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After

The Wife Upstairs

Rachel Hawkins2021

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Look Closer

    David Ellis2022

    A wealthy couple navigates a murder investigation involving a socialite. The story is told through shifting perspectives and diary entries.

    Same sardonic register, still psychological thriller

    pace+1·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.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

  • 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.

    sardonic → dreamlike, still unreliable narrator

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

  • 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.

    sardonic → wry

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Billiard-Room Mystery

    Brian Flynn1929

    A detective and an amateur sleuth investigate a body found in a locked billiard room during a weekend cricket party in Sussex.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Scandalous Again-(Switching Places#1)

    Christina Dodd2003

    After her father loses his estate in a card game, Madeline de Lacy swaps identities with her cousin to investigate the man who won her hand.

    sardonic → playful

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • The Bat

    Mary Roberts Rinehart1926

    An elderly woman refuses to leave her rented summer mansion despite a series of supernatural scares and a killer on the loose.

    sardonic → tense

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Verity

    Colleen Hoover2018

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

    sardonic → tense, still psychological thriller

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+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.

    sardonic → propulsive, still psychological thriller

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • You

    Caroline Kepnes2014

    A bookstore manager becomes obsessed with a customer and uses social media to orchestrate a relationship. He removes obstacles through murder.

    Same sardonic register, still psychological thriller

    pace+1·prose+1·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.

    sardonic → 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.

    sardonic → 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.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → tense, still psychological thriller

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Shutter Island

    Dennis Lehane2003

    sardonic → tense, still psychological thriller

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • The Wasp Factory

    Iain Banks1984

    A teenager living on a remote island performs violent rituals while waiting for his brother to return from an asylum.

    sardonic → cold, still psychological thriller

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2