The girl in the ice

The execution

Dick Wolf2014

Detective Jeremy Fisk hunts an assassin across New York City. A shadowy business cartel is orchestrating the hits.

pace0·prose+1·bleak0

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.

propulsive → cold

pace-1·prose+3·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.

propulsive → playful

pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

Niccolò Rising

Dorothy Dunnett1986

A dyer’s apprentice in 15th-century Bruges uses his intellect to navigate the world of international trade. He builds a mercantile empire.

propulsive → wry

pace-1·prose+3·bleak0

The Talisman Ring

Georgette Heyer1936

In 1793, a French heiress flees an arranged marriage and joins a cousin on the run. They search for a missing heirloom to clear a man's name.

propulsive → playful

pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra

Vaseem Khan2015

A retired police inspector in Mumbai investigates a boy's death while caring for a baby elephant inherited from his uncle.

propulsive → warm

pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries

Emily Brightwell1993

A Victorian housekeeper and her staff secretly solve crimes for their employer, a clueless Scotland Yard inspector.

propulsive → playful

pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

The Cartel

Don Winslow2015

A DEA agent engages in a decade-long pursuit of a Mexican cartel leader. The book documents the escalating brutality of the drug war.

Same propulsive register, still crime thriller

pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2

The Bone Collector

Jeffery Deaver1996

A quadriplegic forensics expert and a young policewoman track a serial killer who uses old New York history as a template for his crimes.

propulsive → tense, still police procedural

pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

The Crucifix Killer

Chris Carter2010

An LA detective finds a signature mark on a victim that suggests a previously executed serial killer is still active or has a copycat.

pace+1·prose0·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.

propulsive → playful

pace-2·prose+3·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.

propulsive → playful

pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

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+1

Mystic River

Dennis Lehane2001

Three childhood friends are reunited in Boston when one's daughter is murdered. One is the detective, one the father, and one the lead suspect.

propulsive → bleak, still police procedural

pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

Birdman

Mo Hayder1999

Detective Jack Caffery hunts a serial killer in London who performs surgical procedures on his victims while they are alive.

propulsive → bleak, still police procedural

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

Broken Harbor

Tana French2012

A detective investigates a family murdered in a failed housing development. The story focuses on the investigator's mental unraveling.

propulsive → bleak, still police procedural

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2