mplsmysteryreader's reviews
191 reviews

Where the Dead Sleep by Joshua Moehling

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I have read hundreds of mystery novels and Deputy Ben Packard is my all-time favorite male investigative protagonist.

City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby

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challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A gritty authentically southern crime novel.

Beauregard “Bug” Montage is a family man that is living on the straight and narrow after extricating himself from a life of crime. When bad luck starts piling against him Bug gambles with his future and takes on one last heist in order to save his business and secure his family’s future.

What I love about S.A. Cosby:
-His protagonists are always smooth and deliberate. He features male protagonists that are underestimated but end up proving they have brains and brawn.
-In an interview Cosby stated that he writes thrillers as a way to tackle heavy themes of poverty and racism in a more palatable manor which reaches a wider range of audience compared to if he were to right straight literary fiction.
-He blocks out each scene, so the reader is able to visualize the action; car chases, bank robberies, shoot outs, fight scenes

If you are a fan of Hell or High Water or Sons of Anarchy Blacktop Wasteland book is a good segue into literary hardboiled crime fiction

Content Warnings

The Mercy of Snakes by Dean Koontz

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Red Rain by Dean Koontz

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

The Praying Mantis Bride by Dean Koontz

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Photographing the Dead by Dean Koontz

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Road Rage by Joe Hill, Stephen King, Richard Matheson

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dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0