Recently got into reading more mystery novels and began my journey with "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie. I enjoyed it, but I was hoping for a book with the following criteria:
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Small cast (15 or less people). I'd like to get to know each person pretty well. I liked the cast of 10ish in ATTWN, but I was disappointed by how little we got to know each character. I want the majority of the cast to be compelling, and a huge bonus would be if the author puts effort into making me care about at least 3 characters.
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Solvable mystery with lots of foreshadowing. This is subjective, obviously, but even if it's hard to solve, I want to go back and realize that there was a plethora of foreshadowing revealing the culprit. It doesn't have to follow Knox's Commandments to a T, but I don't want insane curveballs like secret twins or mystery drugs. Unreliable narrators are fine so long as the narration itself is a clue to the murderer.
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Detective fiction is less compelling to me. If there is a character who is trying to solve what's happening, l'd prefer if they were personally invested in the crime. For example, I like stories where a small cast is stuck in a place with no access to the police, so they take it upon themselves to stop whoever is committing the crimes.
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Horror/thriller combined with mystery is welcome and preferred.
I got into this genre by playing a lot of Japanese videogames, such as Zero Escape, Umineko, Danganronpa, and Your Turn To Die. They break a lot of traditional mystery rules, which is not my favorite thing in the world, but the overall feeling of dreariness those games can create is my favorite thing. So if you've also gotten into mystery because of those works, l'd be glad to see what books reminded you of those games.
by pinxerata
5 Comments
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney is gonna make you so happy.
I think _The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle_ is a pretty perfect midpoint between Agatha Christie and Japanese visual novel mysteries. The whodunnit aspect is also one of at least two major mysteries in the book, which is fun.
I believe _The Hunting Party_ by Lucy Foley also fulfills all your requirements. A bunch of old friends rent a vacation house for New Year’s. They’re separated from the rest of the world by both the remoteness of the house and the blizzard that snows them in, then someone turns up dead.
MISS PYM DISPOSES by Josephine Tey might suit you.
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson fits these criteria. It contains a bit more dark humor than most murder mysteries which I found refreshing. It might not be dreary enough in tone but it definitely doesn’t hold back with the murders.
An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena. A hotel, snow storm, some guests, and murder