It's spooky season, ya'll. That means it's time for your favorite librarians, Assh and Rachael, to give you the scoop on some of the best (and worst) the mystery/thriller genre has to offer.
Read if you dare.
The Boatman's Daughter by Andy Davidson [2020]
Assh: You know, I love a good southern gothic, I could wax poetic on the most disgusting parts of Southern culture, but frankly I would rather eat glass than relive reading this book. It is absolutely one of the most d e p r e s s i n g reads I have suffered through in a while. I didn't dig the way that the characters were presented, and as much as I love a good murder mystery this was one were I just slogged through it hoping that my torture would end. I don't know why I couldn't get into it, but the moment we met the young girl character I knew I wasn't going to be happy with where this was going. If I could get my time back from reading this I would pay money, honestly. 1/5 knives, and only a paring knife at that for me
Rachael: Before we get into the review, I have to admit that southern gothic is 100% my jam. Set your book in a rotting antebellum mansion in the middle of a swamp, throw in an oppressive sense of decay to represent the pernicious infection of past and present societal sins and I. Will. Be. There. Please and thank you. That love certainly let me enjoy reading The Boatman's Daughter more than I would have otherwise. It hits all the high points of the genre (I mean it even has a mad preacher, guys. What more can you ask for really?), and ties them all together around a pretty compelling mystery. Also it's creepy as all get out, which I'm going to assume is a plus for anyone who chose to click on a blog with murder in the title. I do, unfortunately, have to agree with Assh and majorly ding Boatman in one area. Andy Davidson is straight up not good at writing female characters. As you may be able to gather from the title, women are generally only included in the book because of their relationship to one of the male characters. And by 'generally' I mean that there's only ONE female character that's not the wife or a daughter of a main character. That being said, The Boatman's Daughter is creepy and atmospheric, so it could be a good read for anyone looking for southern spooks who's willing to look past some major (I mean MAJOR) problems. 2/5 knives
Final Verdict: 1.5/5 knives
When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole [2020]
R: Gentrification and red-lining as horror. Why is this not a bigger sub-genre than it is? The slow creeping dread that comes from predatory outsiders replacing friends and neighbors one by one. The maddening levels of gaslighting. The looming threat of displacement, of being cast adrift from everyone and everything you've ever known. This is an area rife with terror and Cole takes full advantage of it, tying in historical context, modern socio-economic and racial dynamics, and good old fashioned horror tropes. When No One is Watching is a fantastically creepy read, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone who loves low burn psychological horror. The only reason it doesn't quite get five knives from me is the somewhat sudden tonal and pacing shift at the end. Still, I cannot wait to see what Cole does next. 4.5/5 knives
A: This book watered my crops, it cleared my skin, it absolutely got me blessed. You want to know why so many BIPOC people are mad about gentrification? Please, read this book. It's satirical and maddening, and the author writes like she is literally the text thread between myself, Rachael, and Mercedes so it felt so close to home. As the main character slowly realizes her neighborhood is being usurped by all of these absolutely insane outsiders, you watch her grapple with so many things - the loss of a parent the looming feel of being pushed out of her neighborhood by people who don't even care about the people who live there and the loss of her grip on reality - or is it the discovery of an unspeakable horror? This Get Out of realty issues where BIPOC spaces are being encroached on by outside sources just absolutely knocks it out of the park for me. 5/5 knives, and I will throw in a caldero to cook it with, too
Final Verdict: 4.75/5 knives
Final Girls by Riley Sager [2017]
A: When I went into reading Final Girls, I thought we would be meeting a round table of survivors - some hardened Laurie Strodes, survivalist Ellen Ripleys, and maybe even a deeply traumatized Sally Hardesty - instead we got someone who gets white knighted by her husband and has Zaddy issues with the police officer that saved her. I didn't feel like this was a reimagining of the trope, instead I feel like it was a weak exercise in misplaced ideas about 'Girl Power'. That twist? How is it a twist? Literally every sign pointed to that happening. I'm going to give this disappointing book no knives because you don't need to read it. It's just not necessary. Instead you should watch some horror films where the final girls survive and thrive. 0/5 knives
R: Final Girls generated a bit of buzz when it was first published. We all love some good cross platform media, and giving a bit more voice to horror's final girls is a cool and interesting concept. Although I'm not a big horror fan myself, the premise definitely caught my attention, and I, like Assh, went in hoping for an inventive reimagining of the final girls trope. Unfortunately, that's not what I got. Although the book has a couple cool red herrings and some interesting unreliable narrator twists scattered throughout, the overall mystery in Final Girls just wasn't compelling. Despite Sager's obfuscations the final 'twist' was both relatively obvious and, if I'm being perfectly frank here, kinda boring. Add to that unlikable characters and just a smidge of victim blaming, and you've got a book that I can't see sticking in anyone's mind for any length of time. It's not the worst mystery out there, but it's also not one I would bother seeking out either. 2/5 knives
Final Verdict: 1/5 knives
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia [2020]
R: The vibes. They are impeccable. I LOVED Mexican Gothic from the first page to the last, and haven't hesitated to recommend it to anyone who will listen. It has the exact right level of atmosphere, mystery, action, and what I'm going to call 'creep factor' (AKA, it's scary but my chicken self was able to sleep afterwards). Noemà is a refreshingly novel protagonist in the mystery genre, and I was right alongside her through all the twists and turns this book throws at you. Also, can we talk about post-colonial gothic horror? That is a genre I am absolutely here for and I need someone to rec me more immediately. There are rumors that Mexican Gothic is currently being adapted into a mini series for Hulu, and I for one cannot wait to see what they come up with. Can I say best book of the list? Yeah, best book of the list. 5/5 knives
A: I am LIVING for this book, I am absolutely BLOWN AWAY by how well Moreno-Garcia keeps the menace and intrigue coming in each of her books and Mexican Gothic is SUCH A VIBE. She always does a great job expressing the cultural mores of the Latinx experience and this is no exception. And yet another book in which the jerk-faced colonizer gets theirs? Absolutely exactly what I needed. It's the quiet terror of Crimson Peak and Rebecca wrapped up in a huipil, proving that behind every toxic man is a terrifyingly worse family likely steeped in incest and murder. I agree with Rachael, this is the best of the bunch and the greatest book I've read in a while. 5/5 knives
Final Verdict: 5/5 knives
One by One by Ruth Ware [2020]
A: Okay, let me be clear here - I haven't had much love for Ms.Ware's works. Frankly, the way that she can write out a character's anxiety and thought processes is too dang close to home for me so I will shut down before I start screaming. That said, this has been my favorite book of hers and I cannot suggest it enough. For the first time, she wrote an anxious character that didn't make me want to shake them - and the opposing point of view was heartfelt and sad. I love when we slowly count down the amount of victims because it feels like you're spiraling towards a conclusion, and the ending of this one was actually fun, a great example of just desserts, and something I didn't expect. I think that if you love watching rich people eat themselves like a bourgeois ouroboros, this is absolutely the book for you. Eat the rich, indeed.4.5 knives for me
R: I'm a sucker for the And Then There Were None setup. Doesn't matter how many times I run across the same format, I'm ready to dive back in again. And of course, Ruth Ware has proven herself a master of modernizing classic Agatha Christie mystery tropes. While The Woman in Cabin 10 still stands as my favorite Ruth Ware novel, One by One has made its way to a pretty close second. First, the setting has everything. Exclusive ski resort at the top of the mountain with only one established way up or down? Perfect. It's isolated from society, surrounded by an inhospitable environment, and basically one disaster away from turning into a Thunderdome for the uber wealthy at all times. Second, I really liked some of the characters. Erin and Danny stole my heart immediately and I ended up rooting for them no matter what went down. This book has received some negative reviews from readers who felt the 'final twist' was too obvious, but I've personally never really cared much if an ending is shocking or not so it didn't bother me. There is not a single thing novel or groundbreaking about One by One, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. This book knows exactly what it is and what it's here to do, and by gosh it's gunna do it well. If you're in the mood for a well plotted and murderous beach read this is a perfect choice. 4/5 knives
Final Verdict: 4.25/5 knives
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton [2020]
R: I went into The Devil and the Dark Water expecting a lot. I absolutely adored Turton's previous book, The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, and had been eagerly awaiting whatever twisted, fantastical joyride he chose to take to us on next. I jumped on this one the second it was published, devoured it over the course of two days, and found it.... not bad. Actually not bad is probably too harsh. It's a good book. After Evelyn Hardcastle, however, my expectations were incredibly high and Devil.... just didn't live up. It's certainly a good mystery, the characters are dynamic and compelling, and Turton can build an atmosphere of danger and suspense like no one's business. If this book had been written by any other author I would call it a solid and enjoyable read. Because I was looking for the next Evelyn Harcastle though, I finished Devil disappointed. Not a bad book by any means, but maybe pretend it was written by someone other than Stuart Turton when you go in. 3.5/5 knives
A: I literally could not put down Turton's previous novel, The Seven and Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, so when I found out that he had written another mystery novel I jumped at the chance to read it and I was... mehhhhh about it. Rachael is right - it doesn't live up to the predecessor, but that doesn't mean that it's a bad novel. Instead, it's just different. Turton is still doing great work with historical novels, changing the setting to a Dutch merchant ship is a huge leap from the previous book's grand estate, but it still leaves room for us to world build. I did like the fact that it touched on a lot of interesting themes, such as self-doubt, guilt, narcissism, etc, but there is a scene in this book between the husband and wife that made me wretch . Really, was that necessary? I feel like I got that he was an absolute knob without it. All in all, it was a fun read, even if the end was fairly stereotypical. 3.5 knives from me
Final Verdict: 3.5/5 knives
And to cap it, the books we want to rec each other:
R's rec for A
Quiet in her Bones by Nalini Singh [2021]
Unreliable narrator ahoy! Aarav is just so messed up, and it makes every twist and turn of this book absolutely wild. Like watching a train wreck about to happen in slow motion, but pretty much everyone on the train is a bad person so you're not too upset about it. That metaphor might have gotten away from me a bit (much like a speeding train...) but the point is that Quiet in her Bones will grab you by the neck from the word go, shake you around for about 350 pages, and then cast you gasping back into the real world. I've recommended this book to a couple other friends irl, and it's lead to a lot of text convos at 2:30 in the morning along the lines of:
"and then THIS happened!"
"I know right!?!"
"BUT THEN THIS HAPPENED"
"I KNOW RIGHT?!!"
"OMG!!"
"I KNOW RIGHT!!?!??!!"
Anyway, this book is an absolute rollercoaster and Assh you should read it so I can experience it again vicariously through you.
A's rec for R
The Burning Girls by CJ Tudor [2021]
I know for a fact that Rachael did not like the first CJ Tudor book that I suggested she read, The Chalk Man, but this is not like that at all. For one, there isn't a questionable narrator that is a gleefully hidden piece of garbage. Instead, Tudor is more focused on the possible supernatural calamity that is slowly overcoming the village: the possibility that the two martyed village girls are picking off victims one by one in their ghostly attempt at revenge. I really identified with the main character Jack Brooks, who has clearly taken a second chance at life in an entirely different direction and wants nothing more than to protect her daughter and live a quiet life. I think Rachael would like the twist, even if she did see if coming.
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