Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend books from this year's Edgar Awards finalists!

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Books Discussed

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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!

1849 titles

835 unique authors

1147 unique titles

40.1% authors of color

TOP Author mentions:

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Top Title Mentions:

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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!

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

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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 [email protected].

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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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Robert de Niro is starring in the adaptation of Alex North’s thriller, The Whisper Man

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Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend mysteries and thrillers for book clubs!

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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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Louise Penny announces that she will not have any book tour dates in the US

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 [email protected].

Otherwise you can:

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Katie McLain Horner and honorary reading assassin Liberty Hardy talk about mysteries with feminist themes for Women's History Month.

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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!

Bram Stoker Award finalists

Janelle Monáe to Play Tanya Smith, Con Artist Behind $40 Million Heist, in ‘Never Saw Me Coming’ Movie Adaptation

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Katabasis - R.F. Kuang

Notes on an Execution - Danya Kukafka

Bright Young Women - Jessica Knoll

Never Saw Me Coming - Vera Kurian

My Sister, the Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite

Broken Fields - Marcie R. Rendon

Black Tunnel White Magic: A Murder, a Detective’s Obsession, and ’90s Los Angeles at the Brink - Matthew McGough, Rick Jackson

Kills Well With Others - Deanna Raybourne

Accidents Happen - F.H. Batacan

The Man Nobody Killed: Life, Death, and Art in Michael Stewart's New York - Elon Green

Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady

Find Liberty on Instagram @franzencomesalive / Bluesky @LibertyHardy

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Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend books set in the locations of their 2025 vacations!

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A new year means a new Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons. To get recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. All Access subscribers get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. You can become an All Access member starting at $6 per month or $60 per year to get unlimited access to all members-only content in 20+ newsletters, community features, and the warm fuzzies of knowing you are supporting independent media. To join, visit bookriot.com/readharder.

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Everywhere That Mary Went - Lisa Scottoline

Murder by Degrees - Ritu Mukerji

Penitence - Kristin Koval

The Jigsaw Man - Nadine Matheson

Notes on Surviving the Fire - Christine Murphy

The Dream Hotel - Laila Lalami

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!

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Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend mysteries and thrillers for Black History Month!

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!

A new year means a new Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons. To get recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. All Access subscribers get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. You can become an All Access member starting at $6 per month or $60 per year to get unlimited access to all members-only content in 20+ newsletters, community features, and the warm fuzzies of knowing you are supporting independent media. To join, visit bookriot.com/readharder.

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• Edgar Award Nominees

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

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Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend mystery and thriller books to fulfill prompts for the 2025 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!

A new year means a new Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons. To get recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. All Access subscribers get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. You can become an All Access member starting at $6 per month or $60 per year to get unlimited access to all members-only content in 20+ newsletters, community features, and the warm fuzzies of knowing you are supporting independent media. To join, visit bookriot.com/readharder.

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Tom Holland is producing and starring in an adaptation of The Partner by John Grisham.

Everything you need to know about Osgood Perkins’ adaptation of The Monkey, based on the short story by Stephen King.

Read Harder 2025

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Otherwise you can:

Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady

Find Kendra on Instagram and BlueSky @kdwinchester and on TikTok @kendrawinchester

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Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their most anticipated thriller and mystery books of 2025.

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!

A new year means a new Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons. To get recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. All Access subscribers get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. You can become an All Access member starting at $6 per month or $60 per year to get unlimited access to all members-only content in 20+ newsletters, community features, and the warm fuzzies of knowing you are supporting independent media. To join, visit bookriot.com/readharder.

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The Mother Next Door: Medicine, Deception, and Munchausen by Proxy - Andrea Dunlop & Mike Weber

The Dream Hotel - Laila Lalami

King of Ashes - SA Cosby

They All Fall the Same - Wes Browne

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter - Stephen Graham Jones

Immaculate Conception - Ling Ling Huang

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

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