In this contemporary horror classic, Peter Straub weaves an elegant web of terror surrounding the sleepy town of Milburn, New York. When a close group of four old friends gathers to trade ghost stories following the death of one in their inner circle, they dredge up a past filled with regrets, mysteries, and lingering evil. Straub's slow-burn tale draws the reader into a setting that's well-realized and tangibly real--then he pulls out the rug beneath you with terrifying escalation. Ghost Story begins as an enveloping mystery and transforms into a riveting exploration of pure malevolence, and it remains a unique gem of the genre.
A deftly conceived and executed novel, The Devotion of Suspect X is a puzzling treat for any mystery fan. Higashino cleverly inverts the classic whodunit structure by revealing the "who" at the book's beginning, allowing the reader to focus on the complexities of how and why. He grounds the story in the perspectives of both the perpetrators and investigators, playing any possible sympathies against each other. On its face this is a straightforward procedural, but Higashino's methodical style and sleight of hand make it truly engrossing. And his moral and intellectual probing, while subtle, reaches a feverish high by the novel's conclusion.
The newest novel from Ottessa Moshfegh is a change of pace from her usual style of immediate, biting provocation. With Death in Her Hands, she crafts an unnerving murder mystery that unfolds solely within the mind of her narrator...or does it? This is a heavily internalized work of psychological suspense in the vein of another great New England writer, Shirley Jackson. Moshfegh has a delicate handle on the perspective of her prickly narrator, and slowly envelops the reader in an interior world of delusions both grand and small. This is by no means a traditional mystery, but a suspenseful and genuinely chilling character study.
