Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

EVIL EYE

Jason Goodwin2011

In 1840s Istanbul, eunuch Yashim Togalu investigates a series of murders involving the Sultan's court and a visiting Italian doctor.

pace0·prose0·bleak0

The Name of the Rose

Umberto Eco1983

A friar and his novice investigate a series of murders at an Italian monastery in 1327. Much of the text covers theological debate.

wry → meditative, still historical mystery

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

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+1·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+1·bleak0

All Rhodes Lead Here

Mariana Zapata2021

A woman moves back to her Colorado hometown after a breakup and rents a garage apartment from a grumpy single father.

wry → warm

pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

Hannah's List

Debbie Macomber2010

A widower receives a letter from his late wife suggesting three women he should date. He begins to interact with each woman over the following year.

wry → warm

pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

The Comfort Book

Matt Haig2021

A collection of short reflections, lists, and anecdotes intended to provide mental support. It is a non-linear book of philosophy and memoir.

wry → warm

pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

The Housemaid's Secret

Freida McFadden2023

A housemaid with a criminal record takes a job for a wealthy couple. She becomes obsessed with the wife she is forbidden from seeing.

wry → propulsive

pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

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.

wry → propulsive

pace+2·prose-2·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-2·bleak+1

The English Patient

Michael Ondaatje1992

Four people shelter in a ruined Italian villa at the end of WWII. They care for a burned, anonymous man who recounts his past in the desert.

wry → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose0·bleak+1

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+1·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+1·bleak-1

Hannibal Rising

Thomas Harris2006

In WWII Lithuania, young Hannibal Lecter survives the death of his family. He later hunts those responsible while studying medicine in France.

wry → cold, still historical fiction

pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

Affinity

Sarah Waters1999

A grieving socialite visits a medium in a Victorian women's prison. Their relationship develops through diary entries and clandestine meetings.

wry → bleak, still historical fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak+2

Libra

Don DeLillo1988

A fictionalized biography of Lee Harvey Oswald. It follows his life and the CIA conspiracy that leads to the assassination of JFK.

wry → eerie, still historical fiction

pace+1·prose0·bleak+2