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This October, at Champaca, we looked through our crime, mystery, and horror shelves, and put together a list of some of our favourites. Here, you’ll find everything from classics to contemporary fiction, short stories to translated works. Whether you’re looking for something truly scary, or just a fun mystery to keep you company, we’ve got you covered!
No list of crime and horror recommendations is complete without this classic by Daphne Du Maurier. Our unnamed protagonist is haunted by the spectre of her husband’s late wife. Featuring a gothic mansion, a sinister housekeeper, and a relationship to rival ‘Gone Girl’!
You might have grown up with ‘Marmadesam’ on Sun TV in the late 1990s, a series of mysteries written by Indira Soundar Rajan, the stalwart of Tamil pulp. Soundar Rajan wrote screenplays and monthly stories in magazines using stories from Tamil Nadu, and his work has reshaped the genre of horror in Tamil television. In this book, we have a small farming village of Aayakudi, to which a journalist Rajendran travels to encounter the grisly supernatural and murder and intrigue. The translation that keeps the flavour and air of the context and language intact is brought to us by the wonderful Blaft publications.
An investigator of the supernatural gathers a group of people to stay in Hill House overnight, hoping to prove, one way or another, if the house is haunted. What follows is a story of suspense, as we watch the characters unravel—though whether that’s the house’s fault is anyone’s guess. Authors Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, and Carmen Maria Machado all name this novel by Shirley Jackson as the scariest book of fiction they’ve ever read!
‘Black Light’ is a collection of stories about the strange, the weird, and the unsettling. Vivid and wild, they are full of images that linger, as the author explores the darker parts of life. In this collection, Kimberly King Parsons writes of relationships and comings-of-age, following women characters in their darkest moments.
Tana French’s crime novel takes us deep into an Irish forest, and deep into its protagonist’s mind. When Rob Ryan was twelve, he and his friends went into the woods—and only he came back. The other two were never found. Decades later, the body of a young girl is found in the exact same woods—now a detective, Ryan is called to investigate, and past and present collide. This is perfect for anyone who likes their crime to get under their skin—its eerie atmosphere lingers long after the book ends.
Dalpathado is at the Meenambakkam airport when he runs into the nameless narrator, who is mourning his dead daughter. Ashokamitran’s novella takes place over that one stormy night. Taut and powerful, ‘The Ghosts of Meenambakkam’ is a novella about loss and love, and is as much about what is said as what’s between the lines.
This is a translation of Seishi Yokomizo’s classic Japanese locked room murder, first published in 1946. One night in 1937, a family celebrates the wedding of Kenzou Ichiyanagi and Katsuko Kubo. The next morning, both bride and groom are found dead—inside their room, with no signs of forced entry. The reader is given the facts—can you solve the case yourself?
This is Anuja Chauhan’s first book in the crime genre: a murder mystery set in the Delhi Turf Club. When a personal trainer is found dead at the gym, ACP Bhavani Singh arrives at the scene to solve the crime. Soon he finds himself having to navigate posh Delhiites, complicated interpersonal conflicts, and secrets that seem to spread deep. Full of tongue-in-cheek humour, this is perfect for readers who aren’t looking for too much of a scare!
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