After
The miracle at Speedy Motors
Alexander McCall Smith2008
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from, nothing slower
More like it
Same warm register, still cozy
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Aunt Dimity's Christmas
Nancy Atherton1999
Lori Shepherd finds a stranded hiker during a blizzard at a remote estate. She investigates a decades-old mystery involving the man's family.
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
A dilly of a death
Susan Wittig Albert2004
An herbalist helps her husband's new private investigation agency look into embezzlement at a Texas pickle factory until a body is found.
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Alexander McCall Smith1997
Precious Ramotswe opens Botswana's first female-run detective agency to solve small-scale village mysteries and search for a missing boy.
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Mrs. Jeffries stalks the hunter
Emily Brightwell2004
A Victorian housekeeper and her fellow servants secretly investigate the murder of a baronet to assist their employer, Inspector Witherspoon.
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak0
A Christmas promise
Anne Perry2009
A young girl and a teenager search for a missing donkey in the slums of Victorian London during the Christmas season.
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace+1prose+2bleak+2
My Name Is Red
Orhan Pamuk
In 1591 Istanbul, miniaturists investigate a colleague's murder. Objects and colors narrate chapters alongside the human characters.
warm → meditative
pace+1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace+1prose+2bleak+2
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.
warm → cold
pace+1·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+2bleak+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.
warm → playful
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace+1prose+2bleak+2
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.
warm → dreamlike
pace+1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace+1prose+2bleak+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.
warm → cold
pace+1·prose+2·bleak+3
Faster
- pace+3prose-1bleak0
Ten Big Ones
Janet Evanovich2004
Stephanie Plum witnesses a gang hit and becomes a target herself. She balances the threat with her ongoing romantic indecision.
warm → playful, still cozy
pace+3·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+3prose-1bleak0
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.
warm → propulsive
pace+3·prose-1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+3prose-1bleak+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.
warm → propulsive
pace+3·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+3prose-1bleak+1
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.
warm → propulsive
pace+3·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+3prose-1bleak+2
Kiss the Girls
James Patterson1995
Detective Alex Cross tracks two serial killers operating on opposite coasts who are communicating and competing with one another.
warm → tense
pace+3·prose-1·bleak+2
Heavier
- pace+1prose+2bleak+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.
warm → cold
pace+1·prose+2·bleak+3
- pace+2prose0bleak+3
Sharp Objects
Gillian Flynn2006
A reporter returns to her hometown to cover the murders of two girls while grappling with her own history of self-harm.
warm → tense
pace+2·prose0·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose+1bleak+3
In Cold Blood
Truman Capote1965
A reconstruction of the 1959 murder of a Kansas family and the subsequent investigation. It follows both the victims and the killers.
warm → clinical
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace+2prose+1bleak+3
Lord of the Flies
William Golding1954
Schoolboys are stranded on an island and try to organize a society. Order collapses into tribalism and violence.
warm → tense
pace+2·prose+1·bleak+3
