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Welcome Readers

This is our new Reader's Page. Please explore, enjoy, and suggest new features! This page is intended to serve the Sisters in Crime reader in all of us. After all, without you, the writers have no audience for their work! Check back for regular updates and book discussions and events for both local and global reading fans.

Mystery Subgenres

Mysteries come in many varieties. Most of us have already seen it just browsing the local bookstore or library. That broad category, “Mystery,” can be divided into subgenres based on the type of crime and how it is solved. Here are some of the main subgenres waiting for you to discover.

Top 100 Mysteries and Thrillers

TIME Magazine recently put together a panel of celebrated authors—Megan Abbott, Harlan Coben, S.A. Cosby, Gillian Flynn, Tana French, Rachel Howzell Hall, and Sujata Massey—to present “the most gripping, twist-filled, satisfying, and influential mystery and thriller books.” We'll feature a few of these every month for you.

A Reader's Links

Here are some useful local links for readers: the library system and nearby bookstores. Check them out!

Book of the Month

Check out this page once a month to see which novel we've chosen to be our Book of the Month!

Top 100 Mysteries and Thrillers

TIME Magazine recently put together a panel of celebrated authors—Megan Abbott, Harlan Coben, S.A. Cosby, Gillian Flynn, Tana French, Rachel Howzell Hall, and Sujata Massey—to present “the most gripping, twist-filled, satisfying, and influential mystery and thriller books.” We’ll feature a few of these every month for you.

“With a propulsive plot, spiky characters, crisp writing, and a stunning twist, Gone Girl was a defining thriller for the post-recession era, launching a renewed obsession with mysteries about complicated women and marital deceptions.” 

Kim Un-su’s 2010 thriller The Plotters, which was translated into English by Sora Kim-Russell in 2018, has garnered numerous accolades—including a nomination for the 2016 Grand Prix de Literature Policière.

A master of Latin American noir, Colombian author Juan Gabriel Vásquez is fearless in his portrayal of the indelible effects the drug cartels have had on the lives of everyday citizens in his native country.

Most of Tana French’s hard-boiled novels are about detectives in the fictional Dublin Murder Squad. Her work “shines most when she centers the detectives obsessing over a case, drinking bitter coffee in their unglamorous stakeout cars.”

Mystery Subgenres

A typewriter typing the word "murder."

There are roughly 15 basic subgenres in the Mystery category of fiction. Are you familiar with all of them? Do you have a favorite?
Click the button to explore more mystery subgenres.

Book of the Month

The Book of the Month for February is:

The Water Lies

by Amy Meyerson

Internationally bestselling author Amy Meyerson takes readers on a harrowing journey where two mothers—one of a woman who drowned and the other of a toddler who might know what happened to her—are the only ones searching for the truth.

Heavily pregnant with her second child, Tessa Irons has enough on her mind without her toddler throwing tantrums at the local coffee shop. The boy is inconsolable, shouting “Gigi!” to a woman Tessa’s never seen before—and never will again. The next morning, the woman’s body is dredged up from the canal outside the Ironses’ posh Venice Beach home, and Tessa’s gut tells her it’s no coincidence.

Barb Geller refuses to believe that her daughter’s death was just some drunken accident. She heads to California for answers, where she crosses paths with Tessa. Together they hunt for the truth, certain they’ll find a connection between their children.

But the police don’t believe them. Tessa’s husband dismisses her worries as pregnancy jitters, and even though people are always watching along the Canals, no one saw a thing. Tessa and Barb only have each other, their intuition, and the creeping sense of danger that grows with every shocking revelation.

Amy Meyerson is the acclaimed author of the internationally bestselling The Bookshop of Yesterdays, The Imperfects, and The Love Scribe. Her books have been translated into eleven languages and are frequently chosen for best-of lists, including lists from Good Morning America, People Magazine, Publishers Weekly, The Christian Science Monitor, Library Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Texas Library Association’s Lariat List, among others. Meyerson completed her graduate work in creative writing at the University of Southern California, where she now teaches in the writing department.

cover of The Water Lies by Amy Meyerson

Would you like to join us?

We would love to have you as a member of Sisters in Crime of Upstate SC.  If you’d like to join a fun-loving, adventuresome chapter, contact Treasurer Adrienne Mathues at sisters@sistersincrimeupstatesc.com!

A brown paper wrapper torn to reveal the word mystery

Five Editing Tips

The thing to keep in mind about writing and editing is to keep them separated in your mind. When you’re writing, just write. When you’re editing, just edit. In this way, you’ll develop two different types of skills.

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