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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Witches—and witch trials—have long been a subject of fascination in literature. Not even Shakespeare was immune. In Macbeth, the Weird Sisters (originally called the Weyward Sisters) set the scene for the bard’s tragedy about fate, evil and malign female influence. Fast forward four hundred years, and witchy novels—across a range of genres—are bigger than ever. Perhaps we’re so spellbound by witches because we find them difficult to explain. The witch trials of the early modern period are one of the darkest chapters in human history: thousands of people, mainly women, were put to death in continental Europe, Britain and North America. This was a phenomenon that spanned c…
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Every crime story is, on some level, a story about justice served or justice denied. And when the author situates the crime or crimes that are perpetrated within the context of a system of oppression that negatively effects one or more groups of people based on their affiliations or identities—social justice—the world of the novel cracks open to let in some of the biggest, darkest, deepest questions about humanity itself. When I set out to write my debut novel, The Dig, the heart of the story came straight from the ancient Greek tragedy, Antigone. In Sophocles’ play, a young woman follows her moral and ethical conviction that the death of her brother who rebelled against…
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Jenna ditched the scooter and is fast-walking down Tenth Street when the phone rings. It comes up as only a number, no name. It’s not in the scooter guy’s contacts. She answers. “It’s me,” Simon says. “You’re sure?” He’s using a burner phone like they discussed when they made this contingency plan. Their marriage is nothing like the cliché in the movies where the spouse is blindsided by their loved one’s secret history. Before Jenna agreed to marry him, she told Simon everything. Well, nearly everything. Enough for him to be clear-eyed and understand the risks of living the rest of his life with her. Actually, there was some cliché to it—he proposed on the promenade out…
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In my upcoming young adult thriller, I Will Find You Again, Chase Ohara grieves the loss of her ex-girlfriend, Lia, and makes it her mission to find out what happened in the final weeks before her death. But as she begins to put the pieces together, she discovers secrets about her own relationship with Lia that shock her. Not everything was as it seemed, and not everyone is who they appear to be. But one thing is certain: if Chase can’t make sense of the past, she might not get a future. I love the idea of the thriller as a metaphor for the unknown within ourselves, and the outward mystery in Chase’s story ultimately leads to a confrontation of the dark truths lurking wi…
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North by Northwest isn’t about what happens to Cary Grant, it’s about what happens to his suit. The suit has the adventures, a gorgeous New York suit threading its way through America. The title sequence in which the stark lines of a Madison Avenue office building are ‘woven’ together could be the construction of Cary in his suit right there – he gets knitted into his suit before his adventure can begin. Indeed some of the popular ‘suitings’ of that time, ‘windowpane’ or ‘glen plaid’, reflected, even perfectly complemented office buildings. Cary’s suit reflects New York, identifies him as a thrusting exec, but also protects him, what else is a suit for? Reflects and Prote…
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Here is the first sentence of my new novel: “After I finished writing my last novel, I fell into a long silence.” And here is the opening sentence as I originally composed it: “After I finished writing my last novel, which was called Defending Jacob, I fell into a long silence.” The narrator of that original draft, as you might have guessed, was a character named Bill Landay. Was the character actually me, the guy who wrote Defending Jacob — which is to say, not a fictional character at all? Or was he something in between — me, thinly disguised? That was for the reader to decide. At least it would have been. In the end, “Bill Landay” did not survive the editing proces…
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There’s nothing quite like an anonymous note for stirring up trouble. The hapless victim is usually going about their business, pleasantly unaware they’re being watched and judged, until the day something nasty arrives in the post. (Unsigned missives may also be pinned to a pillow, shoved beneath a door, or tucked under a plate of crumpets on the tea tray. According to one scurrilous story, Marie Antoinette found a particularly foul pamphlet tacked on her bathroom door. It must have been hard to take a relaxing bubble bath after that.) However it materializes, the note marks a change. Suddenly, the victim’s peace of mind is shattered and paranoia sets in. Everyone become…
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Another week, another batch of books for your TBR pile. Happy reading, folks. * Peter Swanson, The Kind Worth Saving (William Morrow) “The plot is an ingenious puzzle… Forget trying to solve the mystery yourself. But be aware that if you look closely, you may spot the murderer… hiding in plain sight.” –New York Times Book Review David Handler, The Girl Who Took What She Wanted (Mysterious Press) “The empathetic Hoag’s narrative voice compels, and Handler makes his role as an investigator easy to accept. Fans of hard-edged whodunits set in La La Land will be riveted.” –Publishers Weekly Owen Matthews, White Fox (Doubleday) “The adventure elements of th…
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“You any tougher than you look?” “Hell yes! At least, I used to be.” “I used to be. We all used to be.” Harry Ross (Paul Newman) was, as he describes it, a cop for twenty years, a PI for five, and then a drunk. When an errand to retrieve the wayward daughter of film stars Jack and Catherine Ames (Gene Hackman, Susan Sarandon) goes awry due to Harry’s inattention and subsequent injury, the Ameses allow him to recuperate in an apartment above the garage in their Art Deco mansion. Two years later, Harry remains, having settled into a cushioned role as a handyman and sort of kept friend to Jack. His mutual attraction with Catherine adds a pinch of spice to bland days of…
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Founded by Catherine the Great, though often described as distinctly un-Russian in manner and disposition, the Ukrainian port city of Odessa (and nowadays often spelled “Odesa”) is currently in the news for the horrors of war and the city’s brave resistance to Russian attack, historically Odessa stands out as a crime city…criminal legends have been built here in this amazing city on the Black Sea in southern Ukraine. Charles King’s history of the city (which explains a lot about how this Black Sea coastal city became so notorious for crime, exotic criminals, and violence) Odessa: Genius and Death in a City of Dreams (2011) lays out the case for Odessa: ‘a taste for the …
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Mysteries and weddings are a match made in storytelling heaven. Seriously, think of all the juicy conflict that can arise with all the abounding love, high stakes, societal expectations, and melding—and sometimes meddling—families. Not to mention the setting potential with backdrops from hilariously tacky to enviably elegant to refreshingly exotic. It’s enough to make any writer salivate. And that’s before taking the cake into account! It makes sense given the rather colorful history of wedding traditions. The smooshing of the cake that started with the groom crushing barley bread over his bride’s head, the throwing of the bouquet that originated as a free-for-all to sna…
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It’s almost time for SXSW, and since I moved back to Austin a year ago, I figured I’d put together a list of novels featuring musicians to read. I thought this list was just going to be a random selection from multiple years, but it turns out there are a ton of great music mysteries coming out just this year alone! Below, you’ll find seven novels exploring the intersection of creativity, celebrity, and crime, with a variety of musical genre inspirations, including pop stars, punk rockers, classical musicians, metalheads, aging folk singers, and even a tribute to grunge. Jennifer Banash, The Rise and Fall of Ava Arcana (Lake Union, April 1) So, anyone familiar with th…
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“Arlington Road,” the 1999 thriller starring Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins, defies easy definitions of good cinema. It effectively escalates the suspense throughout its two hour running time, creating an inescapable mood of paranoia and panic. The performances from its two lead actors are brilliant, and much of its dialogue is unforgettable. Despite its attributes, it has a storyline with craters of illogic. While audiences should suspend disbelief whenever watching a film, “Arlington Road” turns on so many one-in-a-million coincidences that it almost becomes an exercise in absurdity—characters bump into each other in shopping mall parking garages at the exact moment that …
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Hello kids. This is a very short post whose only intention is to provide you with access to the following hysterical sketch from That Mitchell and Webb Look, the British sketch show featuring the comedy duo David Mitchell and Robert Webb. (If you’re having dé·jà vu about reading a similar post about a Mitchell and Webb Look sketch… it’s because you probably did read one such post. Apparently Mitchell and Webb are the official comedians of CrimeReads. So it goes.) Anyway, in this skit, Mitchell and Webb play two guys coming up with a list of friends to invite to a party. But they realize that if they invite Freddie, Daphne, and Velma, they’re going to have to invite Sh…
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Nothing is ever as it seems. That’s the way it goes in murder mystery stories, isn’t it? Nowhere is quite what you believe it is. No one is exactly who they say they are. Nothing happens entirely as you think it will. At least, that’s what any author would hope to achieve – keep you guessing right up to the end when the skill and bravery of the detectives allows them to reveal all before apprehending the culprit. I’ll never forget the ‘reveal all’ scene in the 1968 movie Where Eagles Dare, which starred Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. It may be an action-adventure, war-and-espionage movie but there are a couple of murders along the way, so I feel justified in giving …
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Five hours and forty-six minutes after a trapper pulls the skull from the depths of Starry Swamp, shaking sludge and Spanish moss out of its eye sockets, the entire town of Bottom Springs, Louisiana—all five-thousand-two-hundred-twenty-nine Christian souls and the small handful of Godless heathens—has heard the news. Once again, they whisper, a person has been claimed by the swamp. But days later, Sheriff Thomas Theriot holds a press conference. Sheriff Thomas Theriot has not held a press conference once in his thirty years of service to the law. In Bottom Springs, there’s never been a need. So this morning, when he stands outside his office with the reporter from the Tr…
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The more complicated the heist, the more interesting the story. Nobody wants to buy a ticket to a heist movie where the safecrackers break into a vault within five minutes and get away effortlessly with the loot (it’d also be a very short movie). Flicks in this subgenre are generally at their best when stuffed full of double-crosses, unexpected complications, and supposedly uncrackable security systems. With that in mind, which heist films have presented their protagonists with the toughest and most unique challenges? These seven titles are memorable for a reason—what they put their respective criminal masterminds through is positively fiendish. Rififi (1955) The c…
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When I was in high school, a friend of mine committed suicide. It was shocking, terrifying, unexpected. No one knew what demons haunted him, though in the aftermath, at the funeral, there were whispers. Abuse. Depression. The corrosive power of over-expectation. He used a shotgun; there was an open-casket funeral. I was scarred for life. I still can’t fully imagine what it was like for his mother. What I couldn’t conceptualize nor understand as a child I am all too cognizant of as an adult. Many times on my failed journey to have children of my own, my friend came to mind. After every miscarriage, I would tell my husband God knows something. He knows that something migh…
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You won’t find Von Goom’s Gambit described in any chess textbook. But here’s the history. On April 5 1997, Von Goom entered his first ever chess tournament: the Minnesota State Championship. In his initial match, he lost to a man named Curt Brasket in twenty nine moves. A series of equally humiliating defeats was to come. Von Goom lost the further six games he played, including one in three moves, and another – after 102 moves – to a five-year-old child. He fared no better in the years that followed. Close to half a decade later, in fact, after studying relentlessly and entering numerous tournaments, Von Goom had failed to win even a single competitive game of chess. T…
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The CrimeReads editors select the best month’s new novels in crime fiction, mystery, and thrillers. * Peter Swanson, The Kind Worth Saving (William Morrow) High school English teacher turned private investigator Henry Kimball is plying his trade in the suburbs when a new case comes through his door: a woman from his past with a husband who may be cheating, a case that seems determined to drag Kimball back through his own past tragedies. Swanson is bringing the keen pacing and insights of psychological thrillers to the private eye genre, and with remarkable results: The Kind Worth Saving is a pitch perfect mystery with all the humanity and depth we’ve come to expect …
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Crime fiction and speculative fiction go together like, well, crime and anything else, for crime writing is the perfect plot vehicle for exploring a beautifully built universe—and testing the bounds of its structure. Below, you’ll find fantasy, science fiction, alternative history, and sardonic thought experiments; other than a thread of violence and its consequences, these novels share one more thing in common: an abundance of imagination. Mariana Enriquez, Our Share of Night (Hogarth, February 7) What a strange and luminous novel. Mariana Enriquez stunned with her collection The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, and Our Share of Night is just as fantastic (and fantastical…
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When we think of Victorian Britain, certain images come to mind: men with top hats and pocket watches, women in crinolines and bonnets, new railways and industry, tea drinking and calling cards. We picture a world that is ordered, strict and rigid – a social system set in stone and bound by rules of propriety and decorum. And when we think of Victorian governesses, we imagine meek young women in grey dresses teaching lessons in attic rooms. When we think of Victorian widows, we imagine Queen Victoria herself, dressing sombrely in black for the rest of her life after Prince Albert’s death. But in fact, for the Victorians, both governesses and widows could be dangerous wom…
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Is someone a liar if they tell you something that isn’t true—but they think it’s true? Is a person guilty of misleading you even if the false information they’ve given is a sincere effort to convey something to the best of their understanding? These are the sorts of questions I think of every time I hear the term “unreliable narrator.” In what ways are they unreliable, and what does it mean that we call them that? Is a confused person unreliable? An inebriated person? A traumatized person? Is a character unreliable because they’re manipulating other characters? Or because they’re manipulating you, the reader? Perhaps the term was originally reserved for characters who w…
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I graduated college in the mid-1990’s, right around the same time my wife and I got our first Internet-capable PC. My first job out of school was writing for a consumer computer magazine, where we did stories with angles like “Do you really need e-mail?” and “World Wide Whatnow?” Now, most of us walk around with the world in our pockets. For me, there are days when the interval between then and now feels like a jump cut. It’s hard to believe that the type of touchscreen smartphone so many of us rely on today didn’t even exist until 2007—literally one generation of teenagers ago—when part of me is still a young adult myself, fresh out of school, watching “the Web” fill in…
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The first time I met Brendan Slocumb, I was flabbergasted. It was late 2021. We’d both been selected for a Library Journal panel featuring debut novelist. Nita Prose and Eva Jurczyk, two soon-to-be superstars, were also in the mix. I was nervous. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Then Brendan started talking . . . He had the voice, a beautiful, buttery baritone. He had the look, tattooed forearms peeking out from under rolled up sleeves. And he had the backstory, a concert violinist turned author. Like I said, I was flabbergasted, watching as Brendan wove all the aforementioned assets into a thrilling introduction of himself and his debut novel, The Violin Conspiracy. …
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