Julia Phillips’ Disappearing Earth (2019) starts out as a classic two-girls-go-missing story set in a small Russian province. Except each chapter becomes less and less about the two girls and more about the surrounding people affected by the mystery. Each have their own interesting backstory, with the missing girls as just an anchoring detail in their already intricate lives.
mystery
A classic whodunnit layered with class conflict
Sometimes movies don’t really feel entertaining anymore. But Rian Johnson’s Knives Out (2019) was just a whole lot of fun. An acclaimed murder mystery writer suddenly dies in his clue-ridden home after a clue-ridden family gathering. A detective tries to figure out if there’s foul play. Every member of this ensemble is weird and has something they’re hiding. Chris Evans, spoiled grandson, wears a hole-y cable knit sweater, Daniel Craig, a mysteriously hired detective, does his best Frank Underwood, Ana de Armas, nurse who vomits when she lies (!!!), wants the audience to believe she’s in fact dowdy and not super gorgeous. There’s something for everyone. Not into character quirks? You’re in luck, there’s also an undercurrent of class tensions.
Sister goes missing and grandma might have answers
In the aptly named Searching for Sylvie Lee (2019) by Jean Kwok, Sylvie disappears and her younger sister on the case. Her mom and dad are kind of weird about it (oh, those Chinese family secrets!). Come for the mystery, stay for the wtf ending. I flipped through this suspenseful “missing person” drama in one boozy day on the beach in Tulum. It’s a great one if you’re trying to get back into reading and need a softball.