One of my favorite things about buying used books is finding the little things left behind, from inscriptions and annotations to bookmarks, receipts, and sticky notes, and I am ready for my own (less murder-y) adventure to start from a secret note beneath an endpaper. 

Darkrooms by Rebecca Hannigan is an atmospheric mystery that would be perfect for fans of Tana French or shows like Broadchurch - which means it was perfect for me.

The Storm by Rachel Hawkins is a gothic murder mystery thriller and a perfect escapist read. Populated with strong and snarky female characters, the fictional St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama has stories to tell. 

Atlas of Unknowable Things by McCormick Templeman has the two things  I want from a mystery novel: a snarky narrator and clues that build to an exciting and meaningful conclusion.

Just when I thought I knew what was going on, I did not know what was going on - and I loved it!

The initial description I saw of The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store is that it is a murder mystery - a genre that done well has me speed-reading to get to the solution - but in this case, the characters, their lives, and their relationships to each other were so rich and drew me in so much, I forgot that I was waiting to identify a body (though the payoff was worthy of a Coen brothers film). 

If you can read this without hearing the voices of their television counterparts, I can only assume you’ve never seen the Golden Girls.

I was excited to read a mystery set in the Appalachians, but I was a little disappointed with this one because the place and people didn’t seem distinctly Appalachian.

The Lamplighter is a YA novel which tend to be hit or miss for me, and this one has some of the pitfalls that make it a miss, such as overwrought, almost melodramatic language, but inconsistently so which makes it feel unintentional and unnecessary. However, there was a lot I liked about it.