|
QUICKFIND: The Key Links on this Page:
What Type of Mystery Are You Looking For?
Sure, you can start by browsing in the fiction section of your library or the mystery section of your bookstore. But you will be more productive and satisfied with the books you get by doing your homewortk first.
There are some 8 million mysteries and thrillers in print. You can't read them all! So why not zero down on what you like. It helps if you know what kinds of books (aka, sub-genres) that you really like. The right lingo may help in your search.
- "Mystery books" is often a generic expression that includes...
- MAINLY: all types of crime fiction regardless of the crime, from white collar fraud to murder, from petty deception or perjury to torture. Such crime fiction can be further broken down into subgenres including: cozies, police procedurals, private eye mysteries, psychological thrillers, historical mysteries, romance mysteries, humorous mysteries, medical thrillers, legal thrillers or courtroom dramas, political thrillers, spy mysteries or thrillers, thrillers, and so on.
- LESS LIKELY: there may be some mystery books that do not actually involve a crime, but in which there is suspense about a mysterious event. These may include some psychological mystery or spy drama or human puzzle like a missing person.
- But NOT included, for purposes of this website and the Mystery Book Club to which I belong, are books that include any of the following elements -- even if the book might have mystery, suspense, a puzzle to be solved, crimes, or other overlap with the crime fiction described above:
- Science fiction (the future, time travel),
- Fantasy fiction (Harry Potter, elves),
- Supernatural and horror thrillers (The Shining, ghosts),
- "True Crime" books (non-fiction accounts).
- What sub-genres do you like? (Or do you not like?) This can help you narrow your focus. Learn more about sub-genres or categories using the links below. (Just be aware that occasionally some of the 4 "excluded" categories above will appear):
- Try this first: A list of 20 popular categories with 300 associated authors - in PDF format: If You Like That, Maybe You'd Like This.
- A variation on the above list of "categories" of mysteries and related authors can be found at SYKM: Web Page: Read-Alikes by Category
- Yet another variation at SYKM, this one with 17 sub-genres: Web Page: Genre Index
- Goodreads does not do this as well, but here is an unusual category there: Web Page: Books with a deadly party in it
- What is a "mystery" book? What's the difference between a mystery and a thriller? I try to sort out the jargon as it is thrown around even by respected professional organizations. [Coming soon]
- The written version
- The video version
-
What Do You Want to Avoid in a Book? Beyond the sub-genres (big picture), there are many lesser things that you may love, like, dislike, or hate in a book you read. Perhaps it relates to specific crimes or violence: you don't mind a good murder --as long as children are not involved. You like an interesting character, as long as it's not a cat! You're OK with a female detective having a husband or boyfriend, but don't want any "romancing."
Anyway, I have put together a worksheet where you can consider these so-called lesser things because "lesser" could be "major" for you! It can help you clarify what you like and don't like, but unfortunately, I do not know a sorting filter anywhere that can help you filter out the books that have stuff you don't like. Click here for the worksheet: PDF Document: If It Has THAT in a Book, I'd Rather Not Read It.
Do You Know the Name of an Author You Already Like?
Most likely you already have one or more favorite mystery or thriller writers. Here are two things you should do with that information.
- Look up the author to find other books written by this author. Typically, I can find this on the author's own website. In other cases author websites are poorly done or in a few cases, especially authors who have stopped writing, even non-existent. In all cases they each do it differently. Therefore my first step, which works 90% of the time, is...
- To go to the Stop You're Killing Me (SYKM) website. All authors are listed alphabetically by last name. Every page has the author (and main characters) index at the top of the page. Find the author's page that way. There you will see all of the author's books grouped by series and non-series books (standalones), and then listed in published order. You can then locate the book(s) you HAVE read and those you probably will WANT to read. Although a good author will write so that anyone can read a book in the middle of a series and enjoy it, fans of the central character will find it far more enjoyable to read or re-read the series in order.
Now sometimes the most recent books may not yet have made it onto the SYKM website. In that case, do check the author website. If the authoir has (or did have) a website, you will see a link just under the author's name at the top of the page.
- So if necessary use the link from the SYKM website to get to the author's website. Your goal would be to see if it shows or even features a recent book not shown at SYKM.
There will be a few rare occasions when an author does not show up at SYKM, despite their best efforts to be complete. In that case, the best way to find it is to "Google it." When you do, use this format: "FirstName LastName" Author
In other words, put the author's name in quotes, and then write the word author. Read carefully the list of sites that your search produced. Often it will say "Official Site of..." but sometimes the publisher hosts the site - in which case there won't be a lot of information. Anyway, keep your goal in mind -- "other books that my favorite author wrote that I might have missed."
- In addition to reading more books by your favorite author, you can use that author, or book title by that author, to find "similar" books by other authors. Here's how:
- To begin, go to my List of 300 Mystery /Thriller Authors mentioned previously-- PDF Document: If You Like That, Maybe You'd Like This. Once the PDF document is opened, look for your author in the list. Of course, the fastest way to do that is to search the document using the PDF "find" feature, typically Command "F."
- Use the same procedure at SYKM: Web Page: Read-Alikes by Category. Again, use Command "F" to search that web page for your favorite author's name.
-
Once you have found your author (if he/she is there), investigate some of the other authors in the same category in which your author is listed. (If your favorite author is not there, please email me -- perhaps I will add your favorite author to my top 300 Authors list!)
Investigate your author by (a) clicking from the author name to the regional library (MVLC) book listings, (b) by going to the SYKM site and looking up the new author's name, (c) and/or by using Goodreads.com --- and searching for your new author; in the search results, you may find, in addition to many of the author's books, reader ratings, positive and negative reviews, an author bio, and other helpful information.
|
