Recommendations based on The Nature of the Beastby Louise Penny

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. A Great Reckoning

    by Louise Penny
    A murder mystery set in a sleepy Quebec village, uncovering dark secrets and hidden dangers.

    Instant, New York Times, bestseller:,#1 in Hardcover Fiction,#1 in E-book Fiction,#1 in Combined Print and E-book Fiction,"Deep and grand and altogether extraordinary....Miraculous.",—,The Washington ... (Barnes & Noble)

  2. How the Light Gets In

    by Louise Penny
    Detective Armand Gamache investigates a murder in a small Canadian town, uncovering secrets and lies.

    Christmas is approaching, and in Québec it's a time of dazzling snowfalls, bright lights, and gatherings with friends in front of blazing hearths. But shadows are falling on the usually festive ... (Goodreads)

  3. Glass Houses

    by Louise Penny
    A suspenseful murder mystery set in a remote Quebec village.

    An instant, New York Times Bestseller, and August 2017 LibraryReads pick!, “Penny’s absorbing, intricately plotted 13th Gamache novel proves she only gets better at pursuing dark truths with ... (Barnes & Noble)

  4. The Invention of Wings

    by Sue Monk Kidd
    A powerful story about a girl's journey to freedom, despite the limitations of slavery.

    Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world—and it is now ... (Goodreads)

  5. X

    by Sue Grafton
    Private detective unravels a web of secrets to solve a mysterious case.

    The book starts off in third-person narrative by a woman called Teddy Xanakis. Teddy is in the throes of a bitter divorce and trying to ruin her ex-husband Ari, who had an affair with her best ... (Wikipedia)

  6. Career of Evil

    by Robert Galbraith
    Private detective investigates a series of mysterious and violent cases linked to a deranged criminal.

    After murdering a woman, an unidentified man stalks Robin Ellacott, whom he sees as part of his plan to exact revenge against private investigator Cormoran Strike. Robin, having worked for Strike for ... (Wikipedia)

  7. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust

    by Alan Bradley
    An orphaned girl's adventure of solving a decades-old murder at the mysterious Miss Bodycote's Female Academy.

    NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER,Flavia de Luce—“part Harriet the Spy, part Violet Baudelaire from Lemony Snicket’s, A Series of Unfortunate Events,” (,The New York Times Book Review,)—takes her remarkable ... (Goodreads)

  8. Beartown

    by Fredrik Backman
    A small-town hockey team and its community grapple with the consequences of a traumatic event.

    Peter Andersson, in his forties, is the general manager of the ice hockey club in Beartown, a small town located somewhere in Sweden. Peter grew up in Beartown and was a junior hockey star. He went ... (Wikipedia)

  9. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

    by Alexander McCall Smith
    An empowering story of female friendship, courage, and detective work in Botswana.

    Precious Ramotswe has only just set up shop as Botswana's No.1 (and only) lady detective when she is hired to track down a missing husband, uncover a con man, and follow a wayward daughter. However, ... (Goodreads)

  10. Broken Harbor

    by Tana French
    A detective investigates a murder case in a ghostly housing estate, uncovering a web of secrets.

    Mick “Scorcher" Kennedy is the star of the Dublin Murder Squad. He plays by the books and plays hard, and thatʼs how the biggest case of the year ends up in his hands. On one of the half-abandoned ... (Goodreads)

  11. In This Grave Hour

    by Jacqueline Winspear
    Detective Maisie Dobbs investigates a possible German spy in the midst of World War II.

    Sunday September 3rd 1939. At the moment Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain broadcasts to the nation Britain’s declaration of war with Germany, a senior Secret Service agent breaks into Maisie Dobbs' ... (Goodreads)

  12. The Alice Network

    by Kate Quinn
    Two women in WWI join forces to unravel secrets of a spy network in search of a missing girl.

    The plot follows pregnant American college student Charlie St. Clair in the aftermath of World War II , as she travels around France looking for her missing cousin, Rose. Her story intersects with ... (Wikipedia)

  13. Listening Woman

    by Tony Hillerman
    Navajo Tribal Police Officer Jim Chee investigates a murder with the help of a traditional Navajo healer, Listening Woman.

    The blind shaman called Listening Woman speaks of witches and restless spirits, of supernatural evil unleashed. But Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police is sure the monster who ... (Goodreads)

  14. The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine

    by Alexander McCall Smith
    Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's finest detective, takes a vacation and finds herself solving a mystery in the heart of Botswana's Okavango Delta.

    In this latest installment of the beloved and best-selling series, Mma Ramotswe must contend with her greatest challenge yet—a vacation! Business is slow at the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, so ... (Goodreads)

  15. Flight Behavior

    by Barbara Kingsolver
    A woman's struggle to reconcile her faith and environmentalism as she faces a mysterious ecological disaster.

    Dellarobia Turnbow is a 28-year-old discontented housewife living with her poor family on a farm in Appalachia . On a hike to begin an affair with a telephone repairman, Turnbow finds millions of ... (Wikipedia)

  16. Christmas on the Island

    by Jenny Colgan
    A London-based baker travels to a remote Scottish island to help a friend, and finds love and a sense of belonging in the process.

    From the New York Times bestselling author of The Café by the Sea —whose novels are “an evocative, sweet treat” (JOJO MOYES)—comes this heartwarming holiday novel set on a charming Scottish island., ... (Barnes & Noble)

  17. The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse

    by Alan Bradley
    A short story featuring Flavia de Luce, a young chemist and amateur detective, solving a murder mystery in a morgue.

    Murder! the letter says, Come at once. Anson House, Greyminster, Staircase No. 3. How can Flavia de Luce resist such an urgent plea? After all, examining a dead body sounds like a perfectly splendid ... (Goodreads)

  18. Cutting for Stone

    by Abraham Verghese
    A sweeping journey of two twin brothers and their search for identity, belonging and family.

    The story is told by the protagonist, Marion Stone. He and his conjoined twin Shiva are born at Mission Hospital (called "Missing" in accordance with the local pronunciation), Addis Ababa , in ... (Wikipedia)

  19. A Spool of Blue Thread

    by Anne Tyler
    A family's history is revealed through the stories of four generations of its members.

    A freshly observed, joyful and wrenching, funny and true new novel from Anne Tyler "It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoon." This is how Abby Whitshank always begins the story of how ... (Goodreads)

  20. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

    by Fredrik Backman
    An imaginative quest to uncover the truth behind a beloved grandmother's mysterious stories.

    The story takes place in Sweden and follows Elsa, a 7-year-old who knows she is different from other children her age. Elsa has a habit of correcting others' grammar, she is smart for her age, and is ... (Wikipedia)

  21. Before the Fall

    by Noah Hawley
    A mysterious plane crash leads to a tangled web of secrets, lies, and betrayal.

    On a foggy summer night, eleven people—ten privileged, one down-on-his-luck painter—depart Martha's Vineyard on a private jet headed for New York. Sixteen minutes later, the unthinkable happens: the ... (Barnes & Noble)

  22. The Wonder

    by Emma Donoghue
    A nurse is sent to a small Irish village to observe a girl who claims to have survived without food.

    In this masterpiece by Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of, Room, an English nurse is brought to a small Irish village to observe what appears to be a miracle — a girl said to have survived without ... (Barnes & Noble)

  23. This Was a Man

    by Jeffrey Archer
    A gripping tale of ambition, power, loyalty and betrayal set in Victorian England.

    This Was a Man continues the story of the Clifton family. It starts with the readers to believe Karin has been executed by her Russian handler after being found out as a double agent. Harry sets out ... (Wikipedia)

  24. The Little Paris Bookshop

    by Nina George
    A heartbroken bookseller sails through France on a literary journey to heal his own broken heart.

    “There are books that are suitable for a million people, others for only a hundred. There are even remedies—I mean books—that were written for one person only…A book is both medic and medicine at ... (Goodreads)

  25. Rules of Civility

    by Amor Towles
    An ambitious young woman looks to make her mark in 1930s New York, learning the complex rules of high society.

    This sophisticated and entertaining first novel presents the story of a young woman whose life is on the brink of transformation. On the last night of 1937, twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent is in a ... (Goodreads)

  26. The Bookshop of Yesterdays

    by Amy Meyerson
    Miranda inherits a bookstore from her estranged uncle and discovers a scavenger hunt of clues to uncover family secrets.

    Look for Amy Meyerson’s new novel The Imperfects , a captivating literary page-turner. THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER Best Books of Summer 2018 Selection by Philadelphia Inquirer and Library Journal ... (Barnes & Noble)

  27. Origin

    by Dan Brown
    An exploration of secret societies and history, uncovering dark secrets of the past.

    Edmond Kirsch, a billionaire philanthropist, computer scientist and futurist , as well as a strident atheist , attends a meeting in Catalonia ( Spain ) with Roman Catholic Bishop Antonio Valdespino, ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Go Set a Watchman

    by Harper Lee
    Confronting the past and present, a woman struggles to reconcile her beliefs with those of her hometown.

    Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, a single 26-year-old, returns from New York to her hometown, Maycomb, Alabama, for her annual fortnight-long visit to her father Atticus, a lawyer and former state ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Dry Bones

    by Craig Johnson
    Sheriff Walt Longmire investigates a murder in a neighboring county, leading him to a dangerous and complex case involving a motorcycle gang.

    Wyoming’s beloved lawman must solve his coldest case yet when a, T. rex, skeleton surfaces—along with a dead rancher—in Absaroka County Longmire, the TV adaptation of Craig Johnson’s New York Times ... (Goodreads)

  30. Leaving Everything Most Loved

    by Jacqueline Winspear
    Detective Maisie Dobbs unravels a murder case in 1920s London, uncovering secrets along the way.

    London, 1933. Two months after Usha Pramal's body is discovered in the waters of a city canal, her brother, newly arrived in England, turns to Maisie Dobbs for help. Not only has Scotland Yard made ... (Barnes & Noble)