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Podcasts are certainly having a moment, from former First Lady Michelle Obama jumping on the mic to the countless number of true crime podcasts that pop up every day. With many podcast hosts now being forced to also film themselves for video, and TV shows having a podcast, it feels like we may have hit an oversaturated level. While the real podcasts figure that out, I’m going to keep looking out for fictional podcasts in murder mysteries as one of my favorite recent-ish tropes.
Over the last five years, I’ve shouted quite a bit about Tom Ryan’s I Hope You’re Listening and Tiffany D. Jackson’s The Weight of Blood being great YA novels that use the true crime podcast trope. This time around, I thought I’d show a variation to the trope with one backlist title that should have gotten way more attention than it did, and two new murder mysteries.
This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum
The podcast: Benny and Joy are best friends who have a very popular podcast together where they ask each other the question,“How would you survive [insert some bonkers event like being swallowed by a whale]?” Think lots of jokes and banter.
The mystery: Told through past and present chapters, an unfinished memoir, and podcast episodes, we learn that Joy and her husband are missing shortly after Joy told Benny she needed a break from podcasting.
Bonus: The audiobook has dual narrators: Julia Whelan and Sean Patrick Hopkins.
I Don’t Wish You Well by Jumata Emill
The podcast: Rather than listening to podcast snippets throughout the book, we get it at the end as the book follows Pryce as he learns how to investigate, research, and question people in order to put the podcast together.
The mystery: Five years ago, four high school football players were murdered in Pryce Cummings’ small town. Now he’s in college studying to become a journalist. When new evidence that raises questions about the police’s investigation comes out, Pryce convinces the media director to let him look into the case for a podcast he’s creating.
Bonus: The audiobook has a full cast: André Santana, Erin Spencer, Matt Godfrey, Angel Pean, and Aaron Goodson.
Girl, 11 by Amy Suiter Clarke
The podcast: Elle Castillo hosts a popular true crime podcast where each season focuses on a different cold case. This season, she’s chosen to focus on a serial killer whose victims had a numerical pattern in age, starting at 21 and getting younger with each abduction. We watch her work on the podcast and get to listen to transcripts from episodes.
The mystery: Elle goes to meet one of her podcast listeners because he has a tip for her, but what she finds is a dead body…
Bonus: The audiobook has a full cast: Andi Arndt, Kevin R. Free, Michael Castillejos, Khristine Hvam, Dianne Doan, and Jonathan Davis.
Browse the books recommended in Unusual Suspects’ previous newsletters on this shelf, and see 2026 releases! Until next time, come talk books with me on Bluesky, Goodreads, Litsy, and Multitudes Contained.
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