What is it that fascinates us about amnesia? A quick Goodreads search yielded dozens of titles that involved amnesia somehow. (Romance novels, in particular, seemed to dominate the list.) If you like reading books where characters don’t remember who (or what) they are, here are five to consider reading.
Garment of Shadows, by Laurie R. King
Another Mary Russell-and-Sherlock Holmes novel. Here, Mary wakes up in Morocco with blood on her hands (literally) and dressed in men’s clothing, and doesn’t know who she is or who her husband is. Needless to say, there’s a lot of action, a lot of danger with a capital D (we’re talking about Russell-and-Holmes in pre-WWII Morocco, after all), and lots of drama as she makes her way back to memory.
The Asylum, by John Harwood
It’s been a while since I read this strange and sad Gothic suspense. Georgina wakes up in an asylum, with no memory of the past few weeks, and learns she has suffered a seizure. She’s been given a new name, too. When she protests, the doctor telegraphs the home she thinks was hers and learns that another woman has taken her place and is calling herself Georgina. The real Georgiana is labelled an imposter. Who’s this other woman? How and why is Georgina in this asylum? What’s happened to her possessions & identity? A flawed work, but still moving and suspenseful.
In the Woods by Tana French
This novel kicked off French’s acclaimed Dublin murder squad series. As a child, Rob Ryan and two of his friends walked into the woods near their childhood homes. When Ryan was found, his legs are covered in blood but he has no memory of what happened. His friends were never found. Now an adult and a police murder investigator, Ryan and his partner Cassie are assigned to investigate the murder of a young girl near where Ryan grew up. No one except Cassie knows about Ryan’s personal connection to the area. Will the investigation help Ryan remember what happened to him? Or will it jeopardize the duo’s ability to find the killer?
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley
I’ve included this even though, technically, this isn’t a mystery and, technically, it’s about a man with dementia. But Mosley is known for his crime fiction and even when in his non-crime novels, he creates as much (or more) suspense as any novel in the suspense genre. Ptolemy Grey, age 91, has been almost forgotten by the outside world. His only connection is his great-nephew. But when the great nephew is killed in a drive-by shooting, Ptolemy meets young Robyn at the funeral. Teenaged Robyn won’t allow Ptolemy to remain isolated. A doctor pushes the old man to try an experimental drug to improve his memory with one big downside: he won’t live to see 92. Still, when Ptolemy takes the drug, his mental clarity helps him remember the circumstances of his great-nephew’s killing–and forces him to take action.
Love Water Memory by Jennie Shortridge
Another book that isn’t billed as a mystery. When Lucie is found in the San Francisco bay with no memory of who she is, she must start her life again. She has a fiance–whom she doesn’t remember–and a career; by all accounts, she’s been a driven, type-A, rigid woman with few relationships. This book is quietly suspenseful as we follow Lucie as she tries to recover her old life. But can she? Or does she even want that old life anymore? What if a new life is more beguiling than the old one?
Bonus book:
The Zero by Jess Walter
I haven’t read this one, but it’s in a stack of books I got from the library this past week! After a self-inflicted wound, a police officer has no memory of an attack on his city or inflicting this wound. He is sucked into a shadowy operation (code word for dangerous) that leads him to uncover a dangerous (told you) plot. There’s a beautiful girlfriend, a son, the possibility that he’s going blind, and an off-beat ex-partner in the police department. I’ve read one of Walter’s books. It was quirky. This one sounds . . . interesting. I look forward to reading it.
Have you read any of these books? Do you have any additions to the list? Tell me about them!
Update: 3/16/20:
A Knight’s Reads reviewed Am I The Killer? by Dan Petrosini @jazzywine @BOTBSPublicity #blogtour #bookreview
If that title doesn’t catch your attention, nothing will! It certainly caught mine, and Claire’s review made me want to put this book on my TBR list.
“There’s that saying “what goes around comes around” and Billy Wyatt appeared to be well overdue his fair share of karma. But who battered this bully to death in his own home? Only Frank Luca is determines to find out the truth. Was it former victim and veteran Pete Hill who can’t remember what he did that night or was it someone else?!” Read the rest of her review here: A Knight’s Reads review of Am I A Killer?
Talk to me! What do you think?