Do you love layered mysteries that involve a story within a story or a book within a book? Love thrillers with a “meta,” aspect, books with an embedded narrative or stories that are self-referential? Check out my book list of 12 Book Within a Book Mysteries and Thrillers.
What is a Book Within a Book Mystery?
- An embedded or frame narrative is a story in which another story is enclosed or embedded as a ‘story within the story.” In a frame narrative, a character in the story tells you a story, like in Titanic, when Rose tells you the story of her voyage. Or the Princess Bride.
- Some books within books have epistolary elements, such as including chapters from another book.
If you want a deeper dive on this topic, check out this Tor.com article on frame stories that explains it much better than I could!
I received advance copies of How to Get Away With Murder, The Haters, Kill All Your Darlings, The Plot, The Sequel, Run Time, and The Woman in the Library from the publishers for review.
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Story Within a Story Mysteries and Thrillers
Here’s my list, and if you have more examples, I’d love to hear them. Drop them in the comments and I’ll add them and credit you!
How to Get Away With Murder by Rebecca Philipson
How to Get Away With Murder combines a procedural mystery with chapters from a how-to book by a serial murderer. Is the book a joke? A clue? Or a red herring.
This book will really keep you guessing!
Check out my Review of How To Get Away With Murder
The Haters by Robyn Harding
The Haters is about a debut author being trolled and harassed by someone online who makes terrible accusations about her and her book, Burnt Orchid.
Chapters of Burnt Orchid are interspersed in the main narrative and offer an important clue about who is harassing Camryn.
Check out my review with spoilers of The Haters!
The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Literary agent Susan Ryeland receives a copy of a client’s manuscript, The Magpie Murders, and becomes convinced that the book is about a real murder.
This clever book has been adapted by Masterpiece Theater!
Verity by Colleen Hoover
A struggling writer (You’ll see a pattern in this list of struggling creatives ending up inside a Russian Doll plot!) is hired to ghostwrite the unfinished series of a successful author. But is what’s happening in this story what she thinks, or what we think?
Verity has an epistolary element (a journal) that contains a story told by the title character, who is unable to speak. It might not qualify 100% as an embedded narrative, but I’m including it!
There’s a lot to debate in this one so I hope you will drop by my Spoiler Discussion for Verity.
Someone Knows by Vi Keeland
If you like your suspense on the spicier side, check out Someone Knows. When a writing professor starts getting online chapter submissions from a student, she’s shocked to realize the chapters are about her and a secret she’s been keeping.
Check out my Review of Someone Knows!
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
This book is about a couple taking a weekend away. The book also references a book by one of the characters about a couple taking a weekend away.
You don’t get to read the story within a story, but the narrative does really make you wonder what is true and who is telling the truth. If you’ve read it, come join my Spoiler Discussion Post on Rock Paper Scissors!
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Even the cover of The Plot is a book within a book! The Plot is a story about a struggling author who steals another writer’s plot with dangerous consequences! The book consists of the main narrative, and excerpts from the (fictional) author’s book. It’s a fun read – join my Spoiler Discussion linked above!
This book can be confusing, so check out my Spoiler Discussion Post for the Plot!
The Sequel (Plot #2) by Jean Hanff Korelitz
The Sequel is, in a very “meta” decision, the sequel to The Plot. One of the characters from The Plot wrote a new book, which allows this twisty story to continue!
Check out my Readers Guide to The Sequel!
Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard
Run Time is a story about a struggling young actress who is thrilled to be offered a job starring in a low budget horror film. But when she arrives on set, she finds that in the script of the movie, “Final Draft,” life starts to imitate art. Or vice versa.
The embedded story aspect is that the character the actress is playing is also reading a script that sounds a lot like what is happening to Kate. This is a brain-bender, but I enjoyed it!
The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard
This book was suggested to me by @montanabooklife on Instagram, and as I read it, I realized it was the perfect book for this list!
The Nothing Man consists of two narratives: a true crime novel written by Eve Black, the sole survivor of a terrible attack on her family by the notorious “Nothing Man,” and the narrative of the Nothing Man himself as he reads Eve’s recently published book and decides he needs to stop her from telling her story.
Kill All Your Darlings by David Bell
This was suggested for my list by Sophia on Goodreads.
The book’s plot sounds somewhat similar to the plot of The Plot (could we get any more “meta”?) A professor publishes his first novel, a story based on a student of his who has gone missing. But she’s not missing, and she shows up saying SHE wrote the book.
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
A group of random strangers thinks they’ve witnessed a murder at the Boston Public Library.
But is that really what is happening? Layer on layer of revelations (included embedded stories) that will either delight or confuse you!
Do you have any other story within a story mysteries and thrillers to add to my list? Tell me in comments!
The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. Great read!!
I read and really enjoyed The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard.
I haven’t read any of these so thanks for letting us know about them.