Read or Dead

Read or Dead

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Read or Dead episodes

  • 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!


    This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.


    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 [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 tim

      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

      44 min
    • 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 [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

      49 min
    • Feminist Mysteries

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

      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!

      News

      Bram Stoker Award finalists

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


      This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

      Books Discussed

      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

      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

      49 min
    • Destination Book Recommendations

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

      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.

      This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.


      Books Discussed

      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!

      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

      42 min
    • Mysteries and Thrillers for Black History Month

      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.

      This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

      News
      • Edgar Award Nominees
      Books Discussed
      • Our Winter Monster - Dennis Mahoney
      • All Her Little Secrets - Wanda M. Morris
      • Anywhere You Run - Wanda M. Morris
      • What You Leave Behind - Wanda M. Morris
      • Jackal - Erin E. Adams
      • From the Desk of Zoe Washington - Janae Marks
      • My Darkest Prayer - S.A. Cosby

        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

        44 min
      • Our Book Recommendations for the 2025 Read Harder Challenge

        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.

        This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.


        News

        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.

        Books Discussed

        Read Harder 2025

        • Theme Music - T. Marie Vandelly
        • The Dark Maestro - Brendan Slocumb
        • Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers - Jessie Q. Sutanto
        • A Sea of Unspoken Things - Adrienne Young
        • Our Winter Monster - Dennis Mahoney
        • Tell Me What You Did - Carter Wilson

          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 tim

          Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

          43 min
        • Our Most Anticipated Books of 2025

          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.

          This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.


          Books Discussed:

          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

          And we will talk to you all next time!

          Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

          35 min
        • [Rerun] Our Most Anticipated Books of the First Half of 2024

          We are off this holiday week, so we're sharing this rerun from the top of the year to reflect back on the titles we were most looking forward to in the first half of 2024!

          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!

          This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

          NEWS

          “Our Most Anticipated Crime Fiction Novels of 2024” (Novel Suspects)

          BOOKS DISCUSSED

          One of the Good Guys - Araminta Hall (January 9) 

          The Night of the Storm - Nishita Parekh (Jan. 16th)

          The Hunter - Tana French (March 5)

          Blessed Water - Margot Douaihy (March 12th)

          The Woods All Black - Lee Mandelo (March 19th)

          The Angel of Indian Lake - Stephen Graham Jones (March 26th)

          Butter: A Novel of Food & Murder - Asako Yuzuki, transl. Polly Barton (April 16)

          One of Us Knows - Alyssa Cole (April 16)

          Supplication - Nour Abi-Nakhoul (May 24th)

          Middle of the Night - Riley Sager (June 18)

          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

          48 min
        • Our Favorite Books of 2024

          Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their favorite books from 2024!

          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!

          At Tailored Book Recommendations, we’ve recommended over 150,000 books to readers of every type. And we’ve got good news— TBR makes a novel gift for the book lover on your list! All your gift recipient has to do is fill out a survey about their reading likes and dislikes, and our expert bibliologists will use their bookish knowledge to round up three personalized recommendations for reads we think they’ll love. Whether they’re a mystery maven, a historical fiction fanatic, or a contemporary connoisseur, we’ve got the chops to match the book lover in your life with their next favorite read. And it only takes a few clicks to gift TBR! Simply head to mytbr.co/gift to get started. You can even schedule the delivery of the welcome email, which means no more waiting on gifts to arrive last minute.

          This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

          Things Mentioned
          • Goodreads Choice Awards: Mystery / Thriller 
          • Crime Reads Best Books
          • Washington Post’s Best Mystery Novels
          • Washington Post’s Best Thrillers 
          • The Guardian’s Best Mystery and Thrillers
          • Kirkus’s Best Mystery and Thrillers
          • NYTs Best Crime Novels
          • Books Discussed
            • The Hunter - Tana French
            • The Woods All Black - Lee Mandelo
            • Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
            • Guide Me Home - Attica Locke
            • Model Home - Rivers Solomon
            • Butter - Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton

              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

              48 min
            • Mysteries and Thrillers for Indigenous Peoples' Month

              Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss books for Indigenous Peoples' 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!

              Keep up to date with the world of books and reading with Today in Books, Book Riot's daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. Our editors offer commentary, context, and the occasional clap-back to keep you informed and entertained. Visit bookriot.com/todayinbooks to subscribe for free, or become an All Access member starting at $6 per month or $60 per year and get unlimited access to members-only content in 20+ newsletters, community features, and the warm fuzzies knowing you are supporting independent media.

              This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

              Books Discussed 
              • Exposure - Ramona Emerson
              • Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference, and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls - Jessica McDiarmid
              • Bad Cree - Jessica Johns
              • Mongrels - Stephen Graham Jones
              • Darkly - Marisha Pessl
              • The Rival - Jane Pek

                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

                41 min

              About Read or Dead

              From the publisher's feed

              Read or Dead is a bi-weekly show dedicated to the worlds of mystery and thriller literature.

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