Books
Are you looking for something new to read, an unusual book that is different from what you typically find in your TBR pile? Then may I suggest you try supernatural mystery, thriller, and crime novels. They are fun and exciting books that combine some of the best elements of genre fiction to create one wholly new, wholly unique reading experience with something to offer readers of all kinds.
As the name would suggest, supernatural mysteries and thrillers mix the tropes of crime fiction with fantasy and paranormal horror to make an entirely different kind of book. That can mean a story about a detective with magical abilities, a book about a murderer with paranormal powers, or an entire series set in an alternate reality where all things mystical thrive. While they all rely on the same elements, themes, and plot devices, each book within this blended genre offers a distinctly original narrative, one bursting with mystery, suspense, magic, and a touch of the otherworldly.
Whether you're looking to try a new genre or want to explore more of the one you already know and love, check out these 10 supernatural mystery, thriller, and crime novels. From detective stories about vampire hunters to murder-mysteries about ghosts, these mind-bending books offer the best of both worlds.
'Providence' by Caroline Kepnes
In this genre-bending novel, two childhood best friends and soulmates are ripped apart by a mysterious disappearance. When they are reunited four years later, a dangerous power forces them to look for answers down two different paths, one of which intertwines with that of a serial killer in Providence, Rhode Island.
'Aunt Dimity & the King's Ransom' by Nancy Atherton
Whoever thinks cozy mysteries and supernatural suspense don't go together has never read Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity series. In the latest installment, the supernatural sleuth offers counsel to her niece Lori when the young woman finds herself trapped at a potentially haunted inn. Is it a ghost going bump in the night, or are the guests in a graver danger because of the living?
'Alice Isn't Dead' by Joseph Fink
If you've ever heard the Alice Isn't Dead podcast, then you already know that the story combines the very best of mystery and the supernatural. Now, this gripping narrative about a young trucker searching for her missing wife and all of the other-wordly conflict she finds along the way is available in novel form for the first time.
'Broken Monsters' by Lauren Beukes
When strange and disturbing bodies that appear to be part human, part animal are discovered all over the city, Detective Gabriella Versado is tasked with unmasking who or what is responsible. While is busy searching for answers, her daughter engages in a dangerous flirtation with a potential online predator, a local journalist does whatever necessary to get the story, and a homeless man learns what he is willing to do in order to keep his family safe.
'An Easy Death' by Charlaine Harris
From the author of the Sookie Stackhouse books and the Midnight Crossroad trilogy comes a brand new series about the young gunslinging mercenary, Lizbeth Rose. Set in an alternate reality where the country is fractured and magic is acknowledged but disliked by most, An Easy Death follows Lizbeth as she escorts a pair of Russian wizards to a small border town near Mexico in search of the direct descendant of Grigori Rasputin. Mystery, magic, and action ensue.
'The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle' by Stuart Turton
Murder mystery and time travel meet in this mind-bending book about a man who is trapped repeating the same day again and again, each time in a different body. The only way to break the cycle and leave Blackheath? Discovering who killed Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house.
'Serpentine' by Laurell K. Hamilton
In the latest Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novel, the famous U.S. Marshal heads to a remote Florida island for a fun weekend wedding, but in her parallel world where the supernatural exists, nothing is ever that simple. First, major drama erupts within the wedding party, and later, when women start disappearing from the hotel, Anita's own friends are considered suspects. There is a strange power afoot, and if Anita has any hopes of stopping it, she's going to need to get help from the most dangerous of places.
'The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker' by Kerry Wilkinson
Seventeen-year-old Eleanor Parker will never forget the night she drowned in the same river her brother's girlfriend was killed in summer before. She is connected to the previous murder somehow, and will stop at nothing to uncover the truth about what really happened to her, and to the girl before.
'The Trouble with Twelfth Grave' by Darynda Jones
In The Trouble with Twelfth Grade, the latest in Darynda Jones's series about a part-time investigator, full-time Grim Reaper, Charley Davidson struggles with the consequences of accidentally trapping the son of Satan in a hell dimension. She's still trying to tame the beast that used to be her husband, and too make matters worse, she's forced to cover up a murder. There is also the PI venture she is tasked with keeping out of trouble, and the Vatican's inquiries into her daughter. Needless to say, Charley's life is complicated, and things only get worse when someone starts attacking humans with supernatural sensibilities and she is forced to bear her claws.
'Lies Sleeping' by Ben Aaronvitch (Nov. 20)
In the seventh installment of the Rivers of London series, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard Peter Grant searches the magical streets of London for the Faceless Man, a criminal wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud, and much, much worse. When he uncovers a treacherous plan that will mean the end of the city as he knows it, Peter will do whatever it takes to stop it, even if that means partnering up with the former friend and colleague who betrayed him.
