Top Thrillers With Neurodivergent Perspectives
Posted on December 27, 2024
by Amy H
Neurodivergent people are those whose brains process information in a way that is not typical of most individuals. Here are the best mysteries and thrillers with characters on this spectrum that provide fascinating perspectives in problem-solving and investigation.
the house of love and death by Andrew Klavan
Cameron Winter has an innate ability to recreate detailed crime scenes in his imagination and dissect the motives and encounters that produced them. He applies his deductive abilities to investigate a family mysteriously killed in a small Chicago suburb. Three members of the family, along with their live-in nanny, were pulled from their burning mansion, already dead from gunshot wounds. The only survivor is a young boy whose memory of the event raises more questions than answers. The police settle on a simple explanation and arrest the most obvious suspect-but Winter knows that obvious solutions are seldom the correct ones. As he uncovers related crimes and unsavory behavior, he grows increasingly determined to find the real killer and expose the rot beneath the town's sanitized façade. And as the inquiry brings all-too-familiar sins to the surface, he'll have to confront his own inner demons once and for all.
the puzzle master by Danielle Trussoni
Mike Brink experienced a traumatic brain injury that enables him to solve puzzles in ways ordinary people can’t. Jess Price is a silent woman serving thirty years in prison for murder who creates a perplexing puzzle her psychiatrist believes will explain her crime, and Brink is asked to solve it. What begins as a desire to crack an alluring cipher quickly morphs something more urgent and dangerous, thrusting Brink into a deadly hunt for the truth. Ranging from an upstate New York women’s prison to nineteenth-century Prague to the secret rooms of the Pierpont Morgan Library, The Puzzle Master is a tantalizing, addictive thriller that should appeal to Dan Brown fans in particular..
the mystery guest by Nita Prose
Sequel to "The Maid." With her flair for cleaning and proper etiquette, neurodivergent Molly Gray has risen through the ranks of the glorious Regency Grand Hotel to become the esteemed Head Maid. But her world is turned upside down when J. D. Grimthorpe, the world-renowned mystery author, drops dead on the hotel’s tearoom floor. When Detective Stark, Molly’s old foe, investigates the author’s unexpected demise, it becomes clear that this death was murder most foul. As the high-profile death threatens the hotel’s pristine reputation, Molly knows she holds a key to unlocking the killer’s identity since long ago, she knew Grimthorpe. Molly begins to comb her memory for clues, revisiting her childhood and the mysterious Grimthorpe mansion where she and her dearly departed Gran once worked side by side. With the entire hotel under investigation, Molly must solve the mystery quickly. Because if there’s one thing she knows for sure, it’s that secrets don’t stay buried forever.
the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon
Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and turns to his favorite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents' marriage. As he tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, we are drawn into the workings of Christopher's mind and the most wrenching of emotional moments are chronicled by a boy who cannot fathom emotion. The effect is dazzling, making for a novel that is deeply funny, poignant, and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing is a mind that perceives the world literally.
the children return by Martin Walker
When an undercover agent tracking domestic jihadists is found murdered, followed by the return of Sami, a local autistic youth thought lost to Islamic extremism, the Italian provincial village of St. Denis suddenly becomes a front line in the global war on terror. Abducted and exploited for his technological genius in Afghanistan, Sami has used his talents to gather invaluable al-Qaeda intel-but as an international tribunal descends to begin an exhaustive debrief, it becomes clear Sami’s former handlers are far from ready to relinquish him. Now Inspector Bruno must scramble to track down the terrorists before they exact their own justice.
the framed women of ardemore house by Brandy Schillace
Jo Jones has always had a little trouble fitting in. As a neurodivergent, hyperlexic book editor and divorced New Yorker transplanted into the English countryside, Jo doesn't know what stands out more: her Americanisms or her autism. After losing her job, her mother, and her marriage all in one year, she couldn't be happier to take possession of a possibly haunted (and clearly unwanted) family estate in North Yorkshire. But when the body of the moody town groundskeeper turns up on her rug with three bullets in his back, Jo finds herself in potential danger--and she's also a potential suspect. With the aid of a Welsh antiques dealer, the morose local detective, and the Irish innkeeper's wife, Jo embarks on a mission to clear herself of blame unearthing a slew of secrets about the town--and herself--along the way. And she'll have to do it all before the killer strikes again...
the question of the missing head by E. J. Copperman
Samuel Hoenig answers questions for a living. As a man with Asperger's Syndrome, his unique personality helps him ferret out almost any answer there is. But his latest question is a rather odd one-who stole a preserved head from the Garden State Cryonics Institute? Arriving at the scene of the crime, Samuel finds that what started out as a theft has escalated to murder. With suspects and motives emerging at a rapid rate, one final question remains-can Samuel's powers of deduction uncover a killer in the face of overwhelming odds?
the london eye mystery by Siobhan Dowd
Ted and his older sister Kat watched their cousin Salim board the London Eye and after half an hour the ride ended and everyone trooped off, except Salim. Where could he have gone? How on earth could he have disappeared into thin air? Ted and Kat are determined to solve the mystery, since the police are having no luck. Despite their prickly relationship, they overcome their differences to follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin. And ultimately it comes down to Ted, whose brain works in its own very unique way, to find the key to what happened.
the ascendant by Drew Chapman
Hidden deep within the figures tracking the ups and downs of the stock market lies a terrifying truth: America is under attack. Our economy is in the crosshairs of a ruthless enemy, and no one knows. Except Garrett Reilly, a rising star on Wall Street who has a knack for numbers and seeing patterns no one else can. When he notices that two hundred billion dollars’ worth of U.S. Treasury bonds are being sold off at a terrifying rate, he becomes the most wanted man alive. The U.S. military wants him for his extraordinary abilities to lead a crack squad of rogue soldiers to act as the last line of defense in a war unlike any other. From Wall Street to the casinos of Vegas to the back roads of the Chinese countryside, Drew Chapman introduces readers to a new kind of action hero: one uniquely skilled to fight a new kind of war.
rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer
“The dead can’t speak to us,” Professor Madoc had said. But that was a lie. The body Patrick Fort is examining in anatomy class is trying to tell him all kinds of things. But no one hears what Patrick does, and no one understand when he tries to tell them. Life is already strange enough for Patrick-being a medical student with Asperger’s Syndrome doesn't come without its challenges. And that’s before he is faced with solving a possible murder, especially when no one believes a crime has even taken place. Now he must stay out of danger long enough to unravel the mystery. But as Patrick learns one truth from a dead man, he discovers there have been many other lies closer to home.
colin fischer by Ashley Edward Miller
Colin Fischer cannot stand to be touched. He does not like the color blue. He needs index cards to recognize facial expressions. When a gun is found in the school cafeteria, interrupting a classmate's birthday celebration, Colin is the only one ready for the investigation. It's up to him to prove that Wayne Connelly, the school bully and Colin's frequent tormenter, didn't bring the gun to school. After all, Wayne didn't have frosting on his hands, and there was white chocolate frosting found on the grip of the smoking gun. Colin is a modern-day Sherlock Holmes solving crime, one facial expression at a time, and his story is perfect for those ready to consider the greatest mystery of all: what other people are actually thinking and feeling.
the gauguin connection by Estelle Ryan
As an insurance investigator and analytical expert in nonverbal communication, Dr. Genevieve Lenard faces the daily challenge of living a successful, independent life with her high functioning autism. A favor to help her boss' acerbic friend look into the murder of a young artist soon proves to be far more complex than any other investigation Genevieve has yet done. Forced out of her predictable routines, safe environment and limited social interaction, Genevieve is thrown into exploring the meaning of friendship, expanding her social definitions, and for the first time in her life be part of a team in a race to stop a murderer before they strike again.
the stages by Thom Satterlee
How does a man with Asperger's Syndrome step out of his office, leave behind the safety of his desk and books, and embrace the world he's always kept at arm's length? All his life, Daniel has hidden behind his reputation as one of the world’s best translators of philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. When his beloved ex-girlfriend and mentor dies under odd circumstances and a priceless Kierkegaard manuscript goes missing, Daniel turns out to be the last person to have seen her alive. To clear his name, he must leave the safety of his books and venture out into the streets of Copenhagen. He must deal with backstabbing co-workers, inquisitive policemen, and his own terror of intimacy to discover the truth.
the bridge
A woman is found murdered in the middle of the Oresund Bridge, on the border between Sweden and Denmark. Police from both countries are called to the scene, and what looks like one murder turns out to be two. It's a spectacular double murder: the bodies have been brutally cut in half at the waist and put together to form a single corpse. It's also just the beginning of a wave of violence the likes of which no one has ever seen before. Neurodivergent Swedish detective Saga Noren uses her keen observation skills to investigate the murder, assisted by Detective Martin Rohde from Denmark.
the bridge
An abandoned tanker ship crashes into the Oresund bridge, on the border between Sweden and Denmark. Onboard are five Swedish and Danish youths, chained below deck, unconscious. Investigating the incident is Scandinavia's oddest couple: Swedish detective Saga Noren, hampered by primitive social skills, and Martin Rohde from Denmark, still reeling from the death of his son. Theirs is a friendship developed from having been through hell together on the job.
the bridge
This is the American version of the joint Swedish/Danish production. You can get Season One via SearchOhio.
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