Propulsive Books for Mystery, Suspense, and True Crime Readers

While I’ve spent the last decade writing and reading all things crime books for the Unusual Suspects newsletter, I’ve never stopped reading all the other genres. I love mysteries and thrillers, but my first love will always be stories, and I never want to miss a great one by remaining boxed into only one genre or category. Most of the genre books I read are usually firmly in that genre (or category), but sometimes I read books that make me think, “mystery readers would love this, even if it’s not actually a mystery.” It makes me feel for publishers/authors/publicists in having to market something that isn’t actually a thing but totally appeals as one. So here I am with three novels (all on my Best of 2026 list) and a nonfiction book (Best of 2020) that I think have great appeal for suspense, mystery, and true crime readers. Get 15% off annual All Access memberships for a limited time in celebration of Book Riot’s 15th anniversary! Savings amount to more than 3 months of free unlimited access to our entire content archive, plus features like Collections and the New Release Index. Claim your savings and start leveling up your reading life. Unusual Suspects Sign up to Unusual Suspects...