The Curator: The greatest mystery & thriller books of all time

reading through grief (and joy) by leaning into my favorite genre.

We lost our cat Peanut last weekend and I’m devastated.

She was only seven. She was my first baby. The first thing I ever had to care about besides myself. She got me through breakups. New jobs. Graduate school. A pandemic.

I’ve been trying to write through the grief. This small psychotic voice rattles around my head and tells me to turn my loss productive. Write something profound about loss or find some clever books about loss or loss or loss or loss

But I can’t. Maybe later, this new perspective. But not now. The experience is too all-consuming. Everyone I meet, I want to tell them of my loss and pain, to let it stream out of me in sadness ribbons, leaving them wrapped in it as I pass. Not because I want attention or sympathy but because it’s too much to hold inside.

[On Saturday, we watch her stop breathing. We turn and walk away from her little body, left all alone on the table. It’s almost unbearable. After we leave the vet, Mark and I force ourselves to eat lunch. We walk into a Jersey Mike’s, and the kid at the counter asks what he can get us. Mark looks at him blankly and says, “ We just put our cat down.”

All. Consuming.]

Of course, my hurt is not unique - anyone who has loved a pet knows the excruciating pain of losing one. I know it will pass. She was very sick. She was “just” a cat, after all. The current worldwide human devastation visible on demand brings things into perspective. And someday, we will have the privilege of another cat to love. I have faith in the cat distribution system - hell, it worked the first time around! A house is not a home for us without one.

One of the only things to break through the haze this week was strangely the Time’s “100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time”. Visiting a list of well-loved novels immortalized in time is comforting. These are stories read then and now and long after we are ashes (if civilization doesn’t self-incinerate, which feels likely some days). They say something unique about humanness within the safety of a steady, well-loved genre. Everything is resolved. Everything has meaning. Cats don’t die just because.

The joy part of this newsletter’s title is my impending nuptials this Saturday. CAN YOU SAY EMOTIONAL WRECK. I also find mysteries and thrillers to be excellent traveling companions (the kinds that are the least murdery, perhaps), and so some of the authors listed below will be coming with me on vacation - luckyyyyy! So there is joy in that too - just letting yourself read whatever you fancy for an entire week of minimal responsibilities.

The lesson is: hold your pets (and your loved ones) tight for me today. And find something to look forward to, no matter how big or small.

Programming note - since I am getting married this Saturday & honeymooning straight after, I will be enjoying the delights of the resort pool and my new husband rather than being anywhere near a computer. But I plan on reading a shit ton and coming back with a (well-rested) newsletter in November. Cheers, and Happy Halloween!!

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FURTHER READING →

• Although I am unsure of the authority of Self Magazine, they have 19 book suggestions for when things get tough.

• One of the best sad book lists of all time.

• And a non-Substack blog I love shares the 67 best feel-good books for when you can’t be sad for one more minute.

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Time’s 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time

Let’s dissect.

First, things that close the credibility gap on this list:

• A wide array of authors represented (books get noticeably more diverse later in the timeline).

• The panel: Megan Abbott, Harlan Coben, S.A. Cosby, Gillian Flynn, Tana French, Rachel Howzell Hall, and Sujata Massey (!)

• Transparency & method: “TIME editors created a ranking, then evaluated each finalist, as well as additional titles, based on key factors including plot payoff, suspense, ambition, originality, critical and popular reception, and influence on the mystery and thriller genre and literature more broadly”.

• No rankings, just a straight chronological list. Everybody wins.

• The cover selection. Perfectly aesthetically vintage where possible.

Time’s Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time

Ok, now any list instantly becomes a competition to see how many I’ve read - you too right? Like how could you not. My stats:

• Read: 19

• DNF: 3

• In Progress: 1

This seems pathetically low for someone who once said their favorite genre was detective fiction. However, if you count authors I’ve read but not the specific title, add in ten more.

• Final Score: 33

33% OK now I feel better…

My Tip Top Favorites

For anyone who’s been here a minute, I have already discussed a handful of these on the list: The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Mystic River by Dennis Lehane, and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler shall get their own week someday as well. They write the most hardboiled, sprawling early LA novels that make you want to grab a spicy cigarette, high heels that could spear a squirrel, and walk right into the arms of a brooding private eye. Both The Maltese Falcon and The Long Goodbye are lifelong treasures of mine.

Other fantabulous horror-lite books that really need no introduction, but I will anyway: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (the best gothic mystery of all time), The Shining by Stephen King (if you only read one King in your lifetime I would say this one), The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (the greatest serial killer ever created), and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (ass kicking smart tech chick with punk rock style? say no more!).

A few more I can personally recommend - The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón is a gorgeous mystery for all book lovers; I could NOT put down Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty - I audibly gasped at the big reveal (the show also deserves accolades); Faithful Place by Tana French - while not my absolute favorite of hers (that award goes to The Likeness), anything she writes would deserve a place on this list.

Of course, expected and revered genre authors are on the list too - Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, John le Carré, Wilkie Collins, Henry James, Lee Child, Tom Clancy, Louise Penny, Mary Higgins Clark, James M. Cain, Walter Mosley, Laura Lippman, Megan Abbott, Kate Atkinson. You can’t go wrong here.

I note that my familiarity list sadly lacks many of the Asian authors included, which I plan to remedy ASAP. Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama sounds like a great place to start.

Explain Things to Me

However. Books that need explaining to me - The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. I tried to read this book and found it so dull I couldn't stay awake. I would love for someone who did love this to explain it to me - sometimes, all it takes is a little discussion for a book to make sense.

Also - Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This one surprised me. I found it to be anachronistic and inconsistent. But I do appreciate the themes of colonialism and imperialism through the Mexican-English dynamics at play, so maybe I just need to let it go.

Top of the TBR

I would hasten to say that if this list was remade again in ten years, some of the more recent titles may change with some historical perspective, but for now, I will add a few to the TBR.

• Killing Floor by Lee Child - the quintessential Child I am embarrassed not to have read.

• The Turn of the Screw by Henry James paired with The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware - a little twofer compare and contrast experience, maybe?

• Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers - Princess Sayers, I apologize for overlooking your work for so long. A novel set at a college - done.

• The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carré - I imagine this is like a 007 movie in book form, and I can’t wait.

• Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk - this sounds like an M. Night Shyamalan movie in book form so once again, I can’t wait.

• Miracle Creek by Angie Kim - I’ve heard exclusively rave reviews for this one.

• The Need by Helen Phillips - a National Book Award longlist about home invasions and motherhood. I’ve got anxiety already!

• When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole - a mystery about home, race, and gentrification - sounds like the perfect blend of smart and sexy entertaining.

Noticeably Absent

No Slaughter (!) Patterson, Grisham, Rendell, Capote, Grafton, Horowitz, Winslow or Poe. Why? The world may never know.

I could talk about this list for hours, so I will stop here unless you force me to keep going in the comments. Let me know what you think about this list - loves, hates, tragically not represented, etc.…

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READING →

Reading has been low on my priority list this week with all of the above happenstancing. I am still making my way through Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories from the best mysteries list and I think I need some solid time to get into it before making any judgments.

LISTENING →

I was one of 17,000 lucky millennials who witnessed Ben Gibbard relive my youth at the Hollywood Bowl last weekend with Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service. Add in Jenny Lewis, lots of plaid, and existential tears, and it was the calmest, most well-behaved show I have ever attended.

WATCHING →

FINALLY The Fall of the House of Usher series on Netflix. Only one episode in and it’s the perfect combination of old and new. Serious Haunting of Hill House vibes. It's the kind of thing you could binge, but also make it last as long as possible.

BUYING →

This Halloween t-shirt. I loved it so much that I went back and bought a second one in case anything ever happened to the first. I’m also considering going back for this one.

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NEW BOOKS →

• Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji - TBH it’s the old-timey cover for me. Spooky mist, a mysterious woman in English petticoat armor, a title with MURDER and scrolly art... It could go either way (Goodreads comments mention a lot of medical devices?) but I could see this being a fabulous Kindle unlimited read.

• The Exchange: After The Firm by John Grisham - it’s only fitting to include a new Grisham novel in a newsletter dedicated to excluding his work. Do we like Grisham? Do we read Grisham still? The ratings on this one are mixed, but genre writers often get the short end of the stick. I’d be interested to see what this guy (or his ghostwriter) is up to.

• Tremor by Teju Cole - Katie Kitamura calls this book “A remarkable performance from one of the most brilliant and singular minds at work today” and that’s good enough for me. Cole’s debut novel Open City won lots of awards so the pressure is on to repeat that success.

LINKS →

I’m not a Swiftie, but I appreciate anything or body that dominates a culture so effortlessly. This article draws an analogy between T Swift and genre fiction that (somehow) works.

I still have not read Dracula, but this article has finally convinced me it’s worth the time.

RESTACK OF THE WEEK →

Other book stacks are my jam and Kirby is the butter on my bread! She’s got the same eclectic unrestrained book taste that I like to think I have. Book Girlies unite!

What I'm reading this fall

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LET’S CHAT →

• This week, let me know about your pets. Or your favorite mystery or thriller read. Or all of it together.

• Or per ush, let me know what you’ve been reading in the comments. I’m always game for a good rec (or warning, grievances, etc. ). If you tell me your favorite TV show or movie lately, I’ll give you a book recommendation.

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT 🖤

• Ann Patchett is the Nancy Meyers of Books

• Demon Copperhead Meets the Opioid Crisis Shitpile

• Thanks, I’ll Get to Your Rec in 5-7 Business Years

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See you around the bookshelf!

Natalie