Riot Headline The Best Books of 2024
Mystery/Thriller

Peter Dinklage as Hercule Poirot + More Mystery News!

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Jamie Canaves

Contributing Editor

Jamie Canavés is the Tailored Book Recommendations coordinator and Unusual Suspects mystery newsletter writer–in case you’re wondering what you do with a Liberal Arts degree. She’s never met a beach she didn’t like, always says yes to dessert, loves ‘80s nostalgia, all forms of entertainment, and can hold a conversation using only gifs. You can definitely talk books with her on Litsy and Goodreads. Depending on social media’s stability maybe also Twitter and Bluesky.

In the land of mystery news that should be on your radar, I continue with best-of-lists and I have a bunch of adaptation news, including a new detective show to stream right now!

Marlon James’ Novels Are Masterpieces. His New HBO Series Achieves Something Similar.

Talk about an amazing thing flying under the radar! Author Marlon James (A Brief History of Seven Killings) created and wrote a new crime series for HBO: Get Millie Black. The lead character, Tamara Lawrance, is a Jamaican detective inspector based on his own mother! Here, Slate dives into the show, which you can watch the first episode of on HBO/Max with new ones dropping on Mondays in the US.

Hands Down My Favorite End-of-Year List (Fortify Your Bookshelves)

NPR’s Books We Love, which is selected by staff and critics, is something to behold and to make a snack and spend the day with! There are so many books (4,000 in total over the years!) and so many filters to explore. While I will say the 2024 mystery & thrillers tag is a mix of true genre mixed with “vibes of a mystery,” there is so much great stuff to discover, including books that were never on my radar but are now, like Do What Godmother Says by L.S. Stratton.

The Washington Post’s 10 Best Mysteries of 2024

I like lists that blend some books that you find on everyone’s best-of-list mixed with books that are new-to-me, which this list does. Plus, I love seeing December releases, which usually get left off end-of-year lists (I suspect because the lists are written before reviewers get to their December reading list.).

Adaptation News To Know!


Browse the books recommended in Unusual Suspects’ previous newsletters on this shelf. See upcoming 2025 releases, and mysteries from 2024 and 2023. Check out this Unusual Suspects Pinterest board and get Tailored Book Recommendations! Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on Bluesky, Goodreads, and Litsy.

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