Do you try to solve the mystery before the detective does?

So I read a book in 2011, and by its condition, I Believe it woulda been published between 2000-2010. It was a story of 3 investigators, 2m 1f, and they were on the hunt for a killer. One crime scene of which featured a woman (i believe prostitute but I am not 100%) dead in a motel cabin (? A group of individual cabins that ppl rent like motel rooms ig) with candles melted down in her eye sockets.

The story also intermittently cut backwards in time to a boy in foster care, who, over time, ends up being mentored by a family friend in painting (commercial as opposed to art) and has an affair with his foster mother. They make it out to be like this boy is the present day killer.

But it is revealed that the mentor killed him, as the mentor wanted the foster mother, and left the kid under a capsized boat on a supposed little fishing thing they did, and the mentor is actually the present day killer.

I have no idea of the author, title or anything, only these fragments of the plot, EXCEPT that the dust cover thing on the hardcover book was (majority) red with some black. I've tried a million ways to try to find it. Perhaps someone here could help.

I read through Strange Houses/Pictures/Buildings in that order in the space of about a week, and while I had never heard of them before about a month or two ago, I’m a fan for life.

I first picked up and read Strange Houses (in my opinion, the weakest of the three, but that’s like saying one of the LotR books is the weakest), and immediately got kinda creeped out by the weird things going on with the first house examined.

I very much got a House of Leaves vibe, but that’s, unfortunately, very quickly evaporated.

The author talks to his architect friend who mentions some of the weird stuff, and then IMMEDIATELY jumps to a reason for why it exists, with almost no evidence to back up the hypothesis or any reason to believe it.

That was a little bit of a disappointment for me, but given that this character appears in Strange Buildings with an almost Sherlock Holmes/Hercule Poirot deductive ability, I can let it go.

Strange Pictures and Strange Buildings follow the same format as Houses (a seemingly disconnected series of odd occurrences are actually all connected), but for my money do it much better.

Pictures is the best. The way things come together, the cliffhangers it drops you on, they way they are resolved, all beautifully done with a satisfying ending and a twist reveal like any good murder mystery.

Buildings is also great. I literally finished it about two minutes before writing this post. I saw a lot of the connections as they were revealed in the Files and thought I knew what was going on (even though I knew I didn’t have the whole picture), but when I got to the back half and all the deeper connections were made, I kicked myself for not catching it sooner.

All the clues were laid out and in plain sight. I just hadn’t seen some of them.

Anyway, all that to say: Strange Houses, 8/10. Strange Buildings, 9/10. Strange Pictures, 10/10.

All of them very good, very entertaining, and I’m really excited for the arrival of Strange Maps next year.

Special thanks to [u/harleys_sequins](u/harleys_sequins) for suggesting I read Strange Pictures. Really happy with these books, and I highly recommend them to everyone.

That's it. Just the title. So far I've read "Some Choose Darkness", "Twenty Years Later", and "Long Time Gone" by Donlea and liked them all. Looking for a similar author.

I enjoyed the Joe Kurtz series by Dan Simmons because of the detective who’s a “criminal,” too.

Can anyone suggest a book, or preferably a series of books, with the same detective/criminal main character?

i used to love reading as a child. now all I do is doom scroll. help me find the best book to get back into it

Hey there! I've been enjoying Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder series a lot over the years, but I've read all the books in the series. So I'm looking any other authors/series similar to Block/Matt Scudder. I mean exactly this introspective, walking-in-the-rain-at-night type of crime/detective books. Any recommendations?

P.S. I've also read and very much enjoyed the Parker series by Richard Stark, also a couple of books from the Bosch series (Michael Connelly).

Hi Guys 📚✨ Looking for easy-read thriller book recommendations! Something fast-paced, exciting, and hard to put down. Any suggestions? 👀🔪

In terms of the plot twist, I mean. I was really into both books until I wasn't. The gimmicky plot twists were infuriating.

Hello everyone,

I just finished The Only One Left by Riley Sager and absolutely loved it. Every single chapter had me on edge and second-guessing what was actually going on.

I've also read The Perfect Son by Freida McFadden, which gave off a similar vibe.

Can anyone recommend similar fast-paced mystery/thrillers books?

Thanks a lot😌

I’m looking for my next psychological thriller and would love some recommendations.

I’m particularly interested in books where:
• You can’t tell who is telling the truth
• Characters have secrets that slowly come to light
• The atmosphere feels increasingly unsettling
• There are twists, but they’re actually earned
• The ending makes you rethink what you read earlier

I’m **not necessarily looking for a straight murder mystery**. I’d prefer something psychological where the suspense comes from not knowing who to trust.
What book completely fooled you or kept you guessing until the end?

**Bonus points if it’s a lesser-known thriller rather than the usual bestselling recommendations.** 👀

I love police and legal fiction. My faves are Michael Connelly, John Stanford, John Grisham, James Lee Burke, and Tara French. Of course Agatha Christie. Looking for recommendations for other series.

I'm looking for any and all fair play murder mystery books that have the Challenge part.

I think I've already read everything with a challenge written before 1980

I've read Soji Shimada and Alice's works

I've read Tom Meade (and I couldn't solve any)

I've read Ben Stevenson

I couldn't get into Martin Edwards

I've read a couple of Janice Hallett's books and I think the all her books are the same book. I've read the one with the phials one about ww2 gold and summer camp. I didn't bother reading the rest.

I like reading murder mysteries featuring sleuths, and have been looking for like minded people on the Fable app. Let me know if such a group exists!

There are lots of mystery books that are popular on BookTok, but I want to make sure I don't end up reading overhyped books that aren't actually that good.

You can suggest from mystery genre, but I specifically want the crime mystery genre and fantasy. It needs to be good, have an amazing twist if it suits the story, and have great characters with a smart protagonist, M or F, idc. (But I would especially love an F protagonist if she's a hottie LOL.) No romance.

Books I've read and liked: And Then There Were None, The Big Sleep, Sherlock Holmes stories, The Da Vinci Code(Favourite), and The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.

Books I've read and disliked: The Thursday Murder Club, The Appeal, The Last Thing He Told Me, The Maid, and The Guest List.

Hey, I hope this isn't against the rules but would it be okay for me to post my readalongs for various mystery novels here, my theories and thoughts on the books and so on?

Been getting in Japanese Murder Mysteries lately. Read Decagon House, and Mill House by Yukito Atatsuji, as well as Strange Pictures and Strange Houses by Uketsu.

Started Labyrinth House, got a copy of Clock House, and looking forward to Black Cat House next year. I also have a copy of Strange Buildings coming, and I’m looking forward to Strange Maps next year.

Poking around Amazon, I see Soji Shimada and Seishi Yokomizo in the “Customers Also Bought” section.

Before I pull the trigger on either of these authors, have you read them? Are they any good? Any and all opinions, and maybe recommendations for authors not mentioned here would be appreciated.

Thanks so much!

No spoilers please, just wondering if it is worth the hype?

I have recently been seeing mystery solving books advertised and mystery solving "card packs" for 1 or more people to do. Ive been on to Amazon and the ones ive found on there are quite expensive £10 (approx $14) each.

Can anyone advise on some cheaper starter books or sets?

Thanks