If you love domestic suspense and aren’t reading Alice Feeney yet, you’re missing out. The author of deliciously twisty and dark thrillers including His & Hers and Sometimes I Lie returns this week with her newest suspense novel ROCK PAPER SCISSORS, a winning blend of chilling atmosphere, cinematic setting, and unpredictable characters. In ROCK PAPER SCISSORS, a couple’s anniversary getaway takes a dark and dangerous turn… and their happily ever after might be ending sooner than they thought. True to form for Feeney, ROCK PAPER SCISSORS is a domestic suspense novel that stands out thanks to a masterful twist (or two, or maybe more…) and vividly-drawn characters who leap off the page. While ROCK PAPER SCISSORS may not be my personal favorite of Feeney’s thrillers—that title still belongs to Feeney’s 2020 release His & Hers, which has one of my favorite final reveals of any thriller I’ve ever read—it is nevertheless a standout in the domestic suspense space, a must-read for anyone who loves stories that delve into the darkest corners of interpersonal relationships.
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September 2021 Most-Anticipated Crime Books
September is here, and what an incredible month it is for us crime fiction readers! This month is bringing with it an almost too-good-to-be-true lineup of new crime, mystery, and thriller books for readers to devour—and in today’s blog post, I’m rounding up the (many!) books releasing this month that are on my personal most-anticipated list. This month sees the return of fan-favorite authors including Lisa Jewell, Rachel Howzell Hall, and Alice Feeney, and it also includes a number of my most-anticipated debut crime novels of the entire year (of particular note: debuts by authors Amanda Jayatissa and Catherine Dang, among many more!). It’s got chilling Nordic crime novels, stories involving serial killers, psychological suspense that will make you suspicious of everyone, dark revenge stories, and lots more—in short, this September is a crime fiction reader’s dream. Many of the books on today’s list I’ve already been fortunate enough to read, and others are still on my TBR list for the fall season, but all of them look exceptional. Dig into today’s blog post and clear your calendar—we’ve got some amazing books in store for us this month!
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Book Review: WHERE I LEFT HER by Amber Garza
Amber Garza’s 2020 psychological suspense novel WHEN I WAS YOU was an instant-hit for me last summer, so when I saw Garza was releasing another thriller this summer, I knew it belonged on my TBR—and I’m so glad I made time for it! Garza’s 2021 thriller WHERE I LEFT HER is a juicy, page-turning work of domestic suspense that takes readers into the heart of a mother’s worst nightmare. In WHERE I LEFT HER, a woman drops her daughter off at a friend’s house for a sleepover, and returns the next day to discover that her daughter has gone missing. With her knack for gripping pacing and dramatic interpersonal relationships, Garza spins an engaging “popcorn read” from this sinister premise. While the book’s finale does veer a bit into the realm of the unrealistic, WHERE I LEFT HER is nevertheless a highly entertaining suspense novel well-suited to readers hoping to sink their teeth into a “popcorn thriller” as the summer draws to a close.
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Book Review: 56 DAYS by Catherine Ryan Howard
Catherine Ryan Howard is one of my favorite “hidden gem” psychological thriller writers who really isn’t that “hidden” anymore—her work is finally getting the widespread acclaim it so richly deserves with the publication of her much-buzzed-about new thriller 56 DAYS, available today in the US. In 56 DAYS, Catherine Ryan Howard gives readers an utterly riveting thriller that weaves timely topics into its gripping and twisty central mystery. In this psychological thriller, a new couple decides to move in together when Covid-19 reaches Ireland’s shores and a strict lockdown is imposed. But before the lockdown period is up, one of them will be dead. Tense, claustrophobic, and wholly original, Catherine Ryan Howard’s 56 DAYS brilliantly uses the geographic restriction of Ireland’s stringent early-2020 lockdown rules to turn up the pressure on our story’s unwitting pair of lovebirds. In 56 DAYS, nothing is what it seems, and no one is to be trusted. 56 DAYS is easily one of my favorite crime books of 2021—pick this one up for a high-concept thriller that brilliantly captures the honeymoon phase of a new relationship and twists it into something dark and sinister as only Catherine Ryan Howard can.
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Book Review: VICTIM WITHOUT A FACE by Stefan Ahnhem
I know I can’t be the only reader out there who seems to have a few books that have just been lingering on their TBR list for way too long… right?! One of my personal 2021 reading goals is to finally make a dent in that list and carve out some time to read crime novels that I’ve had sitting on my to-read pile for what feels like ages now. The latest book I’ve tackled from that list is Stefan Ahnhem’s serial killer thriller VICTIM WITHOUT A FACE, first published in the US in 2016. Set in Sweden and following a troubled detective on the trail of a very darkly inventive murderer, VICTIM WITHOUT A FACE has all the ingredients I look for in a thriller—and the reading experience here delivers. Centering around a killer who appears to be targeting classmates from his youth, VICTIM WITHOUT A FACE exemplifies the intricate plotting, grim mood, and complex character development that keeps me coming back for more Scandinavian crime fiction, book after book and year after year. With appeal for fans of Lars Kepler, Jo Nesbø, and Søren Sveistrup, Stefan Ahnhem’s first Fabian Risk novel made me an instant-fan of this gritty and gripping crime fiction series. If you’re looking for a dark, complex Nordic crime story to dig into as the fall season approaches, consider this oldie-but-a-goodie for your reading list—it’s a worthy addition.
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