Feature: Mystery, Thrills, & Trauma (Spooky Szn Recs)

Welcome to our spooky season recs! We’ve been putting together these posts for years and, tbh, they are some of our favorite posts we get to write. Shouting about authors and books we love during our favorite season? Here for it. Stay tuned for more posts about non-humans, books to media, and more!

Mystery, Thrills, & Trauma

• Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones: Great bookish marketing helped bring this one to my attention (thanks, Rivka! Your rec + that milk carton-esque missing person ad is totally up this thriller fan’s alley!). Fans of mystery podcasts or A Good Girls Guide to Murder will find themselves turning the pages for this one. This fast-paced modern yet historical (the mystery aspect takes place in the 90s) addresses the flaws in how coverage of missing persons happens. I am glad this is a series!
• Dig Two Graves by Gretchen McNeil: Gretchen is well-known for her banter within stories and this one is no exception. She’s also great about writing characters people might call unlikeable (my favs, personally). The twist definitely got me! This one has all of the makings for a Netflix movie.
• The Reunion by Kit Frick: You can always count on Kit to write complex thrillers featuring queer characters and The Reunion is no exception. I loved the style of this one, where you heard the same moments leading up to the twist told through a variety of characters and you don’t know who died along the way. They all gave you reason to suspect them and yet I did not guess the ending. I suggest listening to this one because it has a full cast!
• We’ll Never Tell by Wendy Heard: Another multi-narrator thriller where you trust no one and won’t see the ending coming! Wendy has been an auto-buy author for years and this old Hollywood meets new Hollywood mystery is the perfect read for October!
• Out of the Ashes by Kara Thomas: I love when my fav YA authors crossover to adult, especially the thriller genre! I apparently have a type – dark family secrets (see: the two books above this one haha). This one is for you fans of psychological thrillers (me!).
• Some Shall Break by Ellie Marney: When I finished None Shall Sleep, all I wanted was more. Luckily Ellie delivered an arguably superior sequel (which is hard to do because I loved the first book). I love the historical setting, the complex characters that you empathize with while being horrified by the things they do, and the fact that Ellie is not afraid to do some dark things. The ending packs one of hell of a cliffhanger and I *need* the third book asap.
• Reader, I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell: I’ve said it before and now, months later, I am saying it again: this book will end the year on the top of my fav list. It’s so rare and hard for me to pick a fav but this book is it. Historical and powerful story that doesn’t shy away from applying its title.
• Dark Room Etiquette by Robin Roe: The time between Robin’s debut and this was well worth the wait. This story felt like I was reading a real account of the trauma of being kidnapped – and the will to survive. Plan to read something light after this one!

The Reunion

by Kit Frick
on August 29, 2023
Bookshop
Goodreads

A doomed family reunion at a posh Caribbean resort, where old grudges and dangerous secrets culminate in murder.
Eleven Mayweathers went on vacation. Ten came home.
It’s been years since the fragmented Mayweather clan was all in one place, but the engagement of Addison and Mason’s mom to the dad of their future stepbrother, Theo, brings the whole family to sunny Cancún, Mexico, for winter break. Add cousin Natalia to the mix, and it doesn’t take long for tempers to fray and tensions to rise. A week of forced family “fun” reveals that everyone has something to hide, and as secrets bubble to the surface, no one is safe from the fallout. By the end of the week, one member of the reunion party will be dead—and everyone’s a suspect:The peacekeeper: Addison needs a better hiding place.The outsider: Theo just wants to mend fences.The romantic: Natalia doesn’t want to talk about the past.The hothead: Mason needs to keep his temper under control.
It started as a week in paradise meant to bring them together. But the Mayweathers are about to learn the hard way that family bonding can be deadly.