Of course everybody loves a light hearted romance novel or an informative historical fiction book, but every reader has a special love for mysteries. I can never get enough of the suspense, the clues slowly being put together, and the person responsible for the murder or crime really being the person we trusted the most. Get a mystery back in your hands this week and feel the rush.
Listed below are a few of the mysteries that I love or can't wait to read. Do you have any recommendations for me? Email mkotelchuck@whatsupmag.com with your most recent read and a quick review about it to be featured!
Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides: If you want a psychological thriller then you are in for a treat. I read this book about a year ago and every time I see it on a shelf at the bookstore or library, I can't think about anything else besides reading it again. In the very beginning of the book, we meet famous painter Alicia Berenson, dive into her seemingly perfect life and quickly learn that one day, when her husband comes home, she shoots him five times in the face. The special thing about this thriller is that Alicia never speaks another word. Through the book Alicia sees many therapists but refuses to talk or give any kind of explanation. With the price of her artwork starting to skyrocket, criminal psychotherapist Theo Faber is determined to get Alicia to talk, and uses an unconventional way to get the truth out of her.
Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner: I have not yet read this book, but I have seen it floating around and have only heard good things. Anyone here like a brand new book? Well here it is, just published at the end of January 2021. After a case is opened for so long with no conclusions, Frankie Elkin comes into play. Frankie is a recovering alcoholic who's job is to search for missing people the world has stopped looking for. Her job takes her to Boston where she is looking for Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager who has vanished from her high school. Quickly Frankie realizes that Angelique's family and the Boston PD are not interested in the case and that someone doesn't want the answers to the questions Frankie is asking, even if it means the next person to go missing could be her...
After Anna by Lisa Scottoline: Once I start a book, I don't want it to go back onto my bookshelf until I finish reading it. After Anna was good at first, an easy read though I wasn't super attached to the story. I was a bit disappointed with the lack of suspense in the book, a characteristic of a novel that is essential to be considered a 'mystery'. With this being said, I didn't give up on the book and I am sure glad I didn't. When all of the background was put together and I was into the story, I couldn't stop until I completed the puzzle. Soon after Anna moves in with her mother and new step-father, Anna is murdered and the person accused of the fault is Noah, Anna's step-father who is the only one who saw the red flags Anna brought when she moved in. Now, Maggie has lost a daughter and possibly a husband...but nothing is ever how it seems, right?
