Historical Mysteries

To our Read or Dead listeners: After 9 years of bringing mysteries and thrillers to your ears, we are sorry to say that this will be our last episode. We want to thank you all for making this show so excellent, and we hope you’ll stick around as we celebrate our favorite Read or Dead memories in today’s episode. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed The Widows of Malabar Hill - Sujata Massey The Hunger - Alma Katsu Miracle Creek - Angie Kim Our Share of Night - Mariana Enriquez, Translated by Megan McDowell The Reformatory - Tananarive Due Seven Fallen Feathers - Tanya Talaga If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Otherwise you can: Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady Find Kendra on Instagram and BlueSky @kdwinchester Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their most anticipated new book releases for the second half of 2026. News Edgar Awards Winners 2026 This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed Wisdom Corner - David Heska Wanbli Weiden (July 7th) Helpless - Jessica Knoll (July 7th) The Secret Dinner - Raphael Montes, transl. Zoe Perry (Aug 18th) Back for Blood: Never Whistle at Night Part II b Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.(August 18th) Mazywood - Tananarive Due (September 22nd) The House of Gardenias - Isabel Cañas (September 29th) If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Otherwise you can: Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady Find Kendra on Instagram and BlueSky @kdwinchester And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss retellings. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed Wild Dark Shore - Charlotte McConaghy Beth Is Dead - Katie Bernet In the Hall With the Knife - Diana Peterfreund The Weight of Blood - Tiffany D. Jackson Jane Steele - Lyndsay Faye And Then She Fell - Alicia Elliot Boring Asian Female - Canwen Xu Molka - Monika Kim If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Otherwise you can: Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady Find Kendra on Instagram and BlueSky @kdwinchester And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss some of the books nominated for the Edgar Awards! News Freida McFadden’s true identity revealed! Things Mentioned Book Club Pick: Butter - Asako Yuzuki, Translated by Polly Barton The Edgar Awards This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers - Caroline Fraser The Dream Hotel - Laila Lalami Blood in the Water - Tiffany D. Jackson Wild Dark Shore - Charlotte McConaghy Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping on a Dead Man - Jessie Q. Sutanto Japanese Gothic - Kylie Lee Baker A Violent Masterpiece - Jordan Harper If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Otherwise you can find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylad and find Kendra on Instagram and BlueSky @kdwinchester. We will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss missing person mysteries and thrillers. News Liane Moriarty is writing a sequel to Big Little Lies, called Big Little Truths, and yes, it’s being adapted as Season 3 of Big Little Lies on HBO. Tina Fey is adapting Elle Cosimano’s Finlay Donovan is Killing It for Peacock. Maya Hawke has been cast in God of the Woods! This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed In the Woods: A Novel (Dublin Murder Squad)In the Woods - Tana French Monday’s Not Coming - Tiffany D. Jackson Murder at Gull’s Nest - Jess Kidd Find Her - Ginger Reno Olive Oakes and the Haunted Carousel - Kalynn Bayron Nothing Tastes As Good - Luke Dumas The Keeper - Tana French If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Otherwise, you can: Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady Find Kendra on Instagram and BlueSky @kdwinchester And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss the genre of true crime, the ethics behind it, and what writers are tackling questions around the genre today. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed “On True Crime” - Myriam Gurba Beth Is Dead - Katie Burnet Whidbey - T Kira Madden Unspeakable Acts: True Tales of Crime, Murder, Deceit, and Obsession - Sarah Weinman Creep - Myriam Gurba Everyone In This Bank Is a Thief - Benjamin Stevenson The Curse of Hester Gardens - Tamika Thompson If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Otherwise you can: Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady Find Kendra on Instagram and BlueSky @kdwinchester And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their second book club pick, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. Things Mentioned Discussion Guide This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed The God of the Woods by Liz Moore If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Otherwise you can: Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady Find Kendra on Instagram and BlueSky @kdwinchester And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend books for Black History Month. News God of the Woods - Liz Moore - next book club read! - March 6th E. Lockhart and Sarah Mlynowski are cowriting a new series featuring Nancy Drew as a divorced 40-year old Brooklyn mom who finds herself back in the sleuthing saddle. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed A Hymn to Life - Gisele Pilicot, Translated by Natasha Lehrer and Ruth Diver Performed by Emma Thompson The Body - Bethany C. Morrow One of Us Knows -  Alyssa Cole Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America’s Most Powerful Mobster - Stephen Carter The Star from Calcutta (A Perveen Mistry Novel) - Sujata Massey Hooked: A Novel of Obsession - Asako Yuzuki, Translated by Polly Barton Goodbye Earl - Leesa Cross-Smith Dollface - Lindy Ryan If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Otherwise you can: Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady Find Kendra on Instagram and BlueSky @kdwinchester And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend some of their favorite historical mysteries! News God of the Woods by Liz Moore - our next book club read! - March 6th Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series is being adapted for TV. Adrian McKinty’s The Chain is getting a series adaptation at HBO. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed Island Witch - Amanda Jayatissa At the Water’s Edge - Sara Gruen Murder at Gulls Nest - Jess Kidd Murder at the Spirit Lounge - Jess Kidd Even As We Breathe - Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle Such a Perfect Family - Nalini Singh Trad Wife - Saratoga Schaefer If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Otherwise you can: Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady Find Kendra on Instagram and BlueSky @kdwinchester and on TikTok @kendrawinchester And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss some mystery and thriller recommendations for the 2026 Read Harder Challenge! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Things Discussed God of the Woods - Liz Moore - next book club read! - March 6th Read Harder Challenge 2026 This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed 22) Nonviolent True Crime: The Dinosaur Artist: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Quest for Earth's Ultimate Trophy - Paige Williams 17) Cults: Kismet - Amina Akhtar 6) Read a gothic novel published in the last ten years - The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story - Olga Tokarczuk, Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones 21) Read a genre (SFF, horror, mystery, romance) book in translation - Death Takes Me - Cristina Rivera Garza, Translated by Robin Myers and Sarah Booker My Husband’s Wife - Alice Feeney (January 20th) On Sundays She Picked Flowers - Yah-Yah Scholfield (Jan 27th) If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Otherwise you can: Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices