#Contemporary Mystery

[bargainsleuthbooks]

#ARC #CharlotteIllesIsNotADetective by #KatieSiegel #NetGalley #CozyMystery #LGBT #Humor #Contemporary #BookReview #KensingtonBooks

Imagine being a teen sleuth like #NancyDrew but grow up and want to move past that? For #CharlotteIlles, it's not that easy. #KatieSiegel #NetGalley #BookReview #kensingtonbooks #cozymystery #teensleuth #teendetective #June2023Books #newbooks #ARCReview

As a kid, Charlotte Illes’ uncanny sleuthing abilities made her a minor celebrity. But in high school, she hung up her detective’s hat and stashed away the signature blue landline in her “office”—aka garage—convinced that finding her adult purpose would be as easy as tracking down missing pudding cups or locating stolen diamonds. Now twenty-five, Charlotte has a nagging fear that she hit her peak…

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#Book Tok #Charlotte Illes is not a Detective #Contemporary Fiction #Contemporary Mystery #Cozy Mystery #Encyclopedia Brown #Girl Detective #Girl Sleuth #Humor #Humorous Fiction #Katie Siegel #Kensington Books #LGBT #Nancy Drew #NetGalley #Teen Detective #Teen Sleuth #Tik Tok #Trixie Belden

[miamaimania]

Journey into the Surreal: Virgil Finlay's Illustration for 'Famous Fantastic Mysteries', 1943

#art #science fiction #contemporary #famous fantastic mysteries #surreal #virgil finlay #illustration

[bound4escape]

Book Review & Giveaway: How the Wicked Run by Annabelle Lewis

Book Review & Giveaway: How the Wicked Run by Annabelle Lewis

Book Title:  How the Wicked Run (A Boston Clairvoyants Novel) by Annabelle Lewis Category:  Adult Fiction 18+, 283 pages Genre: Contemporary Mystery, Thriller with Romance and HumorPublisher:  PePe PressRelease Date: Oct 2022Content Rating:  PG13 +M: Lots of cursing, kidnapping, all sex off page, no gore Destined for Love and DangerSidrah Keeling, well-intentioned Boston clairvoyant and…

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#Contemporary Mystery #humor #romance #thriller

[wallacepolsom]

Wallace Polsom, Dream House LXXIX (2023), paper collage, 18.4 x 24.6 cm.

#wallace polsom #dream house #paper collage #collage #collage art #art #artists on tumblr #analog collage #contemporary art #handmade collage #handcut collage #21st century #wallacepolsom2023 #surreal #surrealism #surreal art #mystery

[laundrybiscuits]

(soulmates AU: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4)

When Eddie Munson was almost fifteen, his soulmark showed up overnight.

Oh fuck oh god oh fuck oh god he’d thought in a loop, horrified eyes stuck on a wrist thrust as far away from himself as his gangly limbs could manage. 

All year, the hope had been growing and growing in him that he’d dodged a bullet. Turns out it was just a little slow.

Because, see, when Eddie Munson was almost eight, he asked his mom why can’t we just go away somewhere, like—like, just us, and Sarah Munson kissed his head and said your daddy’s my soulmate, baby. It’s gonna be okay.

And then because he was a little shit who routinely broke his mom’s heart, he tore himself out of her arms and yelled if you loved me he wouldn’t be your soulmate, which didn’t even make sense to himself at any point, he’d just been hopping mad with nowhere to put it except a woman who had only ever done her best to love him. 

He didn’t blame her at all when he got sent to live with Wayne, pretty soon after that. Not, like, the next morning or even the next month, but close enough that when he got told he was going, it all sort of made sense in his eight-year-old mind. It all connected.

When his fourteenth birthday came and went without the heavy hand of destiny landing on his wrist, he’d slowly started to relax. He’d gotten all wound up worrying about it, the whole year he was twelve, concocting increasingly elaborate scenarios in his mind: a popular girl who would sneer resentfully at him for the rest of their lives, or maybe some bizarro girl version of Eddie who would hate him even more.

Sometimes, guiltily, he’d wondered what would happen if it wasn’t a girl’s name at all. He’d never even heard of anything like that happening, but he’d been starting to get the feeling that if there was ever going to be a freak of nature like that, it just might be him. 

As much as the thought of getting chained to a girl for life was starting to make him feel like running and hiding and clawing off all his skin, the thought of getting a name that wasn’t a girl’s name—that would be so much worse. Sure, he couldn’t picture any girl who’d be pleased to have his name on her, but some guy who had to bear Eddie’s chicken-scratch scrawled across his wrist like the mark of Cain? He’s pretty sure people have gotten put in the ground for less. The week before he turned thirteen, he had three nightmares in a row about it. 

Maybe it should’ve been some kind of relief to see SANDY FOWLER, who could be a girl but honestly probably wasn’t, someone he hadn't even ever met and couldn’t guess anything about. A reprieve from having to know for sure either way: as close to a blank canvas as anyone like him could get. A million-to-one shot. Instead, he'd just felt the fear in his gut curdle and turn to a cold kind of fury.

Fuck this, he’d thought, and reached for the beat-up Bic on his bedside table.

———

People get real weird about it, especially once he gets it covered up all the way instead of just stabbing ink into his skin any which way, driven by nauseous determination to fuck it up any way he could. 

When Wayne had come home that day and seen Eddie on the bathroom floor, covered in blood and ink and the snotty tears he couldn’t hold back after a while, he'd yelled at Eddie for the first time in Eddie’s life. 

He hadn't kicked Eddie out afterwards, though Eddie’d still slept with his backpack tucked under his bed for weeks, just in case. Instead, Wayne had asked around awkwardly, and one of his old trucking buddies had known a guy called Frank out in Ohio who ran a side business for desperate folks. 

Frank had made some kind of face when he saw what Eddie had done; nodded at Wayne and said, "You did good bringing him here."

Wayne had just nodded back in that taciturn way he got around strangers sometimes, and helped Eddie up into the chair. 

He'd gone back one more time when he was eighteen, just to get it patched up and smoothed out again. Frank hadn't recognized him at first with his fresh new metalhead look and the way he'd been shooting up like a weed. They'd joked about covering his whole arm eventually, and Eddie thought maybe it wouldn't even be a joke in another few years. He's not in a rush. He feels a kind of vicious, candy-sweet relief when he looks at his arm now, so everything else is just a bonus. 

But yeah, people do get real weird about it. He’s pretty sure some of them think he never had any kind of name under there, that he’s just a poser who wants to act all badass like he’s rejecting something he never had, but the joke’s on them because Eddie really fucking wishes that were the case. The ones who do think he has a name probably think it’s covered in Sharpie or something, like Eddie gets up early every single morning to reapply the felt-tip for shock value. 

It’s not a huge shock when Steve Harrington gets a little squeamish about the whole thing. It’s maybe a little surprising that Steve hasn’t heard the rumors about it already, but he guesses they’ve moved in pretty different circles. 

Every time they’re in the same room now, Eddie’s got a mental timer ticking away until Steve’s eyes drop down to his wrist. He’s pretty sure Steve doesn’t even know it’s happening, most of the time. 

Of course he knows about the Nancy Wheeler thing. Everyone fucking knows about the Nancy Wheeler thing. Steve hadn’t been shy about it at any point; it’s not all that common to meet your soulmate real young, so it had been pretty big news in the halls of Hawkins High. It was bigger news when Wheeler dumped him very publicly and, it seemed, very permanently. 

Eddie hadn’t cared so much until that point. Sure, it was a little unusual, but who gave a rat’s ass? You could see that kind of thing in any insipidly brainless rom-com you liked. The break-up, though. He’d never have guessed that Wheeler had the big brass balls to pull that kind of thing. And shacking up with creepy weirdo Jonathan Byers like that—there had to be some real juicy story there. He’d even heard some of the adults around Hawkins talking about it, like it was actual news or something. 

The whole thing makes a lot more sense when Nancy finally gets around to telling him about it. He’s kind of a captive audience at first, just blearily nodding along as she perches on the chair by his hospital bed and nervously, haltingly fills the silence when he’s too hazy to contribute much to the conversation. 

She ends up telling him a lot of stuff that he’s not a hundred percent sure she meant to say, or at least he’s not a hundred percent sure she meant to say it to someone who’d actually hear her.

“I liked him,” she says. “I did. I’m positive. I wasn’t being forced into it, or anything like that. I liked him so much. I wasn’t…I wasn’t lying when I said I loved him.”

Eddie’s only mostly awake at that point, but he sees her press the heel of her palm into her eyes and take a deep breath. “I wasn’t lying. Not on purpose. God, I don’t know. Maybe I was lying. I didn’t think I was when I said it, anyway, and that’s—that must count for something, right?” 

She laughs a little. “You’re not even awake, and I’m having a complete breakdown at you.”

With a truly herculean effort, Eddie rouses himself to make some kind of acknowledging noise. 

She flinches a little in her chair, so she really must’ve thought he was out. “Oh! Eddie, um—are you okay? Do you need anything?” 

“S’okay,” he manages. “You can—keep talking. If you want.”

Nancy pauses and looks at him, pursing her mouth in that prissy, thoughtful way. “Okay,” she says at last. “I will.”

#not!soulmates au #hey it's been a while! turns out I'm making a transatlantic move so my life's been a little chaotic #and hey looks like I missed the anniversary of this blog. I've been here for a whole year that's wild. #but here's some more of whatever this is #I put SO much effort into finding a reasonably contemporary name that could semi-plausibly be unisex #I also wasn't quite sure I ever wanted to pick a name for Eddie's wrist bc the whole point is that it doesn't matter! #ultimately though it felt like it was building up an unnecessarily mysterious vibe. idk. #anyway my favourite writing game is 'show that the POV character is fucked up in ways they do not understand or acknowledge'

[ollegudbrand]

#art #artwork #painting #artists on tumblr #olle gudbrand #dreamy #mystery #dark #enigmatic #creativity #cell #brain_cell #olle_gudbrand #oilpainting #oil on canvas #contemporary art #indie art #contemporary painting

[ualthum]

"ZOL QOLTAS 6"

"The Journey 6"

Acrylics on Canvas. 8" x 11". 2023.

Cavernous depths lead to the mysterious glow deep below.

- Zol Daqum, The Herald, who carries the Staff of the Vothum forth, a light in the dark.

- Zol Thogda, The Scribe, who carries the book of Sul'voth, the message and empowerment.

- Zol Arkmunas, The Resolute, who's willpower stands amidst the chaos and decay.

#occult #art #magick #magic #sorcery #witchcraft #spirituality #runes #artists on tumblr #occultism #dark #dark art #fine art #contemporary art #void #meditation #painting #acrylic #mysterious #mysticism #fantasy #environmentalism

[haveyoureadthispoll]

Addy Hanlon has always been Beth Cassidy's best friend and trusted lieutenant. Beth calls the shots and Addy carries them out, a long-established order of things that has brought them to the pinnacle of their high-school careers. Now they're seniors who rule the intensely competitive cheer squad, feared and followed by the other girls—until the young new coach arrives. Cool and commanding, an emissary from the adult world just beyond their reach, Coach Colette French draws Addy and the other cheerleaders into her life. Only Beth, unsettled by the new regime, remains outside Coach's golden circle, waging a subtle but vicious campaign to regain her position as "top girl"—both with the team and with Addy herself. Then a suicide focuses a police investigation on Coach and her squad. After the first wave of shock and grief, Addy tries to uncover the truth behind the death—and learns that the boundary between loyalty and love can be dangerous terrain. The raw passions of girlhood are brought to life in this taut, unflinching exploration of friendship, ambition, and power. Writing with "total authority and an almost desperate intensity" (Tom Perrotta), award-winning novelist Megan Abbott delivers a story as unnerving and thrilling as adolescence itself.

#book: dare me #author: megan abbott #genre: mystery #genre: contemporary #year: 2010s

[the-andromeda-effect]

15

While Caliban is up with Adira, the men are down at the Gatehouse talking.

“Wait, so she really IS Riona Kalavati?” Marcin shook his head slightly, trying to get it to sink in. Lars had brought he and Pietre into the gatehouse to talk privately, after Caliban headed back to the mansion after the status update. That one piece of information was giving Marcin the most problems digesting. No matter who she was, if Caliban wanted her protected, he’d do so, but how Mircea Kalavati’s wife could ever become Caliban’s wife confounded him.

“No, Riona Kalavati died in that house we raided where the Marabioli’s were holding hostages. Remember, we had a hit job there because someone was trying to start a war between the families? That was Riona that wanted to start the war to get out of her marriage, according to Mircea. Adira is the woman you saw who came out with the boss, the one that he was protecting, and put in the line of fire to keep her safe. Didn’t you hear, Lars, they’ve been married since before Riona disappeared? Theron can show you the paperwork and the marriage certificate is framed in the boss’s office. You need to keep up, Marc, or you’re going to get replaced on the security detail.” Pietre elbowed him with a slight smirk, having understood very well what Lars was telling them, and what it meant. “So, Svarog and I are going to stay here, and help Theron figure out who helped that bastard hurt the boss’s wife? Sounds like we’ll also be working out if there is anyone else working against him?”

“That’s the plan. You can understand how in just over twenty-four hours after being freed from the Marabioli house where she was held prisoner, to be drug across the lawn of her own home with a gun to her head might be a bit…stressful.” Lars inclined his head to add emphasis. “Marcin, you’ll be coming with us to Caliban's cabin in the mountains. Caliban wants to take her up there for seclusion and to recover from the trauma. The newly married couple would also like some time alone together, since that has been in short supply lately. You and I will take shifts. Since it’s just going to be the four of us, we are getting the luxury of not having to share a room and getting to stay in the guest rooms that he usually reserves for his friends.” He rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "I can tell you that Mrs. Andros is terrified of thunder, but she will do fine as long as the boss is with her if we have a bad storm. Otherwise some hand holding might be in order. That storm we had last night was not a fun experience for her.”

Marcin nodded. He was now understanding what was going on, if still a little confused why Caliban was somehow married to Mircea Kalavati’s wife. That seemed like a good way to start a war with the Kalavati family to him, but he was not going to challenge the boss. “Hand holding I can do. She seems like a very sweet woman.”

“She is. Don't ask me how this all got started, I don’t know. Given Caliban’s temperament at the moment, I wouldn’t go asking him either. It is clear that he cares for her, and I would venture deeply. Theron seems to have affection as well. So our two bosses want this woman looked after.” His lips thinned as Lars smiled. “During the storm Caliban didn’t release her even after she’d fallen asleep. Whoever she started life out as, she is Adira ANDROS now.” His brows rose to add emphasis.

“Is she okay?” Pietre asked. He’d been wondering. Lars hadn’t really said and they knew that she’d been taken out of the gatehouse by Caliban and Theron caging her so that she didn’t have to see the blood and body from the earlier violence.

“As best a woman that lived under routine beatings from Mircea Kalavati, then a kidnapping by the Marabioli clan, and now almost getting shot in the head by her new husband’s guard could be doing. That is to say, physically she is fine, but emotionally I won’t venture a guess. Neither Theron nor Caliban are letting anyone near her. I guess we will know when we leave tonight.” Lars sighed.

“You two take care of her up there with Caliban. We’ll ferret out the traitor or traitors to the boss, so it’s all safe when you get back. There is just something wrong with this whole situation.” Pietre looked between the other two men.

“I don’t disagree. Kondrat was way too confident for him to be acting on his own. He was having help from somewhere and thought that whoever it was, they were going to cover his ass. For him to have pulled her right from behind you, that means he knew he was going against the boss.” Marcin shook his head slightly. "So that means we have at least one other person.”

"Which is why the five of us will be Caliban’s eyes and ears for a while. He needs to focus on Adira. Right now she's clinging to him but she could just as easily get spooked and then we'd have to hunt her down and hope Mircea didn't find her first." Theron joined the other three men. With Adira resting and Caliban packing, he'd decided to see how everyone else was doing.

"Ther, so you think that Cal is in danger too? Do we need to step up security in general when they come back?" Pietre asked, the question having been growing in his mind.

"I don't think there's a threat to Cal, yet. That yet may change. Any leak or someone working for another family is bad news though. It weakens us," was Theron's answer.

"I'm going to address the elephant in the room, so don't shoot me. How did Cal go from entering that house to kill Riona Kalavati to exiting with his new wife?" Marcin knew that he was in dangerous territory but if he was going to unequivocally have Caliban’s back, he wanted to understand. Theron had the answer, he was sure. He only hoped that he didn’t die for his curiosity

Theron chuckled before explaining how absolutely everything the previous day had happened. When Caliban had started feeling attraction to the beautiful brunette, he couldn't say, but the chemistry had been obvious even to him from early on in their meeting. He had no reservations about the arrangement or relationship. If he had, he would have voiced them to Caliban personally..

"I believe she is going to do Cal and the organization a world of good. She seems honest and trustworthy. As you can see, he's a little protective. Truthfully, we both are." Theron chuckled.

#my ocs #my writing #writeblr #fiction #crime fiction #mob fiction #original fiction #action #drama #thriller #mystery #intrigue #found family #strangers to friends #strangers to lovers #modern fiction #contemporary fiction #my fic #original writing #original story #original character #novel #new writing #new chapter #writing #creative writing #writer on tumblr #writers on tumblr #female writers #women writers

[bargainsleuthbooks]

#TheMaidANovel #NitaProse $2.99 on #Kindle + #BookReview #GoodreadsChoiceWinner #lockedroommystery #Autism #KindleDeals

t was named as one of #Goodreads best mysteries of 2022, so of course, I had to check #TheMaidANovel by #NitaProse out. Right now it's only $2.99 on #Kindledeal . That's #BargainSleuth approved! #lockedroommystery #Autism #mystery #bookreview

Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by. Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel…

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#Agatha Christie #Ballantine Books #Book Review #Contemporary Mystery #Goodreads #Goodreads 2022 Winner #Goodreads Choice Awards #Kindle Deal #Locked Room Mystery #Mystery #Nita Prose #The Maid: A Novel

[lihaliraart]

vulnerable / liliya haralampieva © / instagram / ♬

#illustration #painting #drawing #contemporary art #art #artists on tumblr #expression #visual diary #visual poetry #melancholy #darkness #mystery #portrait #eyes #moody #gloomy #symbolism #minimalism #abstract art #liliya haralampieva

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves

goodreads

Mark Vogel is like the older brother Stefan Riley never had, until one day he disappears, and Stefan has to adapt to life without him. But, one year later, when he runs into a girl who looks near-identical to Mark, Stefan becomes obsessed. He discovers that other boys have disappeared, too, dozens over the years, most of them students of the Royal College of Saint Almsworth, many of them troubled or unruly before their disappearance.

What is happening to these boys? Who are the handful of women on campus who bear a striking resemblance to some of those who went missing? And what is the connection to the mysterious Dorley Hall?

Stefan works hard to get into the Royal College for one reason and one reason only: to find out exactly what happened to the women who live at Dorley Hall, and to get it to happen to him, too.

A closeted trans girl attempts to infiltrate a secret underground forced feminisation programme.

Mod opinion: I haven't read this book yet, but I got it in a trans book sale a year ago and I'm excited to check it out.

#welcome to dorley hall #alyson greaves #trans books #trans lit #trans literature #lgbt books #lgbt lit #lgbt literature #trans woman #own voices #mystery #contemporary fiction #to read

[wallacepolsom]

Wallace Polsom, A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery inside an Enigma or Something (2023), paper collage, 21.3 x 29.5 cm.

#wallace polsom #a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma or something #paper collage #collage #collage art #art #artists on tumblr #analog collage #contemporary art #handmade collage #handcut collage #21st century #wallacepolsom2023 #surreal #surrealism #satire

[birdietrait]

i’m having so much fun just making random tables/generators for this game…i could do this for hours upon hours actually

#birdie rambles #the vibe is small town mystery….contemporary fantasy…..strange creatures in the forest #also i’m mixing the mechanics of two different games which is kinda cool #i’m so excited to start making the map and some npcs #ttrpgs my beloved <3

[authorambience]

[anachronism]

anachronism : a person or a thing that is chronologically out of place

aesthetic prompts tag | aesthetic masterlist

A moodboard for writing or art inspiration. All images are sourced from Unsplash and are free to use under their license. If you use this moodboard, feel free to repost it with your finished creation. Credit is appreciated but not required.

#aesthetic prompt #writing prompt #creative prompts #writing prompts #prompts #story prompt #writing aesthetic #writeblr #genre: mystery #genre: contemporary #genre: modern fantasy #genre: paranormal #setting: small town #setting: country #setting: Appalachia #aesthetic prompts #setting: forest #genre: historical 20th century

[fiercerthanyou]

Anders Krisár, 'Untitled No. 3', 2003-2004,

Signed Krisár and numbered 1/3 verso.

C-print mounted on acrylic glass,

40 x 50 cm.

Courtesy: Bukoskis

#art #photography #surreal #red #landscape #anders krisar #uncanny art #mystery #visual art #contemporary art #visual