LitQueuelitqueue

After

The case of the restless redhead

Erle Stanley Gardner1954

5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Last Days of Night

    Graham Moore2016

    A young lawyer represents George Westinghouse in a high-stakes legal battle against Thomas Edison over the patent for the lightbulb.

    Same propulsive register, still legal thriller

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1

  • 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.

    propulsive → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2

  • Confidence-Man

    Herman Melville1949

    A series of masquerading figures board a Mississippi steamboat on April Fool's Day to test the faith and finances of their fellow passengers.

    propulsive → sardonic

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2

Faster

Same propulsive register, still legal thriller

3 more ↓

  • Taken

    Robert Crais2012

    A private investigator and his partner search for two kidnapped teenagers. One investigator goes undercover and is captured by the human traffickers.

    propulsive → tense, still hardboiled

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • 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.

    Same propulsive register

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • 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.

    Same propulsive register

    pace+1·prose0·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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

  • 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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·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.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • A diet of treacle

    Lawrence Block1961

    A young man and woman drift into the 1960s Greenwich Village underworld. They encounter drug use and a predatory criminal element.

    propulsive → bleak, still hardboiled

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+3

  • No Orchids for Miss Blandish

    James Hadley Chase1939

    A gang kidnaps an heiress, but a more violent criminal family seizes her for themselves. A private investigator searches for her months later.

    propulsive → cold, still hardboiled

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+3

  • American Psycho

    Bret Easton Ellis1991

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

    propulsive → cold

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+3