LitQueuelitqueue

After

Empire of sin

Gary Krist2014

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Lethal White

    Robert Galbraith2018

    Private investigator Cormoran Strike investigates a decades-old strangling witnessed by a man in mental distress.

    Same wry register

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    wry → cold

    pace0·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.

    wry → playful

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • American Psycho

    Bret Easton Ellis1991

    A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.

    wry → cold

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Thraxas

    Martin Millar

    An overweight, beer-drinking private investigator with minor magical abilities solves crimes in a corrupt fantasy city.

    Same wry register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Party of Two

    Jasmine Guillory2020

    A lawyer starts a new firm in LA and begins a secret affair with a high-profile politician. They deal with public scrutiny and racial dynamics.

    wry → warm

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake

    Frank W. Abagnale

    A teenager poses as a pilot, doctor, and lawyer to cash millions in fraudulent checks. He evades the FBI across several countries.

    wry → playful, still true crime

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

wry → 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+2·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.

    wry → tense

    pace+2·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.

    wry → tense

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    wry → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    wry → playful

    pace-1·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.

    wry → playful

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

wry → clinical, still true crime

3 more ↓

  • Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

    Patrick Süskind

    In 18th-century France, a man with a genius sense of smell murders women to capture their scents. The prose is detached and sensory.

    wry → cold, still historical

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?

    Eric Powell2021

    A graphic novel documenting the life of Ed Gein and the 1950s Wisconsin crimes that inspired several horror films.

    wry → bleak, still true crime

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • American Psycho

    Bret Easton Ellis1991

    A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.

    wry → cold

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2