Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend books from this year's Edgar Awards finalists!
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News
A master class in writing taught by an AI version of Agatha Christie?
An Unsettling AI Agatha Christie Is Here to Teach You How to Write
2025 Edgar Awards
Books Discussed
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They All Fall the Same - Wes Browne
Cold to the Touch - Kerri Hakoda
The Amish Wife: Unraveling the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy that Let a Killer Go Free - Gregg Olsen
Find Her - Ginger Reno
God of the Woods - Liz Moore
The Man Made of Smoke - Alex North
The Dark Maestro - Brendan Slocumb
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!
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49:09
Our 200th Episode!
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester celebrate 200 hundred episodes of Read or Dead!
Trust your reading list to the experts at Tailored Book Recommendations! The professional book nerds (aka bibliologists) at TBR have recommended over 160,000 books to readers of all kinds. Let TBR match you with your next favorite read! Simply fill out a quick survey about what you want more of in your reading life, and your bibliologist will scour their bookish knowledge to find three reads they think you’ll love. Choose from receiving just the recommendations via email, or opt to have paperbacks or hardcovers delivered right to your door. Get started for only $18!
Mystery author Peter Lovesey has died at 88.
Kerry Greenwood, author of the Phryne [FRY-nee] Fisher mystery series, has died at 70.
1849 titles
835 unique authors
1147 unique titles
40.1% authors of color
TOP Author mentions:
Sujata Massey - 28
Tana French - 26
Riley Sager - 24
Alma Katsu - 20
Attica Locke, Jane Harper, SA Cosby - 17
Stephen King - 16
Angie Kim - 14
Stephen Graham Jones - 12
Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Jesse Q. Sutanto - 11
Oyinkan Braithwaite, Alyssa Cole, Ausma Zehanat Khan, Wanda M. Morris, Ovidia Yu - 10
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Top Title Mentions:
The Widows of Malabar Hill - Sujata Massey - 13
My Sister the Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite - 10
Miracle Creek - Angie Kim - 9
When No One is Watching - Alyssa Cole - 8
Beneath the Mountain - Luca D’Andrea - 8
American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land - Monica Hesse - 7
Final Girls - Riley Sager - 7
The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century - Kirk Wallace Johnson - 7
The Frangipani Tree Mystery - Ovidia Yu - 7
The Jigsaw Man - Nadine Matheson - 7
The Satapur Moonstone - Sujata Massey 7
The Witch Elm - Tana French - 7
Theme Music - T. Marie Vandelly - 7
Winter Counts - David Heska Wanbli Weiden - 7
If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at readordead@bookriot.com.
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
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54:21
Genre-Bending Mysteries, Thrillers, and Horror Novels
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend genre-defying mysteries, thrillers, and horror novels!
Trust your reading list to the experts at Tailored Book Recommendations! The professional book nerds (aka bibliologists) at TBR have recommended over 160,000 books to readers of all kinds. Let TBR match you with your next favorite read! Simply fill out a quick survey about what you want more of in your reading life, and your bibliologist will scour their bookish knowledge to find three reads they think you’ll love. Choose from receiving just the recommendations via email, or opt to have paperbacks or hardcovers delivered right to your door. Get started for only $18!
News
The American Library Association has sued the Trump administration for the gutting of IMLS. Attorneys general from 21 states have also filed a lawsuit
EveryLibrary condemns the Trump administration’s termination of IMLS grants as an attack on libraries, museums, and archives everywhere
Tracking the Trump Administration’s attacks on libraries
Books Discussed
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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
When No One is Looking by Alyssa Cole
Himself by Jess Kidd
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
Opal Watson: Private Eye by Brittany J. Thurman
Coram House by Bailey Seybolt
If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at readordead@bookriot.com.
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
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47:23
Tackling Our Backlist TBRs
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss books from their never-ending backlist TBRs.
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!
Trust your reading list to the experts at Tailored Book Recommendations! The professional book nerds (aka bibliologists) at TBR have recommended over 160,000 books to readers of all kinds. Let TBR match you with your next favorite read! Simply fill out a quick survey about what you want more of in your reading life, and your bibliologist will scour their bookish knowledge to find three reads they think you’ll love. Choose from receiving just the recommendations via email, or opt to have paperbacks or hardcovers delivered right to your door. Get started for only $18 at mytbr.co!
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News
Robert de Niro is starring in the adaptation of Alex North’s thriller, The Whisper Man
Books Discussed
Chasing the Boogeyman - Richard Chizmar
Bunny - Mona Awad
Night of the Mannequins - Stephen Graham Jones
Haunt Sweet Home - Sarah Pinsker
Murder at Gulls Nest - Jess Kid (April 8)
The Museum Detective - Maha Khan Phillips
If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at readordead@bookriot.com.
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 tim
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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45:24
Mysteries and Thrillers for Your Next Book Club
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend mysteries and thrillers for book clubs!
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!
Trust your reading list to the experts at Tailored Book Recommendations! The professional book nerds (aka bibliologists) at TBR have recommended over 160,000 books to readers of all kinds. Let TBR match you with your next favorite read! Simply fill out a quick survey about what you want more of in your reading life, and your bibliologist will scour their bookish knowledge to find three reads they think you’ll love. Choose from receiving just the recommendations via email, or opt to have paperbacks or hardcovers delivered right to your door. Get started for only $18 at mytbr.co!
This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
News
Louise Penny announces that she will not have any book tour dates in the US
Books Discussed
Happiness Falls - Angie Kim
The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century - Kirk Wallace Johnson
Those We Thought We Knew - David Joy
My Sister, the Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite
Serial Killer Support Group - Saratoga Schaefer
Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man): A Vera Wong Novel - Jesse Q. Sutanto
If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at readordead@bookriot.com.
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
Ireland