Hey all, I need a book that sets up a mystery early on. I'm specifically look for an event that happens sometime within like the first or second chapter that hooks the reader. I don't care what the mystery is but it has to have grave consequences. I'm happy with fiction or nonfiction.
My opinion on books I've read or heard of:
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle. I immediately was interested because of the quick introduction of the mystery. I was having a lot of fun trying to figure out the mystery while being a little spooked out. I loved this book but all the characters felt too young for me.
Blood Over Bright Haven. I enjoyed the big reveal halfway through the book but halfway is too late for me. I dislike a sad end.
The Name of a Rose by Umberto Eco. I was immediately interested in the mystery but the clues were way too difficult for me to understand. I was stunned when the reveals came in But also somehow already disinterested.
Three Body Problem: I could not get through the first book. I hated that the solution was based on physics and math.
Percy Jackson series: I enjoyed this book as a young adult but the adventure felt like an excuse to make Percy seem cool. I'm a grown woman I don't want to read a YA adventure book like there is always a mystery of who the villain is but I don't care by the end.
Thanks all!
by DisembarkEmbargo
3 Comments
Two different flavors for you:
The Mistress of the Art of Death by Arianna Franklin – A medieval forensic thriller where an Italian doctor must solve a series of horrific crimes in England while hiding that she is, in fact, a doctor, due to the prejudices of the time.
Blindsight by Peter Watts – A variant on the idea of First Contact with an alien species. The world as built by Watts reminds me of the world of the Alien franchise, if that’s helpful. It’s dense and mixes real science with projected, future science.
Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford, a murder mystery set in the fictional indigenous city of Cahokia which has just joined the US in the 1920s in this alternate history. The murder investigation begins on page 1 and indeed has grave consequences for the racial tensions reaching a boiling point in the city. One of the most immersive books I’ve ever read, sooo good.
Try Margaret Frazer’s medieval mysteries (either series) and Lindsey Davis’s Roman mysteries (either series, but edge to M. Didius Falco books).