LitQueuelitqueue

After

Thin air

Robert B. Parker1995

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The last detective

    Robert Crais2003

    When his girlfriend's son is kidnapped, PI Elvis Cole must confront his own past in Vietnam to find him. It is a Los Angeles detective novel.

    wry → tense, still hardboiled

    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.

    wry → 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.

    wry → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+3·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.

    wry → cold

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Crown Conspiracy

    Michael J. Sullivan2008

    Two thieves are framed for the murder of a king and must clear their names. It is a traditional sword-and-sorcery adventure.

    wry → playful

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Dark Debt

    Chloe Neill2015

    A vampire sentinel in Chicago investigates an assassination attempt on a businessman while a figure from her partner's past reappears.

    wry → playful

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Catnap

    Carole Nelson Douglas1992

    A publicist investigates a murder at a cat show in Las Vegas. Chapters alternate between her perspective and that of a streetwise black cat.

    wry → playful

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Kill Alex Cross

    James Patterson2011

    Alex Cross investigates the kidnapping of the President's children while a terrorist threat targets the D.C. water supply.

    wry → propulsive, still detective

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • Something from the Nightside

    Simon R. Green2003

    A private eye with the ability to find anything returns to a hidden, magical London underworld. He takes a case to find a missing daughter.

    wry → sardonic, still detective

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    wry → propulsive

    pace+1·prose0·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.

    wry → 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.

    wry → 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.

    wry → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • A diet of treacle

    Lawrence Block1961

    A young man and woman drift into the 1960s Greenwich Village underworld. They encounter drug use and a predatory criminal element.

    wry → bleak, still hardboiled

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • No Orchids for Miss Blandish

    James Hadley Chase1939

    A gang kidnaps an heiress, but a more violent criminal family seizes her for themselves. A private investigator searches for her months later.

    wry → cold, still hardboiled

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+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.

    wry → cold

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2