Comments on: And then there were n+1 mysteries

Question: And then there were n+1 mysteries

elephantsvanish — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 08:11:17 -0800

Inspired by Sarah Pinsker's incredible "And Then There Were (N-one)", Knives Out, and the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney games, what are some mystery novels with a lovable, subversive spirit? Sci-fi/queer/radical themes to the front!

By: DingoMutt

DingoMutt — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 09:45:03 -0800

Have you read any of the Dr. Greta Helsing books? Dr. Helsing runs a clinic for undead clients, and the whole series is quite cozy and humane. I'm not usually a mystery fan, but I keep checking back to see if any new books have come out in this series.

By: wintersweet

wintersweet — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 10:23:06 -0800

The Greta Helsing books are seriously underrated and I strongly recommend them.

Mur Lafferty's Six Wakes is clever and gripping, though pretty dark and serious.

By: trig

trig — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 11:11:34 -0800

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but have you read Ellen Raskin's books?

The most mystery-centered ones are:

The Westing Game - A reclusive millionaire dies and names 16 strangers as his heirs, claiming that one of them killed him; whoever unmasks the murderer gets the bulk of the inheritance. The story is largely about the (mostly really sweet) relationships built and uncovered among the heirs, all of whom live or work in the same building.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) - From WP: "Mrs. Caroline Fish Carillon searches for her missing husband, Leon. They were married as children to solidify a business arrangement between their parents who had started a soup company." Lots of found family, some word puzzling.

They're both marketed as children's books and so are quick, easy reads, but they're clever, entertaining, and big-hearted. I saw some comparisons of Knives Out to The Westing Game when it came out (which might have been why I was a little underwhelmed by the movie when I finally saw it).

By: miles per flower

miles per flower — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 12:09:29 -0800

Some Aliette de Bodard books from her Xuya Universe might interest you. The Tea Master & the Detective is her "gender-swapped retelling of Sherlock Holmes in space, with Watson as a traumatised transport warship and Holmes as an eccentric scholar looking for a corpse to study." Seven of Infinities is more complex but also queer and great, with another unusual pair working to solve a mystery.

By: miles per flower

miles per flower — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 12:23:13 -0800

Also, Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth checks most or all of your boxes, and it's great fun.

By: matildaben

matildaben — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 12:45:15 -0800

The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas might fit the bill.

By: mbrubeck

mbrubeck — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 13:01:35 -0800

The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall

By: sukeban

sukeban — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 14:16:25 -0800

Another vote for the Greta Hellsing (superb comfort reading!) and the Locked Tomb series.

I'd add a mention to The Library of the Dead by T. L. Huchu, which is relatively recent and needs some love. The protagonist is a Zimbabwean-Scottish teen who talks to the dead and has to investigate the disappearances of children in a quasi-postapocalyptic Edimburgh where something bad happened many years back (a bit in the spirit of V for Vendetta). It's a lot of fun with interesting worldbuilding and if you don't mind that the tone is pretty much YA, give it a look.

By: j_curiouser

j_curiouser — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 15:08:25 -0800

the spellman files, which honestly should be an adapted hbo series.

By: elephantsvanish

elephantsvanish — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 20:24:50 -0800

Thanks all! Great leads, adding a ton to my Goodreads. Just to clarify, upon posting I think "cozy and humane" is a great target — Dr. Greta Helsing seems right on track. I'm good with tougher themes as long as it has a really kind of warm-hearted core - think diametrically opposed to typical true crime or psychological thriller themes.

By: praemunire

praemunire — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 21:44:50 -0800

Slightly askew suggestion, but if you liked Ace Attorney, you might like the Danganronpa series of "visual novel" games, which are puzzle-solvers with a similar gameplay style. Dark, but with a humane core. (But note that as a Japanese game that started ten+ years ago, the gender dynamics read somewhat dated to an American audience. Some amazing female characters, but some questionable stuff.)

By: Omnomnom

Omnomnom — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 05:48:55 -0800

In The Seven Lives of Evelyn Hardcastle, a man has to essentially solve an English country house murder by reliving the same day of the murder 7 times and he wakes up each day as a different one of the suspects and he has no effing clue why he is stuck in this particular hell.

It's pretty amazing plotting and very "need to know what's going on!"

By: mersen

mersen — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 06:55:17 -0800

I thought Ann Leckie's Provenance was going to be a heist novel. It starts with the narrator breaking the wrong person out of prison, quickly adds a stolen spaceship and a scheme to defraud someone who deserves it, and goes on from there. It's a coming-of-age story, with both SF and queer content, well-packaged in a mystery.

By: wintersonata9

wintersonata9 — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 19:08:31 -0800

PLEASE play Aviary Attorney. It's Ace Attorney, in 1840's France, with those old-timey drawings of animals in clothes from the Trader Joe's circulars. It's cheeky, unabashedly self-aware, and tons of fun.

By: invincible summer

invincible summer — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 10:15:28 -0800

One of my favorite sci-fi novels of all time is also a murder mystery, and definitely meets the lovable/subversive qualification. The characters exist in a kind of friendly multicultural galaxy, and one of the big themes is dealing in a positive way with people/creatures of many diverse (sometimes clashing) cultures working together toward a common goal. One of the things I love best about it is how interesting each culture is, and how goodhearted everyone is - they're all trying to find ways to work together between the sharp edges of their practices and beliefs.

And I'm super excited that it's finally in kindle format so I can easily rec it online! Hellspark, by Janet Kagan.

From the link: Murder, mystery, and interstellar intrigue! Lassti, a newly discovered planet, is the center of political intrigue. Recently the planet survey team's physicist was found dead. Was he killed? If so, by who? One of his fellow surveyors? Or by one of the birdlike natives of Lassti? This is, if they are intelligent at all, which is proving hard to tell...