septuagenarian characters each trekking their own paths while working cooperatively to solve a new mystery Ibrahim are septuagenarians feeling let down after the thrills, danger, and success of their first solved mystery

But the stranger's specific intention was always to draw Elly into his mysterious, elaborate, destructive You might also like these mystery and suspense titles I've Bossily reviewed.

Walker offers an unreliable main protagonist, her dedicated new psychiatrist, increasingly inexplicable and complicated occurrences, and speculation about unfathomable possibilities in this novel about memory, connection, love, and wonder. Jane is a young single mother and a librarian at the New York Public Library. She has a perfect memory: she's able to recall events, surroundings, and information down to the finest detail. But just after she visits a psychiatrist, Dr. Byrd, Jane goes missing. She is found face down and unconscious in Prospect Park, with no memory of what has occurred. She experiences other instances of activity and agency without then having any memory of such; she has vivid visions of long-dead figures from her life; and she experiences severe agitation around her erratic behavior. Dr. Byrd begins to believe Jane is suffering from dissociative fugue, a rare condition that could account for her ability to act and function but recall no memory of doing so. Dr. Byrd and Jane form a bond, even as past traumas resurface for both of them and they cope with issues of memory, truth, and unthinkable possibility. The novel alternates between the points of view of Jane and Dr. Byrd, and neither is aware of the full set of circumstances--Dr. Byrd because of Jane's select sharing of the facts with him, and Jane because of the gaps in her recollections. The circumstances around Jane's unexplained visions become more concerning as she seems to encounter a long-dead friend and has an extensive conversation with him; as she becomes convinced that a medical pandemic is occurring--the name of which Dr. Byrd has never heard--and will take the lives of millions; as she recalls details of Dr. Byrd's personal and professional life on dates she could not possibly have encountered him; and as she believes her own beloved child is dead and has been replaced with an impostor. The detail of the delusions and the passion with which Jane believes them seem to indicate that her ability to live on her own and care for her child may be ending. (Her parents' concern and panic is heartbreaking.) But as the book winds to a close, Dr. Byrd is the key to offering an alternate explanation that is posed (but not extensively explored), one in which Jane is sane and the alternate realities may also exist. The novel builds to almost the very end before this mindboggling plausibility is somewhat cursorily presented, leaving me both intrigued and somewhat dissatisfied. The Dr. Byrd-Jane chaste yet deep connection made me feel uncomfortable because of their doctor-client relationship and even more so because of the complications of her intensely acted-out perceived mental illness. Yet the promise of their ongoing link is one of the only ways in which the novel's characters are satisfactorily "settled" for a future by the end of the novel. More Novels about Memory Karen Thompson Walker is also the author of The Age of Miracles . I listened to The Strange Case of Jane O.  as an audiobook. Please click here for more Bossy reviews of books about memory.

writes my favorite kind of fantasy novel: a wonderfully oddball main protagonist, a strange adventure, a mystery

The premise of Missing Sam was a slam dunk for me, and I appreciated the couple's strengthened bonds after unimaginable trauma. But the story jumped around and told more than it showed, and I didn't feel an emotional connection. After married couple Sam and Ali have a silly jealousy-spawned fight after a party, Sam wakes up for a solo morning run instead of inviting along Ali, as she normally would. One unlucky circumstance leads to another for Sam, and when Ali wakes up, Sam is missing. As Sam's disappearance stretches on, Ali, a gay culturally Muslim woman, is excoriated in the press for perceptions about her lack of sorrow, her failed attempts to locate her wife, and her sexuality, religion, and culture. While she reels emotionally, her interior design clients drop her due to the attention of the press, and she desperately reconnects with her estranged father for support. Meanwhile, Sam is in her own personal hell, with dwindling hopes of ever being reunited with her love. Most of the book's initial page time is spent with Ali, and I was surprised by how many outings and out-of-house distractions Ali took part in while Sam was missing. It might not be compelling for a character to spend extended page time obsessing over where her partner may have vanished to and what horrors may be taking place, or in anguish about whether Sam is even still alive. Yet I found it jarring that we weren't subjected to what I would expect to be more anguish andAli's temporary nightmare of existence, which seemed likely to include a wild drama of worrying, excruciating periods of waiting, and irrational searches and spiritual bargains, or other illustrations of her desperation for Sam's safe return. Ali wasn't coming to terms with a divorce or even a death, leaning on friends and getting out of the house to move on with her life. Ali's going to the movies and to see fireworks just didn't ring true to me. I kept panicking over Ali's lack of panic, wondering: BUT WHAT IS HAPPENING AND WHERE IS SAM? When the story turns to Sam and her captivity, we are entrenched in a ghastly scene of horrified anticipation and delusion, abuse and violence. This section of the story was difficult to read, as felt appropriate, and this aspect took up relatively little page time. The aftermath of the kidnaping and abuse is fraught with what feel like Sam's realistic trauma, nightmares, hesitance toward intimacy, and outsized reactions to everyday events. But Missing Sam  often perplexed me with its structure and focus. Much of the novel feels told instead of shown, which left me without emotional connection to aspects like Ali's temporary dip into Islam; Sam's inexplicable mentoring of a mentally ill grad student who appropriates her trauma and exploits it; and the couple's rejuvenated closeness and commitment. The heart of the story is not, after all, Sam's sensational disappearance, Sam and Ali's unspeakable terror, and Sam's victorious return home. Much of the energy of the story centers around the women's reconciliation with each of their estranged parents, and, eventually, their cleaving to each other within their marriage in a way that they hadn't before Sam's abduction. The story felt jumpy, moving from topic to topic without fully diving in. Umrigar touches on but doesn't dig deeply into heavy issues such as religious discrimination, hateful attitudes toward members of the LGBTQ community, and the looming doom of Covid-19. The resolution of identifying Sam's abductor and abuser was satisfying, yet the key to pinpointing the monster was the result of heavily laid detail groundwork earlier in the story; it felt inevitable that that particular element would turn out to be essential. I received an electronic edition of this title courtesy of Algonquin Books and NetGalley. More Missing Persons Stories Thrity Umrigar is also the author of Honor . For Bossy reviews of other stories that involve missing persons, please click here .

The Gods of Howl Mountain, and Fallen Land, a title I loved and included in the Greedy Reading List Six

It always seemed clear that we would have clean resolutions to the mystery; the sometimes-gruesome aspects In this mystery by Allen Eskens, Joe Talbert is busy trying to build a life apart from his mother, who's The Life We Bury offers a slow start focused on Joe's personal situation, and when the mystery ramped More mystery novels to check out This is the first in a series of three books about Joe Talbert. If you like reading mysteries, you might enjoy some of my Bossy reviews of other mystery novels .

I've been continuing my cold-weather mystery-reading habits, and Lisa Jewell is always a good bet for More Mystery Love Lisa Jewell is also the author of The Family Upstairs , None of This Is True , and You might want to check out the lists and titles at this link for more Bossy mystery reviews.

I like a story driven by a female investigaor of a main protagonist, and in this small-town mystery and More Slaughter and More Bossy Mysteries I listened to this story as an audiobook. For other mysteries I've read and Bossily reviewed, please check out the titles at this link .

investigators who reinvent methods of finding their culprit in a smart, intriguing, and satisfying mystery I believe I heard about this book in a roundup of mystery novels recommended by national security agents Bossy Love for Mysteries The next installment of this series, Inside Man , was recently published. For other Bossy reviews and mysteries I've loved, please check out the books at this link .

I mentioned The Child Finder in the Greedy Reading List Six Chilly Books to Read in the Heat of Summer

Harpman's slim novel poses a mysterious situation without promising concrete explanations. My friend Amy suggested that I read this one, and Harpman's slim novel is mysterious, eerie, and strange

There aren't significant subplots, so this is a straightforward-feeling story, a sort of "mystery light

Brown's dual-timeline debut novel concerns 16th-century prophecies and a modern-day murder mystery, linked

playful tone and clever main protagonist in Olivia Waite's science-fiction novella make for an appealing mystery In Olivia Waite's slim science-fiction mystery, Dorothy wakes up...in a body that's not her own. In this outer-space-set mystery, Dorothy must figure out who's behind the destruction and how to save

This romance-laced mystery centered around a podcast and its host's disappearance includes some far-fetched-feeling been highly involved in the management of the podcast (and Benny and Joy's finances), go missing under mysterious When the full extent of the secrets and lies at the heart of the mystery are revealed, some of them feel Another mystery that invoves a podcaster is the great novel Listen for the Lie .

Lex Croucher's foray into dark academia is fantastic, with angst, mature themes, magical adventure, sinister plots, far-reaching repercussions, and a childhood heartbreak that is revisited and revised in heartbreaking, satisfying form. Briar and Sebastian are childhood best friends, but when Sebastian is accepted into the renowned nearby magic school at age 11 and Briar is not, the two have a heartbreaking, fraught split. Briar has always dreamed of attending the Temple School of Thaumaturgy, and the rejection in their youth has always stung. Their unhappiness is compounded by the complete lack of correspondence from Seb. Briar pours themself and their resentment into working out, doing menial jobs, and fully abandoning ambition or dreams. Then Briar works their way into a temporary maintenance job at the school and soon realizes that their old friend (now called Bastian) has become one of the most feared, powerful, cold students on campus. And Briar also discovers that the school is hiding dark secrets with unimaginable potential repercussions for the world. The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones is dark, edgy, yet also warm, with mature magic-focused plot points, deep friendships, romance, adventure and strategizing, plus opportunities for redemption. (This is the type of tone and grown-up magical adventure and dark academia that I had hoped Lev Grossman's The Magicians might be; for me, the feel of that book was grim and lacked satisfying character development.) Croucher offers rich characters, romantic turmoil, some steamy moments, LGBTQ+ representation, and enough intrigue to keep the pacing and my own interest moving right along. I'm a huge Lex Croucher fan and I'm in for all Croucher books, always. I listened to this novel as an audiobook courtesy of Libro.fm and Harper Voyager. More Great Lex Croucher Books Lex Croucher is also the author of the wonderful Not for the Faint of Heart and Gwen & Art Are Not in Love, as well as the upcoming Bridget & Gabe Are Not Okay. Croucher also wrote romcoms with a Regency-era twist, Reputation, which I'm about to dive into, and its sequels Infamous and Trouble.

In the first book of Blake Crouch's haunting mystery trilogy, secret agent Ethan Burke tries to grasp plans for Wayward Pines--while trying to avoid being killed by murderous small-town vigilantes or by mysterious reeling--was to locate two missing federal agents who were dispatched a month earlier to investigate a mysterious Theresa's mysterious encounter with an odd man makes it even more clear that time is not passing in a Blake Crouch's Upgrade here , my review of his novel Recursion (mentioned in the Greedy Reading List Six

It's nominally a mystery, but it's mainly a heartwarming story about determination and honoring old loyalties We track back in time to her youth as pieces of the mystery are revealed. The story is nominally a mystery, but more so a tale of a pony who is thwarted at nearly all of its headstrong

Count me in for Irish-set novels--and for suspenseful, mysterious-past stories that hint at darkness, When she was old enough, Sarah ran from an emotionally cold childhood in Michigan and mysterious circumstances I also love a story involving a character's mysterious past, and I love a suspenseful story that I'm

Radden Keefe took a subject I wasn't initially captivated by and crafted another work of his signature masterful He was a trickster who confected a mysterious persona that may have been ridiculous but ultimately served

The second book in the series takes big swings with two large-scale mysteries (one that is hauntingly That first book was a smart, intriguing, and satisfying mystery. The two mysteries feel gigantic, with extensive ripples and effects. More Mystery Books to Check Out John McMahon is also the author of Head Cases , the first in this mystery And for more mysteries I've reviewed, check out these lists and titles .

I was taken with the premise of conflicts and mystery in a post-colonial West African city, but I didn't In Tochi Onyebuchi's fantasy mystery, main protagonist Boubacar is a war veteran and a private investigator But when a young woman shows up bleeding at his home, then mysteriously disappears, he is shocked into Harmattan Season  is a dark, broody, mysterious fantasy story that takes place in an unnamed city in As Bouba explores recent mysterious events, he realizes that the upcoming election is corrupt and has

community and the emotionally closed-off former FBI agent and current police chief trying to solve the mystery Cosby is also the author of Razorblade Tears, a book I listed on my Greedy Reading List Six Satisfying

When his sister tries to solve the mystery of his death, she and her own unlikely companion unravel secrets neat fashion at the close of the story, but I didn't mind because of the justice being served and the mysteries I mentioned Rene Denfeld's great book The Child Finder in the Greedy Reading List Six Chilly Books to

The third in the Cal Hooper series is a slow-burn mystery in which Tana French serves up deep character That brings me to this third and final Cal Hooper mystery, which provides more of all of it: more details The Keeper is an almost 500-page slow burn mystery. After a time the mystery is no longer a mystery; the main unknown is which form the community's renegade But I love a mystery that leans into character development, and The Keeper delivers wonderfully on that

A mystery surrounds a deadly moment, and the book ends with a hopeful, imperfect, heartbreaking way forward story of young love blossoming, then shriveling under the first pressures of the outside world; it's a mystery

The mystery of the book centers around a post-war haven for soldiers mentally and physically harmed by But the mystery takes a back seat in the book to Maisie's explorations of human motivations, her interest Check out this Greedy Reading List for Six Historical Fiction Mysteries to Intrigue You.

The mystery of what happened to the man is a subplot that winds through the story. Full disclosure: I love female-spy books (see the Greedy Reading Lists Six Great Books about Brave Female Spies and Six More Books about Brave Female Spies), but Lawhon's novel Code Name Helène wasn't for me like the sound of this book, you might also want to check out the titles on the Greedy Reading List Six

ICYMI: Morton offers a strong historical fiction mystery, with assumed identities, dual timelines, twists A hundred and fifty years later, a young archivist, Elodie Winslow, is drawn to the mystery. I’m glad the circumstances of what led to the mystery—yikes! I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Six Historical Fiction Mysteries Sure to Intrigue You

Smith was inspired by the real-life Victorian England case of a cockney impostor attempting to wrest an inheritance from the nobility, but I was most captivated by the unmarried, aging, complex character of Eliza and how she found unorthodox avenues by which to find fulfillment. What really interested her in it all was the presumption. Of recognition, of respect, of attention itself. Why did he assume such things as his due? Was this what men assumed? My friend John convinced me to read this, my first Zadie Smith novel, and I'm so glad he did. In her first historical fiction novel, Smith offers a Victorian England tableau featuring a wonderfully complex female character in Eliza Touchet, the unmarried, aging housekeeper, cousin, and confidante to the terrible but prolific, well-to-do novelist William Harrison Ainsworth. Smith builds a subplot from the real-life, much-publicized case of the Tichborne Claimant, in which Arthur Orton, a cockney butcher, returned from an extended stay in Australia and attempted to lay claim to the Tichborne family fortune, insisting that he was a long-lost noble son much changed by his time away--and with the actual Tichborne heir's former slave as his key witness. Along with the nation (which in real life was captivated and divided by the case), the novel's disparate characters become obsessed with the court proceedings and whether the man professing to be the heir to a title and fortune might possibly be the actual man after all--or whether the former slave standing up for him has been coerced or convinced of a falsehood. But I was far more interested in the character of Eliza and the shape of her life. Her voice and point of view are sometimes testy, often incisive, and at other times diminished--a product of the limitations of single women in that time. She becomes intent upon advancing racial equality, but is hamstrung by her sex, her financial dependence, and her unmarried state. She plays housekeeper and is a mother figure to her cousin's children--while he behaves as an unencumbered, silly, selfish fool producing work that is only coherent when Eliza is able to edit it into something workable. When she comes into a financial windfall, she dispenses with it in an unorthodox, secret, wonderful fashion that serves to advance her cause for two specific young children of color--a limited but effective measure for a woman with few freedoms and little agency. I found Eliza irresistible. In The Fraud , characters lie to themselves. Men drink and show themselves to be privileged fools. Women pick up the pieces, creatively fashioning avenues in which they may achieve what they wish within the significant confines of Victorian expectations. The title refers to the impostor butcher Arthur Orton, but also applies to the failed, grasping author, Eliza's cousin William. In the story, much of the populace lines up with the pretend heir, against all known facts and likelihood, clamoring for his recognition and wailing about injustices and being wronged by the snobbery of the elite. The situation parallels in haunting fashion with the modern-day rejection by factions of our society of facts, sense, and reality; of negating science and evidence; and of dismissing educated, indispensable, trained experts and their knowledge. More from Zadie Smith Zadie Smith is also the author of the novels White Teeth , The Autograph Man , On Beauty , NW , and Swing Time , as well as essays and short stories.

The mystery bookends feel largely unimportant to the story, the cast of characters sometimes feels endless overlap, and their challenges intersect when a young boy is taken from the community, culminating in a mysterious The mystery that bookends the story is not essential to the novel. By the time the story ended, I had forgotten about the mystery's brief introduction at the beginning

Angie Kim's sophomore novel is a mystery, but Happiness Falls is primarily an exploration of a complicated Kim's missing-person novel is a mystery and is structured around the discovery and exploration of what I was totally hooked on the mystery aspect and the delving into Eugene's potential communication.

She's been cobbling together enough to get by, but when a mysterious draw to the spooky Starling House

, while an unorthodox, brilliant investigator and her stalwart new assistant work to solve a murder mystery The leviathans are grotesque, and their natures and motivations are a mystery. Ana is Sherlock Holmes-esque in that she holds many of the answers to the mysteries that abound--but

The first installment in Faizal's Blood and Tea series offers intriguing secrets, a swirling mystery, , hidden feelings, and wonderfully complex relationships in this mystery. The cover artwork, palette, and the book's title felt off to me; they seemed to indicate Cozy Mystery

The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby is a historical fiction art-focused mystery told in two timelines wife writing team of Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos) offers a gorgeously wrought historical fiction mystery The mysterious appearance of what seems to be a Juliette Willoughby original, followed by a tragic death You can click here for lists of more historical fiction novels and historical fiction mysteries I've

This third book in McManus's young-adult mystery series keeps the surprises coming, ties new twists into I listened to this third installment in Karen McManus's young adult One of Us Is Lying mystery series Over the course of the past two books, the Bayview Four solved mysteries and established their own innocence Knox from book one--along with other old favorites and some fresh faces--in a new set of intertwined, mysterious someone unexpected comes to town, our sleuths realize that not everyone is who they say they are; old mysteries

You might also like the books on my Greedy Reading Lists Six Books about Brave Female Spies and Six More

In this installment of Veronica and Stoker's Victorian England mystery-solving, they enter a sinister a tease, and dialogue that makes me laugh out loud--all set against the backdrop of a Victorian-age mystery I was initially disappointed that Veronica and Stoker spend (a fast-forwarded) six months apart at the And ahem, there's also a mystery to solve. It wasn't my favorite of the series mysteries thus far, but I enjoyed the dark, gothic feel of twisting

But the year-old mysterious disappearance of Kim Gillespie, a young woman from the area, hooks Falk and Exiles was the right mystery at the right time for me.

read this final installment in Freya Marske's Last Binding trilogy, a queer historical fiction fantasy-mystery unexpected attractions to each other and the uncovering of weighty secrets, the group works to unravel the mysterious

The gothic story King Nyx offers haunting imagery, sinister mysteries, unreliable memories, resurfacing imagery of King Nyx is striking, with (oddly specific and elaborate) automatons, gas masks, looming, mysterious until she realizes that all of the events on the island seem to be the mastermind of an unhinged puppet master Meanwhile mysteries from Anna's experiences in the Fort household seem held together by crucial gaps

Janice Hallett's The Twyford Code explores a mysterious potential connection between a teacher's disappearance But he's got a hunch that the mystery of the code in deceased author Edith Twyford's largely condemned You can find reviews of mysteries I've read and enjoyed here.

Nell has left her a book of dark fairy tales by the reclusive Victorian author Eliza Makepeace, who mysteriously Morton is masterful at weaving together several timelines, rich family history, intriguing discoveries , an overarching mystery, and a female protagonist who discovers she's made of stronger stuff than she felt like a Secret Garden (a book I was obsessed with as a child) for grown-ups, with intertwined, mysterious

This is another whodunit winner from Wendy Walker: a character-driven mystery with a neurodivergent main But it becomes clear that Clay was in deep with some seedy characters, and key elements of the mystery wonderful, character-driven suspense that keeps me hooked as she guides the reader through a twisty mystery

Atkinson's newest mystery is set in vivid Roaring Twenties London as Nellie Coker struggles to hold on to her empire of clubs while mysterious dark undercurrents threaten stability throughout the city. by the intersection of Gwendolyn and Ma Coker's golden child, her eldest son Niven--along with the mystery If you like historical fiction mysteries, you might like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Historical Fiction Mysteries Sure to Intrigue You.

melded into another: young friendship, serial killer, outlaw search, small-town intrigue, and longtime mysteries There are deep betrayals, long-term mysteries, and, finally, many revealed truths (some of which you

two timelines, a decades-old tragedy, and a modern-day descendant's discovery of her family's link to mysterious There are two mysteries surrounding the Turner Tragedy: the whodunit aspect and the unexplained disappearance This is a long (it's almost 550 pages), winding story with complicated connections and mysterious motivations Morton's story explores secrets, loyalties, mysteries, and the complicated matter of family--those you

Johnson's young adult series, set in a boarding school in rural Vermont, with compelling past and present mysteries Decades later, mystery aficionado Stevie Bell arrives as a new student at Ellingham Academy, determined But a new mystery emerges--and Truly Devious, who had taken credit for the original crime, seems to be You might also like the young adult mysteries One of Us Is Lying, One of Us Is Next, and the stellar Royally Magical Young Adult Series and Six Fantastic Stand-Alone Young Adult Books.