LitQueuelitqueue

After

If Books Could Kill

Kate Carlisle2010

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still mystery

1 more ↓

  • Down these strange streets

    George R. R. Martin2011

    An anthology of urban fantasy stories where private eyes and detectives encounter supernatural elements in city settings.

    Same tense register, still crime

    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.

    tense → cold

    pace-1·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·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.

    tense → cold

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Da Vinci Code

    Dan Brown2003

    A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.

    tense → propulsive, still mystery

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Catering to Nobody

    Diane Mott Davidson1990

    A Colorado caterer is accused of poisoning a guest at a wake. She investigates the murder to save her business and includes recipes in the text.

    tense → warm, still mystery

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Real Murders

    Charlaine Harris1990

    A librarian in a small Georgia town belongs to a club that studies famous crimes. A real murder occurs that mimics a historical case.

    tense → wry, still mystery

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

tense → propulsive, still mystery

3 more ↓

  • Ten Big Ones

    Janet Evanovich2004

    Stephanie Plum witnesses a gang hit and becomes a target herself. She balances the threat with her ongoing romantic indecision.

    tense → playful, still mystery

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Gone

    James Patterson2013

    A drug lord escapes prison and hunts Detective Michael Bennett, who is hiding in the California woods with his ten children.

    tense → propulsive, still crime

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Extreme Prey

    John Sandford2016

    While working on a presidential campaign, Lucas Davenport tracks an armed man planning to assassinate the governor.

    tense → propulsive, still crime

    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-2

  • 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·bleak-1

  • 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·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 2666

    Roberto Bolaño2004

    Five interconnected stories center on a series of unsolved murders in a Mexican border town and a reclusive German author.

    tense → bleak, still crime

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Páradais

    Fernanda Melchor2020

    Two teenagers in a luxury housing complex plot a crime to escape their lives. The prose consists of long, rhythmic, and breathless sentences.

    tense → bleak, still crime

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Full Dark, No Stars

    Stephen King2010

    Four novellas explore the themes of retribution and the capacity for violence. Characters commit and suffer from crimes in isolated settings.

    tense → bleak, still crime

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1