Read or Dead
Books & Literature
About
Read or Dead is a bi-weekly show dedicated to the worlds of mystery and thriller literature.
Episodes
- Our Most Anticipated New Book Releases 2026 Pt. 2
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their most anticipated new book releases for the second half of 2026. News Edgar Awards Winners 2026 This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an…
- Let's Talk About Retellings
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss retellings. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed Wild Dark Shore - Charlotte McConaghy Beth Is Dead…
- The Edgar Awards 2026
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss some of the books nominated for the Edgar Awards! News Freida McFadden’s true identity revealed! Things Mentioned Book Club Pick: Butter - Asako Yuzuki, Translated by Polly Barton The Edgar…
- Missing Person Mysteries and Thrillers
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss missing person mysteries and thrillers. News Liane Moriarty is writing a sequel to Big Little Lies, called Big Little Truths, and yes, it’s being adapted as Season 3 of Big Little Lies on H…
- What's Going On With True Crime?
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss the genre of true crime, the ethics behind it, and what writers are tackling questions around the genre today. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we ma…
- Book Club: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their second book club pick, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. Things Mentioned Discussion Guide This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an aff…
- Let's Celebrate Black History Month All Year Long
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend books for Black History Month. News God of the Woods - Liz Moore - next book club read! - March 6th E. Lockhart and Sarah Mlynowski are cowriting a new series featuring Nancy Drew as a di…
- Historical Mysteries
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend some of their favorite historical mysteries! News God of the Woods by Liz Moore - our next book club read! - March 6th Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series is being adapted for TV. A…
- It's Time for the 2026 Read Harder Challenge!
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss some mystery and thriller recommendations for the 2026 Read Harder Challenge! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and new…
- Our Most Anticipated Books of 2026
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their favorite books of 2026! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter!…
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens from Zero to Well-Read
Read or Dead is taking a short holiday break, so we thought we'd share with you a recent episode from our newest Book Riot podcast, Zero to Well-Read, in which Jeff and Rebecca revisit Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol , a story so famil…
- Our Favorite Books of 2025!
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their favorite books of 2025. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter!…
- It's Time for Native American Heritage Month 2025!
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend books for Native American Heritage Month and beyond. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unus…
- Holiday Gift Guide 2025
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend books for Read or Dead's annual holiday gift guide. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusu…
- Book Club: FIEND by Alma Katsu
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their very first book club pick, Fiend by Alma Katsu. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusu…
- Down the Rabbit Hole with Fantastical Mysteries and Thrillers
de of the fantastic. Be sure to join us for our first book club to discuss The Fiend by Alma Katsu on October 31st. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up f…
- Cozy Books, Cute Animals—What's Not to Love?
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss books on the cozier end of the mystery spectrum. Plus, they all feature cute animals! Be sure to join us for our first book club to discuss The Fiend by Alma Katsu on October 31st. Subscrib…
- Women Writers for Latine Heritage Month
Latine Heritage Month! Be sure to join us for our first book club to discuss The Fiend by Alma Katsu on October 31st. (Apologies—we said the 24th in the episode.) Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even…
- Dark Academia Strikes Back!
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss dark academia novels. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Ready fo…
- Historical Crime and Horror Novels
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss historical crime and horror novels! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsle…
- Let's Celebrate Women in Translation Month!
Month! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Book Riot is hiring a digital content specialist! If you love books and k…
- Books That Have Been on Our TBRs for Far Too Long
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss books that they’ve been meaning to get to for far too long. No time like the present! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs…
- Our Most Anticipated Mysteries and Thrillers of 2025 Pt. 2
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their most anticipated book for the second half of 2025. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Un…
- Mysteries and Thrillers for Audiobook Month
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend some of their favorite mystery and thriller audiobooks. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our U…
- Mysteries and Thrillers for Pride Month!
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend mysteries and thrillers for Pride Month. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects…
- Summer Reads from Real People
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend summer reads! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Ready to level…
- The 2025 Edgar Awards!
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend books from this year's Edgar Awards finalists! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Su…
- Our 200th Episode!
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester celebrate 200 hundred episodes of Read or Dead! Trust your reading list to the experts at Tailored Book Recommendations! The professional book nerds (aka bibliologists) at TBR have recommended over…
- Genre-Bending Mysteries, Thrillers, and Horror Novels
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend genre-defying mysteries, thrillers, and horror novels! Trust your reading list to the experts at Tailored Book Recommendations! The professional book nerds (aka bibliologists) at TBR have…
- Tackling Our Backlist TBRs
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss books from their never-ending backlist TBRs. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspec…
- Mysteries and Thrillers for Your Next Book Club
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend mysteries and thrillers for book clubs! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects…
- Feminist Mysteries
Katie McLain Horner and honorary reading assassin Liberty Hardy talk about mysteries with feminist themes for Women's History Month. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs an…
- Destination Book Recommendations
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend books set in the locations of their 2025 vacations! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusu…
- Mysteries and Thrillers for Black History Month
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend mysteries and thrillers for Black History Month! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual…
- Our Book Recommendations for the 2025 Read Harder Challenge
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend mystery and thriller books to fulfill prompts for the 2025 Read Harder Challenge. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs a…
- Our Most Anticipated Books of 2025
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their most anticipated thriller and mystery books of 2025. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our…
- [Rerun] Our Most Anticipated Books of the First Half of 2024
We are off this holiday week, so we're sharing this rerun from the top of the year to reflect back on the titles we were most looking forward to in the first half of 2024! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To…
- Our Favorite Books of 2024
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their favorite books from 2024! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter…
- Mysteries and Thrillers for Indigenous Peoples' Month
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss books for Indigenous Peoples' Month! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsl…
- Holiday Gift Guide 2024
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their 2024 holiday gift guide! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter!…
- Scary Season Send Off!
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss books for a scary season send-off! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newslet…
- The New York Times's Best Books of the 21st Century
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss mysteries and thrillers from The New York Times ’s Best Books of the 21st Century! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs an…
- The It Books of October 2024
Katie and Kendra have been affected by Hurricane Helene, so we are bringing you this episode from the Book Riot Podcast in which Jeff and Rebecca consider 10 books (including a couple of buzzy mysteries!) and crown one of them the It Book…
- Book Picks for Latine Heritage Month!
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss books for Latine Heritage Month! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newslette…
- Must-Read Sequels
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss must-read sequels! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Join Book R…
- When in Romance Meets Read Or Dead!
Kendra Winchester and special guest Trisha Brown discuss genre-bending romance and mystery books! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Sus…
- Mysteries & Thrillers for Women in Translation Month!
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss books for Women in Translation Month! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects news…
- KNIVES OUT Readalikes
Katie McLain Horner and guest host Liberty Hardy talk about reading recommendations for fans of Knives Out ! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our…
- Our Most Anticipated Books of 2024 Pt. 2!
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their most anticipated books for the second half of 2024! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our U…
- Pride Month Recommendations for Mystery Lovers
Katie McLain Horner and guest host Liberty Hardy discuss LGBTQ mysteries for Pride Month! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS , Apple Podcasts , or Spotify . To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects ne…