural thrillers, amateur sleuth thrillers, action thrillers, political thrillers, legal thrillers, and techno-thrillers and more. But, have you ever heard of the screwball thriller? If not, that’s probably because I just made it up. Why on earth did I do that? To talk about my own screwball thriller of course! But first, let me try to define the elusive subgenre. The screwball thriller is more screwball than thriller. The exact recipe: one cup of zany,…
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When most people think of gothic fiction, they envision a heroine dashing through a crumbling manor in middle of nowhere England, chased by the ghosts of her lover’s past, one as rife with secrets as the holes in her moth-eaten gown. 19th and 20th century classics such as Bronte’s Jane Eyre, du Maurier’s Rebecca, and Austen’s Northanger Abbey come to mind, as well as monster gothics like Shelley’s Frankenstein and Stoker’s Dracula. Many in non-publishing tend to believe the genre is as dead as these authors, maybe excepting fans of Guillermo del Toro’s 2015 gothic masterpiece Crimson Peak. When I tell my non-publishing friends about my new book, The Haunting of Moscow …
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There’s nothing… nothing… more satisfying than when a movie has a perfect tagline. Take A Nightmare on Elm Street’s ““If Nancy doesn’t wake up screaming, she won’t wake up at all.” After all, a good tagline ought to be more than either wordplay or a plot synopsis delivery system. The best ones do both at the same time. So, we thought we’d assemble some of them… and arrange them as a quiz for your guessing pleasure. The answer key is way down at the bottom. As you take the quiz, I’d write down your answers next to the corresponding questions’ numbers (on a sheet of paper or in your notes app) and then grade yourself in one swoop when you’re done, so that you’re not const…
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If the reading and writing world(s) of Eli Cranor could be distilled into one word, it would probably be: empathy. The “beautiful simplicity of a single word”—albeit laden with subtext—is evidenced by the title Broiler (July 2, 2024; Soho Press). The nationally bestselling author and educator’s third novel is ostensibly about the chicken processing industry but really about the American Dream, the pursuit of which can become a nightmare when tainted by ambition and greed. Inevitably, there is a power struggle between those who’ve attained it and those who aspire to. It’s a story that Cranor—the Edgar Award-winning author of Don’t Know Tough and Ozark Dogs—is uniquely q…
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A look at the month’s best reviewed crime, mystery, and thriller books, from Book Marks. Morgan Richter, The Divide (Knopf) “Ms. Richter’s novel starts as an offbeat mystery and turns into an emotional tour de force. The redoubtable Jenny strives to redeem her disappointing life by accomplishing something exceptional. Darned if she doesn’t do just that.” –Tom Nolan (Wall Street Journal) Gabino Iglesias, House of Bone and Rain (Mulholland) “Ferocious … It is in Iglesias’ stark, authoritative, sometimes surprisingly beautiful descriptions of the grit and pessimism of urban Puerto Rico that his prose turns electric.” –Christopher Bollen (New York Times Book Rev…
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We have a complicated relationship with fear. On one hand, we avoid many of its causes at all costs, warned from a young age what can hurt us and, more importantly, how to steer clear. On the other hand, we can’t help ourselves, so fascinated by things that go bump in the night that the bravest among us actively seek them out. One of the clearest examples of that is our fascination with urban legends. Stories—yes. But with the tantalizing undercurrent of potential truth. We all know them—Bloody Mary, the Vanishing Hitchhiker, Lights Out— and, because they are usually relayed in our formative years, we never quite shake them. The best urban legends are both unnerving a…
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A crime has occurred in the heart of old Europe. Technically some guy was killed, but the real crime might be the new German-made TV show Miss Merkel, where (and I kid you not) the former German chancellor Angela Merkel passes her well-earned retirement solving crimes. It’s cosy, it’s Agatha Christie-like, even if political opponents of the lady herself might have found her tough as old boots she’s lovable here. So far Hamburg’s RTL has filmed two of bestselling German “krimi” author David Safier’s novels featuring Fraulein Merkel. Think Miss Marple or Jessica Fletcher, only more German. It might be that Miss Merkel is a rather localised taste – it’s been shown initiall…
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I don’t know why I started watching Dexter, but I did, and now I’m done. Thanks to streaming, I squished eight years of prestige television into exactly two months. It’s always a bit strange to watch something for the first time at a greater advantage than the pioneers who watched it first. I watched Season 1 in twelve days, scaled Season 4 in a weekend. Instead of hanging from a cliff for a year, I hopped from one season into another with no effort or strain. And then it was done, finished. Dexter became a show I had watched in next to no time. Another eight year-long thing that I squished into two months was my PhD. My PhD, which I began in 2015 and ended in 2023, but …
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As an editor for this website, I’ve always enjoyed using my platform for my petty and deeply arbitrary antipathies, including my hatred of lakes and summer camps, and along those lines: cabins, also not so great. They can be, in fact, very creepy. And sometimes, they have daddy longlegs that drop onto your head while you’re in the middle of using the bathroom. Most of them, like, don’t even have air conditioning. And then there are the cabins in the books below, occupied not only by a plethora of arachnids but also supernatural powers, monstrous entities, traumatic memories, and no working televisions whatsoever. It’s clear that the pandemic has influenced the flood of ha…
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Though I haven’t lived in New York City in a decade, its grit is in my blood and memories, always making its way into my essays and fictions. Nonetheless, after the malling and gentrification of the Big Apple many believed that the metropolis would be safer, but according to the nightly news the town has returned to the Death Wish days. While some folks tell me the stories are media hype, others have confessed to feeling as though it’s more dangerous than a decade back. This is especially true when it comes to the subway, that infamous “hole in the ground,” where just standing in the station can lead to a being shoved on the tracks, sliced in the face with a box cutter or…
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Having devoured suspense in all its forms since childhood, there was never any doubt it was the genre I would find myself writing in, when I first began penning novels. Just like other thrill-seekers, I have been enthralled by horror-tinged literature and movies about serial killers such as Hannibal Lecter, only to look nervously over my shoulder as I wandered the town alone after dark. Checking the lock on the door an extra time, peering out the window for out-of-place movement. Always ready to stumble upon the unforeseeable. But as I sat down to write my first book in 2013, I immediately felt a resistance against writing about explicit violence and acts of madness, tha…
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Nancie Clare Les is definitely driving this bus. Leslie Klinger Nick and I have been friends for a long, long time. I met him back in The Seven-Per-Cent-Solution days, a really exciting times for Sherlockians because Nick, almost single-handedly, brought Holmes out of retirement. Public interest in Holmes came in waves, but [at the time The Seven-Percent Solution was published in 1974], they’d receded. The previous wave had been the Rathbone films in the 1940s and early 1950s. There was a long, quiet period during the sixties. And then in 1974, this new wave came crashing onto the shores, a book called The Seven-Per-Cent Solution by Nicholas Meyer, a guy that Sherlock…
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