There’s a reason why they call Alfred Hitchcock the Master of Suspense: no one else can quite make a viewer forget the bomb under the table like he can. If you love all things Hitchcock, and you wish you could find books that read the way his movies screen, this is the short list of suspenseful crime fiction for you!
Rather than imitate any one work of Alfred Hitchcock’s canon, this novel follows his number one fan, Alfred Smettle. Smettle founded, opened, and managed the Hitchcock Hotel, an homage to the Master of Suspense himself, that offers round the clock screenings, museums of props and memorabilia, and naturally, an aviary. To celebrate a year in business, Smettle invites his college film club to the hotel for a visit, even though he hasn’t spoken to them in sixteen years. Something weird happened back then… and it seems likely to repeat itself.
Format
Hardcover
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Speaking of an aviary, one of Alfred Hitchcock’s famous films was based on the short story by the same name by Daphne du Maurier, “The Birds.” This collection of stories does include the one in which flocks of birds instigate the fall of civilization, but it also includes many more of her tales of suspense. One paradise promises immortality at a high price. A wife haunts her husband as an apple tree. And many more. Here you might find source material for your own film adaptation.
This high-concept murder mystery is also high stakes: the entire world was destroyed by a fog. The only 122 survivors are on this idyllic island, and three of them are scientists. Mostly, the villagers fish, farm, eat, and follow the scientists’ instructions. That is, until one of the scientists is found stabbed to death, and the murder triggered a dismantling of the security system which has kept the island safe. The clock is ticking, and the murder has to be solved to reverse the dismantling, and quick, before the fog smothers them all.
Format
Hardcover
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This atmospheric psychological thriller focuses on Maeve Martin, who is visiting the Rocky Mountain Lodge, High Water Center for the Arts. After escaping her disastrous and violent marriage, Maeve is here to start her own dance company… that is, until an avalanche strikes and Maeve is trapped at the lodge without phone service, heat, or an escape route—and with six other guests. At first they all work together, but the days run long as the tension builds, and then, one of the guests turns up dead.
