My Quarantine Reading List (So Far)
What I’ve been reading while I stay home
I’ve officially been in lockdown for a full month now, and I thought I’d mark this very odd milestone with a different kind of blog post: a roundup of the crime books I’ve read so far in my time staying home! I’m very fortunate to be able to work from home, which has been keeping me quite busy over the past few weeks—but when I’m not busy working, I’m busy reading. In these crazy times, I’m more thankful than ever before for a great crime book to escape into when I need to clear my head, and the books I’ve been devouring in lockdown have been doing an excellent job of that! My lockdown reading list includes a mixture of upcoming releases and older titles I’m finally making time to read. For any book on this list that hasn’t yet been published, I’ve included two suggestions for books you can dip into right away, just in case you’re in the market for a new quarantine read yourself. As always, happy reading!
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THE SHADOWS by Alex North
Release Date: 7/7/20
CBTB Rating: 5/5
Quick Thoughts:
What a stunning suspense novel Alex North has crafted here. THE SHADOWS is an absolute must-read for fans of psychological suspense with Stephen King-inspired flair. This book is part coming-of-age story, part mystery, party psychological thriller—and every piece of it works together beautifully. Here we follow a man confronting the horrific events of his youth as he returns home to say goodbye to his ailing mother. This is an emotionally-astute suspense story laced with local lore and chilling atmosphere. I absolutely loved, loved this book, and cannot wait for you all to read it in July. This one is worth a pre-order!
About the Book:
You knew a teenager like Charlie Crabtree. A dark imagination, a sinister smile--always on the outside of the group. Some part of you suspected he might be capable of doing something awful. Twenty-five years ago, Crabtree did just that, committing a murder so shocking that it’s attracted that strange kind of infamy that only exists on the darkest corners of the internet--and inspired more than one copycat.
Paul Adams remembers the case all too well: Crabtree--and his victim--were Paul’s friends. Paul has slowly put his life back together. But now his mother, old and suffering from dementia, has taken a turn for the worse. Though every inch of him resists, it is time to come home.
It's not long before things start to go wrong. Paul learns that Detective Amanda Beck is investigating another copycat that has struck in the nearby town of Featherbank. His mother is distressed, insistent that there's something in the house. And someone is following him. Which reminds him of the most unsettling thing about that awful day twenty-five years ago.
It wasn't just the murder.
It was the fact that afterward, Charlie Crabtree was never seen again...
While You Wait for THE SHADOWS to Release, Try:
THE GUEST LIST by Lucy Foley
Release Date: 6/2/20
CBTB Rating: 4.5/5
Read CBTB’s Review
Quick Thoughts:
This irresistible crime novel blends an Agatha Christie-inspired premise with the flair and entertainment value of a “popcorn read.” Set on an atmospheric, remote island off the coast of Ireland, this story follows the disastrous events of what should have been a glamorous wedding weekend. Multiple narrators (all of whom are very suspicious) give readers a 360-degree view of this ill-fated weekend, and from the outset, readers know this is a party that will end in murder. The delicious truth here is that everyone has their own motive to potentially be our story’s shadowy killer. This is a modern, hugely readable take on a “locked room mystery.”
About the Book:
The bride. The plus one. The best man. The wedding planner. The bridesmaid. The body.
On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.
But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.
And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?
While You Wait for THE GUEST LIST to Release, Try:
BIRDMAN by Mo Hayder
Release Date: Available Now
CBTB Rating: 4/5
Read CBTB’s Review
Quick Thoughts:
I’ve been looking forward to reading BIRDMAN for years, and finally made time in my quarantine to do so! I expected this book to be dark, but boy oh boy, I didn’t expect anything this dark. I’ve seen reviews comparing BIRDMAN to Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon, and those comparisons are apt. This is a gritty, twisted serial killer thriller that pits its protagonist against a villain with a penchant for kidnapping, killing, and brutally mutilating women. This is a truly violent and depraved book—I’m not easily freaked out, but this book got me. (Did I mention this book is dark?) I really enjoyed this story, but given its graphic content, proceed with caution.
About the Book:
In his first case as lead investigator with London’s murder squad, Det. Inspector Jack Caffery is called on to investigate the murder of a young woman whose body has been discovered near the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, southeast London.
Mutilated beyond recognition, the victim is soon joined by four others discovered in the same area—all female and all ritualistically murdered. And when the postmortem examination reveals a gruesome signature connecting the victims, Caffery realizes exactly what he’s dealing with—a dangerous serial killer.
A finalist for the Edgar Award, Birdman explores the darkest reaches of the human mind and introduces a fascinating detective to the world of British crime fiction.
THE MIST by Ragnar Jonasson
Release Date: 6/23/20
CBTB Rating: 4.5/5
Quick Thoughts:
Ragnar Jonasson’s superb Hidden Iceland trilogy concludes this spring with THE MIST, an atmospheric and claustrophobic suspense novel following the mysterious appearance of a stranger at an isolated farm in the Icelandic countryside. With the Hidden Iceland trilogy, Ragnar Jonasson has crafted a creative and truly innovative crime story—and it’s for this exact reason that you’ll want to read this books in series order. The Hidden Iceland trilogy is told backwards chronologically, with Book 1 finding protagonist Hulda at the end of her career with the police force in Reykjavik. Each subsequent trilogy installment takes place earlier in Hulda’s life than its predecessor. THE MIST, then, provides readers with essential answers to the events in Hulda’s younger years that shaped her into the woman she is in the trilogy’s first installment, THE DARKNESS. This complex structure sounds a bit confusing, but the reading experience is effortless thanks to Ragnar Jonasson’s masterful plotting.
About the Book:
1987. An isolated farm house in the east of Iceland.
The snowstorm should have shut everybody out. But it didn't.
The couple should never have let him in. But they did.
An unexpected guest, a liar, a killer. Not all will survive the night. And Detective Hulda will be haunted forever.
While You Wait for THE MIST to Release, Try:
Currently Reading:
OUR LITTLE CRUELTIES by Liz Nugent
Release Date: November 2020 (US) and Available Now in the UK
Quick Thoughts:
I’m a huge fan of Irish crime writer Liz Nugent. I love her sharp, astute brand of crime writing, and I love delving into the minds of her books’ quite nasty and unlikable characters. No one depicts the everyday cruelties people can inflict on one another quite like Liz Nugent. Her newest book, OUR LITTLE CRUELTIES, is another perfect example of just what makes me return to her work over and over. Here we follow a trio of brothers through their lives, observing the ways they betray and manipulate one another for personal gain. The catch? From the outset, readers know that by the end of the book, one of these brothers will be dead. But which brother? And why?
About the Book:
All three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral.
But only one of them was in the coffin.
William, Brian, and Luke: three boys, born a year apart, trained from birth by their wily mother to compete for her attention. They play games, as brothers do…yet even after the Drumms escape into the world beyond their windows, those games—those little cruelties—grow more sinister, more merciless, and more dangerous. And with their lives entwined like the strands of a noose, only two of the brothers will survive.
Crisply written and quickly paced, perfect for fans of breathtaking suspense, Little Cruelties gazes unflinchingly into the darkness: the darkness collecting in the corners of childhood homes, hiding beneath marriage beds, clasped in the palms of two brothers shaking hands. And it confirms Liz Nugent—whose work has invited comparisons to Patricia Highsmith and Barbara Vine and has been celebrated as "captivating" (People) and "highly entertaining" (The Washington Post)—as one of the most exciting, perceptive voices in contemporary fiction.
Note: OUR LITTLE CRUELTIES will release in the US under the title LITTLE CRUELTIES this fall. Learn more about the book here!
That’s a wrap on what I’ve read in quarantine thus far! I’ve got a mountainous TBR pile filled with intriguing crime books ahead of me, so I’ll (of course!) keep you posted on what’s next on my quarantine reading list. Stay safe, and happy reading! xx A
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