For me, mysteries must build a solid framework, play fair, and have at least one surprise awaiting the reader. Suspense novels must keep the tension high and have characters that capture and keep my attention.

Dead and Back Again: Specter Inspector , Visionary Investigations , Spirit of Suspense (C. Rae D’Arc)

Gaslamp Mysteries: Murder at Spindle Manor, Murder on the Lamplight Express , Murder on Hunter’s Eve (Morgan Stang)

Stuart Turton Novels: The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle , The Devil and the Dark Water , The Last Murder at the End of the World

Ern Cunningham Series: Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone (Benjamin Stevenson)

Garnet McGee Series: The First Time I Fell, The First Time I Died, The First Time I Hunted, The First Time I Knocked (Jo Macgregor)

Standalone: The Sun Down Motel (Simone St. James), Come Home to Death (Marilyn Levinson), The French Powder Mystery (Ellery Queen), The Door (Mary Roberts Rinehart) Moonflower Murders (Anthony Horowitz), Little Creeping Things (Chelsea Ichaso), One by One (Ruth Ware), The Guest List (Lucy Foley), The Pale Rose (Brina Williamson), There Arose a Clatter (Brina Williamson, not reviewed).

The Jardine Series: Modi Ind0rum (Book One), Abbac1 (Book Two), Zeph1rum (Book Three), The Hummingbird Feeder (Karma Lei Angelo)