81 books like Night Has A Thousand Eyes

CJ Sansom, a renowned historian, released this first fiction novel to huge acclaim. I was fascinated to find the investigator was a London lawyer during the reign of Henry VIII. It ticked all the boxes: history, a juicy murder, crime, and mystery. I was not disappointed. In my own writing, I endeavour to make my characters individual and memorable and, therefore, look for that in books I read.

The protagonist, lawyer Matthew Shardlake, has the brain, persistence, and vision of a Holmes or Poirot in uncovering the clues and is admired by all for his ability to win cases. Despite this, one thing continually erodes his confidence: he is a hunchback. Not restricted by twenty-first-century political correctness, his enemies take delight in reminding him of this. I loved the way the author handled that.

I enjoyed the detective story in an entirely different setting. It is a magnificent first book;… show more.

The Red Hill is a medieval murder mystery set in late-15th-century Muslim Spain. The sultan demands an English doctor living in Granada to investigate a series of brutal murders at the Alhambra palace on top of a red hill that towers over the city. The sultan’s request for Dr. Thomas Berrington’s skills cannot be ignored.

This book is another example of a closed community with a killer murdering its members yet the community still shields itself from outsiders. As an Englishman and, nominally, a Christian, Dr. Berrington must find the killer by sifting through lies and obfuscations within the palace walls. Who can be trusted amid the palace intrigue and self-serving agendas?

As the tagline says: “The darkest secrets often hide in plain sight…” This is a British detective novel set in present-day Norfolk along the east coast of England. The story presents a community with many secrets and a dead young woman that knew many of them. Detective Tom Janssen must find a killer in a community trying to hide its dirty laundry.

This book has quite a twist at the end. It’s an example of many underlying subplots interacting within the local population's resistance to opening their lives to an investigation, including the reluctance of the dead girl’s parents to help.

Richard Prince is a detective in 1942 Britain. A government entity recruits him as a spy, and its director sends Prince to Denmark, where rumors are floating of the development of a superweapon. Prince’s endeavor requires him to dodge the Gestapo, the S.S., and other German heavies.

This story is another instance of the protagonist having to guess who he can trust, will his so-called allies betray him, and are perceived antagonists actually the enemy? Many wheels within a wheel, false faces, and false hearts. 

I love historical mysteries, and this series set in nineteenth-century San Francisco delivers the goods. I really like the main character, Annie Fuller. She’s been left on her own, and she excels at her ventures as a boardinghouse owner and a financial advisor. When she learns she has sleuthing talents as well, there’s no stopping her. In this book, she goes undercover as a housemaid to solve a mystery. 

Another great handling of mental health, femininity, and adolescence is Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future by A.S. King. Her mother’s suicide has left the protagonist with some pretty big questions about her own nature and destiny. And when she gets the unprompted, magical power of seeing visions of both infinite past and future, things only get more complicated. Despite the ambitious bite of dark weight, the novel’s voice remains witty, casual, and auspicious. It’s a glimpse into the complexities of the mother-daughter relationship, especially when it's cut dismally short.

This book was central to the healing which prepared me for my own motherhood journey. Spirit Babies is so profound because it explores an often overlooked topic—the preconception relationship between parents and their unborn children. 

Reading it, I feel a deep connection with the souls of my potential children, even before their physical existence. Makichen's insights and techniques offered a profound sense of comfort, which guided me in establishing a spiritual bond with my future child. It alleviated any fears or doubts I may have had, replacing them with a sense of trust and harmony in the journey of parenthood.

It affirms the sacred nature of the parent-child bond, instilling hope, and inviting a deeper understanding of each soul's journey.

A story is not the words that you write down. That’s a narrative. A story is what your audience builds in mind for themselves when they receive the narrative.

If I give you a six-word story: For sale. Baby’s shoes. Never worn. You don’t just see an advertisement. You think about the lives of the people who placed the advertisement, right?!

What you just did in your mind is how stories work, and Roland Barthes was the first to recognise this. His book is a series of articles demonstrating the mythology that lies behind the words and symbols we are fed in everyday life.

My knowledge gap theory of how stories work owes a great deal to Roland Barthes, and this book in particular.

I found Tyler Henry’s story helpful as it relates to the presence of those who have passed on. As an 8-year-old, I saw my cousin Ben in my thoughts. He was standing by a lake. A moment later my mother received a call that he had drowned. Tyler Henry had a near-death experience at 10 and later received a message from his dead grandmother. That was the beginning of his journey. He considered becoming a hospice nurse but accepted that his gifts might be better utilized to bring closure to those who have lost a loved one. His messages are not faith-based but come from a knowing that feels divinely guided.

Samantha Shannon’s world-building in this series is second to none. We find ourselves in a future alternate version of the world, where the government monitors the population for those people with extraordinary powers: clairvoyants. Paige, our main character, is one of these – and a bit of an antihero to boot (my favourite kind of hero!). You will love and be frustrated by her – and root for the simmering romance plot.