After
The family lawyer
James Patterson2017
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Judge and jury
James Patterson2006
An aspiring actress on jury duty and an FBI agent team up to take down a powerful mob boss after a trial turns violent.
tense → propulsive, still legal thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
Hear no evil
James Grippando2004
A Miami lawyer defends a woman accused of murdering her husband at Guantanamo Bay after she claims to be his son's adoptive mother.
Same tense register, still legal thriller
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Short Straw
Stuart Woods2006
A criminal lawyer navigates a series of double-crosses involving his wife, who is orchestrating a lethal scheme.
tense → sardonic, still legal thriller
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
Speak of the Devil
Allison Leotta2013
A sex-crimes prosecutor investigates a human trafficking ring and a brutal killer known as Diablo in Washington, D.C.
Same tense register, still legal thriller
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Most Wanted
Lisa Scottoline2016
A woman discovers her sperm donor is a wanted serial killer. She begins her own investigation to find the man before the police do.
Same tense register, still legal thriller
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+3bleak+1
My Name Is Red
Orhan Pamuk
In 1591 Istanbul, miniaturists investigate a colleague's murder. Objects and colors narrate chapters alongside the human characters.
tense → meditative
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
tense → cold
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+3bleak0
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.
tense → playful
pace-3·prose+3·bleak0
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
tense → cold
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2
To recover
tense → playful
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
Two for the dough
Janet Evanovich1996
An inexperienced bounty hunter tracks a man who jumped bail for shooting his friend. She competes with a vice cop to find him first.
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-2prose0bleak-1
A Pedigree To Die For
Laurien Berenson1995
A woman investigates the death of her uncle and the disappearance of a prize-winning poodle. She navigates the world of professional dog breeding.
pace-2·prose0·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
Feared
Lisa Scottoline2018
A female-led law firm faces a reverse sex discrimination lawsuit orchestrated by a rival lawyer seeking a personal vendetta.
tense → earnest, still legal thriller
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
SANTA CRUISE
Mary Higgins Clark2006
Two detectives investigate a disappearance and a reported ghost sighting on a luxury cruise ship.
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
The Blight Way
Patrick F. McManus2006
A sheriff in a small Idaho town tries to solve a murder while dealing with his eccentric family and his own desire to be a painter.
tense → wry
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-3prose+3bleak0
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.
tense → playful
pace-3·prose+3·bleak0
- pace-3prose+3bleak+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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-3·prose+3·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+3bleak-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.
tense → playful
pace-3·prose+3·bleak-1
- pace-3prose+3bleak0
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-3·prose+3·bleak0
- pace-3prose+3bleak+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-3·prose+3·bleak+1
Heavier
tense → bleak, still crime
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
Gone, Baby, Gone
Dennis Lehane1998
Private investigators search for a missing four-year-old girl in Boston. They navigate a criminal underworld and face a final moral choice.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
2666
Roberto Bolaño2004
Five interconnected stories center on a series of unsolved murders in a Mexican border town and a reclusive German author.
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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.
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
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.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
The Virgin Suicides
Jeffrey Eugenides
A group of neighborhood boys obsessively observes five sisters in 1970s Michigan. They document the girls' lives leading up to their suicides.
Same tense register, still crime
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2