SCARY ENOUGH FOR HALLOWEEN?

Reading a scary book is much like watching a scary movie in that what scares us is personal. What scares me may not be what scares you. For instance, I like the Saw movies. I don’t find them really scary; I find them intriguing which makes my husband very scared. Some people hate being scared and will not get involved in anything that might scare them from horror movies to haunted houses or frightening costumes over Halloween. There is an abundance of Halloween novels available to read that are cozies and not scary. However, there are many scary books and suspenseful thrillers for those inclined to be frightened in both large and small ways.

Sir Arthur Colan Doyle’s “The Hound of the Baskerville” is always worth reading for scary light. Dan Simmons has written both terror novels and mysteries including “Black Hills.” Peter Straub’s terror series Blue Rose starts with “Koko.” You can never go wrong with Stephen King and to me one of his scariest is “It” and if you want to stay in the mystery genre try “Mr. Mercedes.” Shirley Jackson scared people to death with her 1959 release of “The Haunting of Hill House.” John Ajvide Lindqvist is a horror author who wrote “Let the Right One In” and several other shivery novels worth reading.

For scary fun I would recommend “This Cursed House” by Del Sandeen which just came out this month. A young woman takes a job in New Orleans to try to escape her life only to find herself living in a cursed house with a family plagued by their secrets.

Chuck Palahniuk’s latest novel is “Shock Induction” which came out in October. His latest is called a literary fiction novel, but “Fight Club” is called a mystery by some. Personally, I just think his books are rather horrifying especially “Haunted.”

Alex North has written some rather scary mysteries including “The Whisper Man.” Stuart Neville’s “Blood Like Mine” just came out last August and is definitely a scary mystery. Dennis Lehane’s “Shutter Island” is hardly a straightforward mystery. Riley Sager writes mysteries and horror. Sager’s “The Only One Left” is a terrifically suspenseful horror novel to start with. I loved “The House Across the Lake.” You cannot go wrong with a Simone St. James’ mystery or horror novel. St. James’ latest is a horror novel named “Murder Road.”

Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” is a suspenseful thriller. One of my favorite suspenseful thrillers is Alex Michaelides’ “The Silent Patient.” M.L. Rio has written horror, and a mystery called “If We Were Villains” which might prove satisfyingly scary enough for some readers.

One of my favorite mystery writers is Lisa Unger who in September wrote “The Doll’s House” which is a horror novella. The book revolves around a widowed mother who moves into the family home with her new fiancé and his teenage daughter. They immediately find a doll and you have to know the story goes sideways from there.

Delilah S. Dawson writes a bit of everything including mysteries. Her latest “It Will Only Hurt for a Moment” is a chilling mystery thriller about a woman who runs away from her narcissistic ex-boyfriend and alcoholic, abusive mother to Tranquil Falls, a secluded artists’ colony on the grounds of a closed hotel with a chilling past.

Hailey Piper is a horror novelist with the best titles ever. The latest is “All the Hearts You Eat.” You have to love that title! Don’t miss “Queen of Teeth” and “The Worm and his King.” “All the Hearts You Eat” starts out with the main character finding a dead body on the beach and a mysterious poem nearby.

Kelley Armstrong writes a variety of genres including mystery and horror. Her mystery series Rockton started with “City of the Lost” and is excellent. Her latest standalone is a horror novel called “I’ll Be Waiting.” 

 

House of Glass

by Sarah Pekkanen

 

When a young nanny dies after falling through an upstairs window of her employer’s home, an investigation opens with best interest attorney Stella Hudson coming into the case to decide on the placement of the nine-year-old girl who perhaps witnessed the possible murder. To those on the outside the family appears happy and well-adjusted. They are well off and living a life of luxury in a household which includes the child Rose Barclay, her parents, and Rose’s grandmother.

If the nanny was murdered, the question becomes is Rose safe in the home. Immediately many problems appear that indicate Rose may need to be removed from the home. The parents are in the middle of divorcing. The nanny was pregnant with her employer’s child. Rose refuses to speak at all and is no help as a witness. Everyone in the family appears to be lying and covering up, but who are they covering up for?

Stella is reluctant to take this case because of her own traumatic childhood and usually only takes clients that are teenagers. Once she becomes involved, however, she is determined to help Rose even if Rose herself is the killer. Rose is either covering up for someone or is herself guilty of pushing her nanny out the window. Rose seems to be hording pieces of glass to the point that her family has removed most of the glass in the house and put in plastic. Is Rose hoarding weapons to protect herself or to kill someone else in the household?

The atmosphere in the house is unnerving for Stella and perhaps dangerous. Everyone inside the house is suspicious as is the nanny’s boyfriend. It seems impossible to decide how to protect Rose or who to protect her from so Stella puts herself in danger and sets a trap for the killer.

Stella is a smart and interesting hero with an unusual job. I was interested in how she would handle the investigation which had to be done quickly. While her past played a part in the story, I didn’t feel that it overwhelmed the main storyline. Rose’s intelligence is obvious but so is her fear. The question is who is she afraid of or is she just afraid of being caught. Definitely a mystery and a thriller and one that keeps you guessing. I think this character would make a great subject for a series.

 

Halloween Fun:

Perhaps frightful

I love all types of mysteries including fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal novels that have a mystery bent. Because we give something a name doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t jump out of our comfort zone once in a while to explore other genres. Even Sir. Author Colan Doyle had Sherlock Holmes explore the paranormal. Many fantasy books have a mystery element to them and are excellent reads. Perhaps the Halloween season is a time to try something a little out of our comfort zone. Some of these authors are fantasy heavy and some are fantasy light or paranormal light. I’ve included books that are Halloween themed, but not necessarily paranormal or fantasy in nature (in case you don’t want to go all out into fantasy just yet.) All are fun to read if you give them a try!

Esme Addison this year came out with “An Intrigue of Witches” which is the first in her new series the Secret Society Mysteries. Her hero is Sidney Taylor, a early American historian, looking for an important artefact, but finds her way blocked on every side. She doesn’t give up and starts to find her own history of witchcraft. I really enjoyed her other series Enchanted Bay Mysteries which includes “A Spell for Trouble” as the first in the series.

If you want to delve into a heavier duty fantasy series, you could start light with Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. The first book in the series was “Storm Front.” Harry Dresden is a private investigator and a professional wizard. This is a terrific series and was turned into a television series. Jim’s son James Butcher is following his father’s footsteps with his series Unorthodox Chronicles which started with “Dead Man’s Hand.”

Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson series is a great starter series to drag mystery readers into the fantasy genre. “Moon Called” is the first in the series. I cannot say enough about how great this series is and how the characters grab your interest.

Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series is another fantasy series which I love to read. “Spider Bite” was the first book in the series. “Spider” is an assassin who is always on the right side.

Leigh Bardugo’s series with Alex Stern started with “Ninth House” and is absolutely a murder mystery series with a fantasy twist.

Keri Arthur has a wonderful fantasy series called Crown of Shadows. The first book is “Relic Hunters” wherein Bethany Aodhan searches for godly artifacts in the midst of murder and the threat of chaos being released in modern-day England.

Many mystery authors who don’t necessary write paranormal books have an occasional Halloween themed novel and obviously a Halloween themed book is a natural for anyone writing a paranormal mystery series.

Emmeline Duncan’s new series started with “Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop” which is her first book in the Halloween Bookshop Mystery.

Alyssa Day’s Tiger’s Eye Mystery series started with “Private Eye” and her latest is the 14^th book in the series “A Dead End Halloween.” Private investigator Jack Shepherd and pawnshop owner Tess Callahan work their magic to solve the latest mystery to hit the town of Dead End, FL.

Addison Moore’s latest in her Brambleberry Bay Murder Club series is “Nightmare in Halloween Hollow.” Kathi Daley’s first book in her Zoe Donovan mystery series was “Halloween Hijinks” and the series has grown to include 36 books.

Leslie Meier’s Lucy Stone mystery series revolves around holidays and includes many Halloween themed books including “Trick or Treat Murder” and “Halloween Party Murder.” Isis Crawford also has many holiday themed books including “A Catered Halloween” in her Mystery with Recipes series.

Victoria Tait’s tenth book in her Dotty Sayers Antique Mystery series is “Halloween Parade Peril.”

I’ve read several of Tonya Kappes’s mysteries that I’ve enjoyed. She has a couple Halloween books and paranormal books. Her series Magical Cures Mystery started with “A Charming Crime.” Her Ghostly Southern Mystery series started with “A Ghostly Undertaking.” One of her books in the Camper and Criminals Cozy mystery series is “Jackets, Jack-o-lantern, and Justice” (she has other fall related books in that series). Her holiday cozy mystery series includes “A Halloween Homicide.”

Paula Darnell’s fifth book in the Fine Art mystery series is “Halloween Hue-Dunit.”

Morgana Best’s latest book is “The Halloween Mystery Spell” which is part of her Kitchen Witch series.

This list could go on forever! Most of the books I’ve included are cozies. Perhaps next year, I will step it up and include Horror.