Hello friends how are we doing if you've
been watching a lot of my videos that
you'll be like mean how are you home I'm
not home yet but I'm pre-filming this
cuz I knew I wanted to get this video up
this month so I'm pre-filming it for you
and it is a little murder and mystery
recommendation video so a couple years
ago I did my favorite murder mystery
books all time right I did I did that
video and a lot of you ask me to do it
again they're like oh please tell us
your favorite R Mysteries I don't
actually think that list has changed
that much I probably won't do it again
for like another 2 years or so but what
I do now is every year I tell you the 10
best murder mysteries I have read in
like the past year basically and that's
what we're doing today it's been a year
since I last did this video for the
first time and we're doing it again so
these are the 10 best murder mysteries
I've read in the past year I got to be
honest with you out of this 10 there's
only two five
stars so do you think I deserve better
than that yes the rest of like four
stars maybe there's one 3.5 in here but
they're all books I would recommend and
I think you guys will really enjoy but I
have become too picky it's gotten out of
hand I have become too picky with mad
Mysteries I just I expect so much so not
only have I only read in the past year
10 m Mysteries I would really recommend
like only two of them are five stars
that's kind of sad right
guys where are the I just need M
Mysteries I just need more please give
me more metam mystery recks I need them
I need like 20 met mystery recks I need
them I need them oh also I should say
the first seven are absolutely murder
mysteries they are murder mysteries
murder mysteries absolutely then we've
got three at the bottom that are like
pushing it a bit that maybe Blends some
genres that may be a reference murder
mysteries but aren't quite one you'll
see you'll see but the first seven
absolute Murder Mysteries and the last
three are like you know skirting the
lines of it the first two ones I read
when I read the top 10 nominees for the
Goodreads mystery thrill the category
there were other Mysteries I would
recommend from that video for example
all the siners bleed by sa a Cosby but
it's not a murder mystery it's not a Mur
of mystery so it's not making the list
you're not making the list if you're a
missing person mystery you're not making
the list unless you're a murder mystery
so the first one is ver Wong's unsensed
advice for murderers by Jesse satono
this one is really fun I really did
enjoy this it's a very lovely little mad
mystery that I think pretty much you'd
be hardpressed to not enjoy so we're
following ver Wong who is the
self-proclaimed te expert she runs a
little tea shop and she goes downstairs
in morning and finds a dead body on the
floor of her tea shop it maybe the dead
body has like a key piece of evidence in
its hand and she's
like thank
you thank thank you she's like I'm going
to do a better job of solving this on
the police the police suck ass so I'm
going to investigate this myself and
it's a story of her investigating this
murder and meeting people who are
related to this guy people from his life
but then she becomes kind of like a
found family with them and I really
enjoyed this this is definitely verging
more on like the Cozy mystery side I
would say and you know since the
Thursday met club which maybe we'll be
getting into in a second there has been
this massive trend of other mud
Mysteries following elderly characters
invest instigating Mysteries there's
another one of these on this list as
well there's they're everywhere it just
annoys me that it's only murder
mysteries I'd love older characters in
fantasy or whatever but it just hasn't
bled outside it's just like they
apparently they just think oh they only
love old people when they're solving M
Mysteries that's not the case anyways
but I thought the writing this was
lovely it felt very comforting it felt
very cozy I really did enjoy it and this
was my first time with this author I
know this is the author of like d a for
aunties or I can never get the titles
right Four Weddings something to do with
four weddings for aunties on a wedding
there we go I got I always get it wrong
but yeah I would really really recommend
this I think the found family in it was
done really well there was some really
beautiful moments between some of the
characters um this is a four star for me
but I would really recommend it then we
have got one of the five stars it is the
last devil to die by Richard Osman it
was my favorite book of last year not
surprised to see it here this is the
fourth book in the Thursday mother Club
series AKA one of my favorite series
ever to exist I love you Richard Osman
the man that you are I think he's a
genius I would love you know the you
know the question where it's like would
you have a million dollars or dinner
with Jay-Z for me it's dinner with Rich
dosman and I think I'd pick dinner with
Rich dosman I'm joking but like
not I'm sure you all know what this
series is about but if you don't we're
following an elderly class of characters
at their Retirement Village as they
solve murder mysteries they previously
had been trying to solve cold cases
hence the Thursday met Club they'd meet
up every Thursday and try to solve cold
cases together was like a bit of fun but
then murders can't stop coming at them I
don't want to spoil anything for the
previous books for you but basically the
group an old friend in the Antiques
business has been killed and they kind
of go on this path to find out why he
was killed what happened this one
definitely gets into like drug smuggling
as like a subplot maybe a bit more
espion ay than some of the other books
so I thought the murder mystery in
itself was really strong in this book
but a lot of the time in this book is
also taken up with a very emotional
subplot and it makes everyone cry and it
makes us all emotional wrecks and Rich
dosman oh I can't believe he did this to
us I haven't qued like this a book in a
long time I'm so excited to reread this
series at some point but the thing that
Richman does is like he'll have you
crying and then the next thing you'll be
funny these books are so funny they have
such humor and they have such an acute
observation of human life right of what
makes us tick of what makes us happy of
the little things we talk about with our
family I feel like a lot of books don't
do this they don't highlight the small
stuff right the small Beauty that's in
life and I really think that these books
do I I I cannot for me it's the most
accurate and some of it is because it's
British references and I very much
relate to them but it's the most
accurate representation of like just
Humanity I feel like I don't know it
really oh I just think they're
absolutely wonderful absolutely
wonderful and something also that I
think is structurally great about these
books is you have like three often like
three scenes happening simultaneously
that you there very short chapters and
you skip back and forth between them so
like you'll go between the three scenes
and then a new scene will begin and then
that one will end and then a new scene
will begin and you're always swapping
between scenes and I think that keeps
the pacing absolutely wonderfully he
I've been speaking a lot about his
podcast lately I listening to the
podcast that he does and he occasionally
talks about the books often he's talking
more about like his opinions on
different pop culture events but um he
spoke about how when he watches TV or
movies he doesn't like when there's like
an
overhanging tense stressful issue like a
I don't know how to explain it he
explained it much better than me but
like this really tense situation he
doesn't like when it lasts for too long
like in TV in movies you can't watch it
if it's like we are stressed and worried
about something for too long so he says
that's why in his books everything is
resolved fairly quickly there's lots of
little issues that all kind of like
we're worried and then it's resolved
we're worried and it's resolved and I
just think it's a wonderful reading
experience I know I I've spoken about
this book for quite a long time we this
video doesn't need to be 10 hours long
but I love I love this book I love it
lit literally I am obsessed and I long
to be in this show please make my dreams
come true someone that's watching this
and then we've got another old people
murder mystery book I think this is the
last one on the list they just happened
to be the first three um and that is the
Marlo Murder Club by Robert Thug good
this one we're following Judith Parts
who's a little bit of an oddball she a
little bit cray cray not cray cray but
she's just like she lives life her own
way she moves to the beat of Her Own
Drum you know she Witnesses a brutal
murder of her neighbor one evening and
at first the police are like you weren't
murdered babes he was not murdered and
she's like okay I've got to figure this
out and then there's like two unlikely
friends that she meets over the course
of this who they kind of team up
together to try and solve this murder
and I really did enjoy this this is like
a fun variation of all people serving M
Mysteries basically I've read a lot of
these they're everywhere I've tried out
a lot of them a lot of them don't work
for me but I really did enjoy the
writing in this one I thought it was
really well paced again I thought you
know some met Mysteries I read nowadays
there's like four scenes and it's really
pissing me off like I read the antique
hunters guide to murder which is coming
out this year one of my most anticipated
releases I got an arc of it there was
three scenes there was three scenes in
that entire book there was a lot of
issues with that book but I think what
this does well is it constantly was
moving us and propelling us and going to
different places I feel like that's what
you need in a meta mystery you need like
Pace to it right and I think this did it
really well all of these books where
it's old characters of meta Mysteries I
do immediately compare it to the
Thursday meta club and ultimately
nothing will compare but I did really
enjoy this and I am going to continue on
the series cuz I think it's a fun
version of what it is then we have the
first of two books in a series some
sequels that I've read that are on this
list this is a very Lively Murder By
ktie Watson this is the sequel to the
three daras and basically the premise of
these books is that there's this famous
fictional detective called Daria Lively
and we're following three women who have
played her in TV movies throughout the
years basically and the first book is
set at this fan convention which is
really really fun and they solve a
murder there and on this one the
youngest is filming her first Dalia
Lively movie in the first book she' just
been announced but this one she's
filming her first movie one of the older
Dar lives in the movie is like a cameo
so she's there and then people start
dying I no I think actually at first it
seems that someone's trying to kill
Rosalind who's the older darly Lively
who's in as a cameo so they call up the
third darly Lively to be like come see
us we need your help but then murders
start happening and I really enjoy these
These are definitely like a love letter
to the genre I think they can Ain a lot
of fun tropes I'm really enjoying seeing
the relationships grow now that we're
getting deeper into the series between
these women I think this is criminally
underrated not a lot of people have read
these books and I picked the three daras
up in a book shop in London completely
by chance I think it was in Goldsboro
where they do a lot of like first
editions of books and a lot of the more
famous books were like way too expensive
I'm like I can't buy that like there was
a um illumin by Jay Kristoff and Amy
Kaufman first edition like signed
special edition or whatever it was like
£200 I was
like I don't have that kind of money the
is broke it's not even going to
affect nobody she ain't got no
money I got the $3 cuz it was like
priced like a normal book it was like 12
14 or something it wasn't expensive and
I just picked it up and I was like wow
this is so much fun no one is reading
these and I really think you guys should
cuz this one was so fun look at the
cover doesn't that just make you excited
I really love the cover for this one it
is a celebration of golden age crime and
I thought again the mystery in this one
worked really well I really really
enjoyed it so this is I just think a
really fun m series and I quite a few of
my patrons have started this series and
they've all really enjoyed it and I just
think it's fun you're going to have a
fun time again it's a little bit cozy a
little bit comforting I really enjoyed
it so I'm excited for the series to
continue then we have got murder in the
family by Cara Hunter where I did an
entire video trying to solve this book
as I read it basically there's a murder
that happened in 2003 and now there is a
documentary being made and we read the
book basically entirely through this the
the script of the the TV documentary is
being made they've brought together like
six experts from different areas of like
criminology to talk through the case and
try to solve it as well as having
interviews with the family members of
this guy that was murdered it's just I
love a mixed media I love a mixed media
I will say my reading of this one I gave
it four stars my reading of whenever I
try to solve a book whenever I do those
videos it's a very different reading
experience to how I read normally and so
I I kind of view them as like a separate
thing like I almost can't even rate them
like when I'm reading a murder mystery
normally I let myself be taken along for
the ride I kind of don't really try to
theorize whereas when I'm doing this I'm
not reading a book I'm doing an
investigation it's completely different
so yeah I almost can't compare it to
anything else but I think this is pretty
successful in what it's trying to do
it's been super popular this year and I
think for good reason I think the um
resolution of it was really really good
and I just love mixed media I love mixed
media it's a very different reading
experience you know obviously it's
there's no description it's all just a
script format but I think that it was
always such a fun reading experience
especially if you haven't read a lot of
them you know I I think I mentioned True
Crime Story in the video last year of
this version and I just think they're
always a fun time I just love mixed
media I'm a little bit of a sucker okay
but you know I'm a simple girl then
we've got another seil that I absolutely
love this is death beside the seaside by
TI Kinsey this is I think is the seventh
in the lady hard cast mystery Series
this is not the most recent one I've
read but it was the last one I gave five
stars and this one just really fun they
go to obviously this is very deep in the
series so like you don't need me
recommending it to you but I'm just
going to tell you read lady Hard Castle
read the lady Hard Castle mystery series
listen list to the audio books it's the
best way to enjoy them lady hard made
flow solving murders it's funny it's
light-hearted favorite cozy mystery ever
to exist I love it listen to what I have
to say
because I'm right they basically go to
this um Seaside go to Seaside break but
then it ends up like raining the entire
time of there and then when they're
there they're staying in this like
little hotel by the seaside and people
start going missing slash maybe being
murdered and it's just a very fun book
because you're in this hotel tell for
the most part of it and you've got these
very interesting little characters and
they're all going down to dinner and
like gossiping and like going what do
you think's happening I just really like
the setting of this of them in this
hotel I thought it was a very fun
setting and I love it and also I read
this on the beach I read this when me
and Tom went to Portugal on holiday just
like for a Beachside holiday and um I
read this laying on the beach and it was
such a fun even though in the book
they're like they keep trying to go see
the sea and whenever they go the tide is
out it was just fun reading a book about
the seaside on the seaside do you know
what I mean that just is such a fun
experience so yeah I will recommend the
lady Hard Castle mystery series till the
day I die go pick up the audio books cuz
it's absolutely the best way to read it
then we have got the woman in the
library by Solari gtil I think this
might be the only one on the list I
think I might have given this a 3.5 but
I rounded it up to a foure on good reads
and I did enjoy this and I think this is
one that I would really recommend to a
lot of other people and I'd be really
interested to see what other people
think of it so this one is always such a
to explain so we've got a writer
writing a murder mystery and she's
writing letters to a P pal and they're
like talking about how good her murder
mystery is and then we read the murder
mystery that she's writing and in it
we've got four people around a table who
they're in Boston Public Library yeah
and they hear a blood curdling scream
from outside in the library and a woman
is found dead but then we find out that
one of the people around that table is
the murderer so it's like how could they
possibly have done it if they're sitting
at the table yada y y it's a bit of a
mystery I think my expectations of this
set me up to fail a little bit so I
thought they were going to be stuck in
the library then like it was going to be
lock down no one's allowed to leave and
we solved the murder mystery while
they're there it's not the case like
this book spans weeks right and they're
all moving around the city whatever and
I think this is very imaginative in what
it does this is definitely if you're
looking for a different kind of murder
mystery this would be my recommendation
because I think it's very creative but I
think sometimes when you do something
this creative it can be a little bit
difficult to stick the landing but I
think it's something that I would
recommend to a lot of you because I
think it would be a fun reading
experience does that make sense it was
just a little bit disappointing for me
but I'm going to keep trying out so lar
gen a because I love the UK covers of
her books it's not very often especially
for like mystery thrillers that I prefer
the UK covers to books often where
they're so ugly but our slap the pink
one for the um the mystery writer have
released this year I love as well I love
the style of these covers like they're
kind of retro like screaming woman I
love them so this is one that's very
unique and I think it was a fun premise
it didn't quite sck Landing for me but I
think it could for a lot of you okay and
then we get into the three that are
pushing it a little bit in terms of
being classes M history but I think they
technically are so we've got the only
one left by R Sager a lot of people call
this a thriller but it technically is a
m mystery we've got Lenora hope who
everyone thinks as a mass murderer her
entire family was killed however many
years ago like 40 years ago 50 years ago
60 years ago I don't know they were
murdered and everyone thinks Laura hope
did it but there was never enough
evidence to prosecute her and our main
character is a living n and she gets
assigned Lenora and she is trying to
figure out what the truth is of what
happened in the past so she is she is
like the the definition of a murder
mystery is there's been a murder and you
got someone trying to solve it that's
what this is right but it also kind of
isn't so I understand when someone be
like this is not murder mystery but I
think if you're looking for like a
thriller murder mystery this would be my
recommendation I really enjoyed this I
think this I've read everybody s a book
right some are more successful than
others
this is not my favorite but I think this
is his best in terms of a lot of people
are likely to enjoy it I think I think I
think this is like his most widely
recommendable book I think it's a lot of
fun I think it's paced really well I
don't think it's necessarily breaking
the mold in terms of anything but I
think everyone could read this and
pretty much enjoy it I think it's been a
really successful release for him his
past couple ones like I preferred the
house across the lake to this but I can
see why people don't like the house
across the lake everyone doesn't like
survive the night rightly so but um I
can see why people have issues with
house across the lake I think it was
better than this I gave this four cells
I really did enjoy it I think this is
like sometimes as an author you got a
publish a thriller that just like is
going to appeal to the masses and I
think that's what this is I really
enjoyed the pacing of it I enjoyed
there's like um the nurse helps Lenora
type out on a typewriter the story of
what happened and I enjoyed the twists
and turns that happened with that I
think it's a really strong book from him
and I like his recent since surviv the
night onwards I would say there's been
like well maybe no home before dark that
yeah home before dark was before that
since home before dark there's been a
strong all of his books have like an
element of like is it Supernatural is
there a supernatural twist to this or
isn't there and sometimes he does do it
and sometimes he doesn't right and so I
think that's always a fun element now
with his books where like he's playing
with you he's playing in a traditional
murder mystery right there should never
be Supernatural elements or you would
know from the beginning if there was
right because it doesn't make it fair
play if like at the end you're like oh
it's a ghost you know I mean but I think
the way he's doing it is very successful
for me so I really enjoyed this one then
we have got the Chateau by jacyn Goldis
a lot of people would probably refer to
this as a thriller but it's basically a
murder mystery it's basically a h done
it so these women are all invited by one
of the women's is it her grandmother yes
to their grandmother's like Chateau in
France this Rich chatau which they used
to go on holiday too they go there the
grandmother's acting a little bit
suspicious and then um she's murdered
grandmother murdered and it's maybe one
of them this one I can understand why
not everyone loves it it was a little
bit of a a a controver not controversial
just like not wildly loved book this
year but I really did enjoy this I
thought the French setting definitely
had a bit of ooaa about
it I liked the drama there was a lot of
twists throughout it that really I
didn't catch who the murderer was but
there's I think with the twist you could
I think it is fair play I think it has a
level of sophistication I like I like I
like a good murder mystery in like a
sophisticated setting I'm not going to
lie like that's why I love Mur on the or
Express like the idea of like being on
the Orin Express like it's it's an it's
an evocation of a of a of a feeling of a
moment of an experience right I feel
like murder mysteries are so Camp right
that's why I love them they're so you
can really play it up right and I love a
setting that really brings the drama
that brings it sets the stage right the
end of the day M Mysteries are like
plays you know I don't know if I'm
making sense but that's what I love
about them and I think this book did
that well so I'm going to keep trying
out Jaclyn Goldis I can understand I
think this is is this her debut I feel
like this was her debut and I can
understand there were a few debuty
issues with it but I'm excited to see it
grow and the author grow and then the
final one is really cheating cuz it's
not a murder mystery but it is you know
paying homage to the genre and it is
your guide to not getting murdered in a
qu English Village by Morin Johnson and
Jay Cooper I love this actually this was
a five star as well we had three five
stars out of 10 apologies apologies
apologies so obviously this isn't a
murder mystery it's like a little almost
I class this as a graphic novel and it's
taking the mick out of the genre right
because traditionally a lot of M
Mysteries happen in a qu English Village
you know AG Christie is very well known
for that so it's got like the village
and it's got the settings and it's got
ways to die and it's got the characters
and it's so much fun I love it as
someone who loves M Mysteries this is
like the perfect book if you love M
Mysteries you need to get this book and
read it it's so much fun it will take
you like 20 minutes to read it and I
just love it it just brings me joy
I don't know I love anything that like
looks at a genre and takes the piss out
of it especially M mystery because it's
my favorite and I just think this is so
fun and I think like I said murder
mysteries are ridiculous at the end of
the day like they camp they're they're
ridiculous they're over the top and so
it's just RI for stuff to take the make
out so I loved this I cannot recommend
it enough you guys if you love M
Mysteries you need to go pick this
little little book up there we have it
that is 10 m mystery books that I think
you need to read let me know if you've
read any of these and please like I
always say please give me m mystery
recommendation your girl needs them I'm
struggling out here I need more festar M
Mysteries it's not fair why can't I have
more festar M Mysteries and also I feel
like my TBR is not Mur and mystery heavy
at the moment I just need more if I was
to buy anything maybe I need to put
myself in a book buying band for
everything apart from Mur and Mysteries
anyways I hope you enjoyed this video if
you got to the end of the video comment
the drop of blood emoji and I'll see you
very soon in another video
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bye
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