LitQueuelitqueue

After

The last duel

Eric Jager2004

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same clinical register, still true crime

1 more ↓

  • The Devil in the White City

    Erik Larson2003

    Parallel true stories of the 1893 World's Fair architect and a serial killer operating nearby. It uses historical records to reconstruct events.

    clinical → tense, still true crime

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

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.

    clinical → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·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.

    clinical → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • The Disorderly Knights

    Dorothy Dunnett1966

    A mercenary leader travels from Scotland to Malta in 1551 to defend the Order of St. John against Ottoman forces while facing family accusations.

    clinical → sardonic

    pace0·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    clinical → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Love on the Brain

    Ali Hazelwood2022

    A neuroscientist must co-lead a NASA project with a man she believes has hated her since grad school.

    clinical → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Better Off Dead

    Lee Child2021

    Jack Reacher investigates a staged car crash in Arizona and infiltrates a dangerous local crew to find a missing woman.

    clinical → propulsive

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

clinical → propulsive

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Kiss the Girls

    James Patterson1995

    Detective Alex Cross tracks two serial killers operating on opposite coasts who are communicating and competing with one another.

    clinical → tense

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • Verity

    Colleen Hoover2018

    A ghostwriter moves into a secluded estate to finish a series for an injured author and finds a hidden, disturbing autobiography.

    clinical → tense

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    clinical → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    clinical → 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.

    clinical → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

Same clinical register, still true crime

3 more ↓

  • Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

    Patrick Süskind

    In 18th-century France, a man with a genius sense of smell murders women to capture their scents. The prose is detached and sensory.

    clinical → cold, still historical

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?

    Eric Powell2021

    A graphic novel documenting the life of Ed Gein and the 1950s Wisconsin crimes that inspired several horror films.

    clinical → bleak, still true crime

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • American Psycho

    Bret Easton Ellis1991

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

    clinical → cold

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1