Great mystery movies to watch now

If you are looking for a great mystery to watch this weekend, why not check out one of these?

Double Jeopardy

The chase is on again for Tommy Lee Jones in 1999's Double Jeopardy, only this time he's on the trail of Ashely Judd. When Judd's character is convicted of her husband's murder only to (*surprise*) find out that he's still alive and responsible for framing her, she does her time and is released fully aware of the fact that—thanks to the law that shares a name with the movie—she can shoot her ex "in the middle of Mardi Gras" and no one can do anything about it.

Memento

It's not uncommon for people to use tattoos as a way to remind them of things they don't want to forget. But 2000's Memento takes that idea one step further with Guy Pearce's character, a man with short-term memory loss who inks his body with clues to his wife's death so that he can be reminded of every detail and track down her killer. The mystery thriller also stars Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano who appeared in The Matrix together just one year earlier.

Clue

One of the best mystery movies of all time is related to one of the best family games of all time. Based on the classic board game that most of us played with our families when we got sick of Monopoly and Battleship, 1985's Clue is the ultimate murder mystery. Colonel Mustard (Martin Mull), Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn), Mrs. Peacock (Eileen Brennan), Mr. Green (Michael McKean), Professor Plum (Christopher Lloyd), and Miss Scarlet (Lesley Ann Warren) join the butler Wadsworth (Tim Currey) and Yvette the maid (Colleen Camp) in this campy film where viewers can follow the guests as they try to figure out which one of the quirky characters is the killer. Was it Colonel Mustard in the library with a candlestick? We'll never tell!

For more great thrillers, check out www.imagahub.com.

Perfect families don’t stay that way for long in well-plotted thrillers

There are many rules or conventions to a good thriller and one goes that all is not what it seems. So if you see a perfect family portrayal on page one, you know that will soon change. Here a couple of new thrillers which prove that point.

Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward

Very much in the vein of Gone Girl, this opens with the seemingly perfect picture of family life. A loving wife, a devoted husband, a perfect little boy. Something tells you this isn’t going to last though.

When Maddie suffers a horrific injury as a result of an accident while camping, her visible scars lead her to attend therapy. It is there that she begins to peel back the previously unrealized fears about her husband and their early life together.

Soon, a series of memories and secrets come flooding back and Maddie realizes the dangers that are lurking beneath. A truly absorbing and disturbing thriller, with a delicious twist you won’t see coming, Beautiful Bad is essential reading.

House on Fire by Bonnie Kistler

Pete and Leigh are each having a second shot at marriage – with each other. Their two respective families seem to mix well together and their new lives together are a source of celebration when their anniversary rolls around.

However, that is the night things start to unravel when their teenage kids are left alone and Pete and Leigh go out to mark their special occasion. But tragedy strikes and their perfect bond is ripped asunder as each is torn between their loyalty to each other and their children.

House on Fire is a tightly wound thriller which delivers rich commentary on the bonds of family and the lengths we are prepared to go to for the ones we love.

For more twisting and absorbing thrillers, check out the books at www.imagahub.com.

Reasons why we love thriller fiction

When you find a good thriller to sink your teeth into, it becomes very difficult to put the book down. The tension, not knowing what is going to happen next and genuinely fearing for the safety of the characters as they are plunged from one terrible situation to the next. But why do we put ourselves through this torment? Well here is a rundown of just some of the reasons why we love thriller fiction.

The Twist

One thing that sets apart the thriller from other books is the twist that leaves you thinking “what just happened?!”. Thriller fiction is at its best when it turns the reader completely on their head and questioning everything they thought they knew about the book.

Trying to figure out what is going on

When you’re in the middle of a thriller, and you’ve just been thrown into the middle of one of the twists, as a reader you are desperately trying to figure out what is going on. If you can’t, then you want to know what happens in the end. If you can, you want to know if you’re right.

Vicarious fear

Feeling the thrill of fear when you are perfectly safe and can put the book down at any time you want is another reason that we can’t help but love thriller fiction. There is a release that comes from this type of escape that can have a huge impact on decreasing our stress levels.

For more about thriller fiction, visit www.imagahub.com, where you can find more about the crime and thriller genres.