Mystery Book Recs Flow on Social

"The Violin Conspiracy" author Brendan Slocumb drew from his own life as a Black classical musician, including the theft of his own violin in high school and experiences with racism, to shape the story of his protagonist, Ray McMillian. Slocumb's debut novel aims to give a voice to the challenges faced by Black musicians in the classical world. The Susan Ryeland series by Anthony Horowitz is a "book within a book" concept, where the solution to a modern-day mystery is hidden within the manuscript of a 1950s-style detective novel. Horowitz, known for creating TV shows like "Foyle's War" and "Midsomer Murders," has recently finished the third book in the series, "Marble Hall Murders." Stuart Turton's debut, "The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle," won the Costa First Novel Award and has sold over a million copies in the UK and US. His follow-up, "The Devil and the Dark Water," also garnered awards, and his latest, "The Last Murder at the End of the World," continues his trend of complex, genre-bending "locked room" mysteries. The Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley features an 11-year-old amateur detective with a passion for chemistry, particularly poisons, in 1950s England. The first book, "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie," won the Crime Writer's Association Debut Dagger award. Lin Anderson's "The Innocent Dead" is the fifteenth installment in the long-running series featuring forensic scientist Dr. Rhona MacLeod. Anderson is also the co-founder of the "Bloody Scotland" international crime writing festival. The film adaptation of another popular mystery, "The Maid" by Nita Prose, is in development at Universal Studios with Florence Pugh set to star as the lead character, Molly Gray. Prose, whose real name is Nita Pronovost, is the vice-president and editorial director at Simon & Schuster Canada.