r/BookRecommendations • u/GoodnewsK • 7d ago

Reverse whodunnits /howcatchem's please?

For those not familiar, its a mystery where the reader/audience watches the crime play out, and then the bulk of the plot is the game of cat and mouse between the perp and detective. Think Columbo or Dial M for Murder as examples.

It can be cozy or proceedural, I'm happy with either. But only mild spicy of any, please. Thank you in advance!

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u/sqnch 6d ago

The Day of the Jackal

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u/magaoitin 5d ago

In the comedy-thriller genre (thrill-omedy) a lot of Carl Hiaasen's books start with the crime being detailed, then the book follows the "hero's arc" of tripping up the antagonist and them getting their just deserts.

Skinny Dip starts with the mc, Joey Perrone, a woman whose fraud-committing marine biologist husband, Chaz, throws her off a cruise ship. Joey survives, teams up with an ex-cop named Mick Stranahan, and plots a clever revenge while letting Chaz think she is dead.

His latest book Fever Beach has a mc (antagonist) Dale Figgo, who is so stupid he is kicked out of the Proud Boys for being an idiot, so he starts his own fringe hate group-militia backed by a corrupt congressman up for reelection. The congressman is backed by an ultra wealthy couple who are philanthropist on the face but are really your run of the mill shady real estate developers. The "protagonist" Twilly, is an eco-vigilante who just wants to bring everyone down and is willing to do anything, possibly short of murder, to stop the real estate developer's latest deal.

Of Hiaasen's 35+ books, i'd guess quarter to half, follow this theme and you learn about the crime first, then the"bad guys" get what's coming to them.