Since its debut, David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks has enjoyed a dedicated cult following. The show's influences are many and storied, and in turn it's inspired and influenced countless others. It's a fantastic example of the power of a compelling mystery hook and features a rich setting, complex and unforgettable characters, and an original blend of other genre elements. If you're curious about the selection process for this list visit "About." Or, you can click "The List" button above to dive right in.--
For this Reader's Advisory, I was tasked to focus on Mystery genre stories, but you'll also find a significant amount of horror, fantasy, and a even sci-fi here too. Each book revolves around a core mystery, and my own tags as well as tags from TheStoryGraph are available to help you decide if a book is for you. Many books on this list are tagged "slow-paced," which some readers read as a negative. For me, I appreciate a leisurely pace in a novel - especially a series-starter, as it gives time for the reader to become engrossed in the setting.Dale Cooper (played by Kyle Maclachlan) is by far the most recognizable actor on the show, with Sheryl Lee locked into a series-wide continuing spiral of death and suffering, I've chosen to include more women and authors from diverse backgrounds in the hopes that fans can enjoy a broad variety of stories. As time goes on and with reader suggestions, I'll likely continue to update this regularly with new choices. In particular, I hope to find more Romantic Thrillers to provide representation for the show's many enduring love stories.This is a labor of love for a series I'm a huge fan of. I don't receive anything from doing this (other than class credit), but if you do have an interest in one of these stories, I ask that you purchase them through a local independent bookshop or from Bookshop.org. Better yet, borrow them from (and please support) your local library. You can install LibraryExtension in a variety of browsers in order to get a quick automatic catalog search telling you if something is available at a library near you.Now, please enjoy. Thank you for reading.

The Secret History of Twin Peaks

Mark Frost

It may be an obvious choice, but this epistolary novel by series co-creator Mark Frost is a veritable treasure trove of lore about the small town. It also features several all-original mysteries within its pages.Click the button below for more in-universe stories and Twin Peaks specific books.

Experimental Film

Gemma Files

Lois Cairns is a barely-employed freelance film critic struggling to care for her son. However, after seeing clips from a previously lost experimental film, she begins a complex obsession with learning more.For fans who loved Coop's endless obsession with finding out who killed Laura Palmer and understanding the greater mysteries of the town itself.

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Stuart Turton

Evelyn Hardcastle will die. Each day at 11:00 PM, Evelyn Hardcastle will die unless Aiden Bishop can figure out the killer and stop it. Each day, he wakes up in the body of a different suspect and gets a fresh chance to solve the murder.For fans who love an unusual mystery, and are fascinated with the perspective of a unique investigator.

Hex

Thomas Olde Heuvelt with Nancy Forest-Flier (Translator)

Black Spring is a cozy little town with a dark secret. No one can ever leave. Residents use high-tech surveillance and a quiet system of authoritarian control - not to keep the residents in, but to keep outsiders out. Anyone who sees the spirit of the witch who haunts the town is cursed to remain or be driven to suicide.For fans of Twin Peaks' small-town feel, secrets kept beneath the surface, and darkly comedic sensibilities.

The Dark Half

Stephen King

Thad Beaumont is a murderer. He didn't have a choice really, after 13 years on the bestseller list he was ready to come clean and kill his alter-ego "George Stark." Now however, there's been a series of murders in cozy Castle Rock, all signed by the fictional George in blood and carrying Thad's fingerprints. How do you hunt a killer who may only exist in your mind?For fans of show's recurring "Dark Halves," from Laura Palmer's double life to Leland Palmer's horrific secret.

Man in the Empty Suit

Sean Ferrell

A world-weary time-traveller has a tradition: each year he celebrates his birthday in an abandoned building with all of his past and future incarnations. On his 39th birthday however, something different happens - He stumbles across the body of his 40-year-old self. His older incarnations tell him him he has one year to figure out who the culprit is, or everything will collapse.Fans of Twin Peaks will love the weird mystery and the many twists and turns.

Welcome to Night Vale

Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

Based on the beloved podcast, Welcome to Night Vale is a mystery set in an idyllic small desert community where no one is allowed in the dog park due to it being a gateway to another world, the mysterious Glow Cloud (ALL HAIL) sits on the school board, and mysterious lights hang in the sky above the Arby's. Night Vale cranks the Twin Peaks everyday weirdness knob up to 11. This particular story features two of the town's beloved residents in our pursuit of a mysterious man in a tan jacket and is a peek into the rich world of the hit audio drama.For fans of the small town vibe, the weird and original lore, and offbeat humor.

Piranesi

Susanna Clarke

Twin Peaks features dozens of mirror images and strange other realities, so why not include a story that's structurally it's mirror image. Piranesi begins strange, abstract, and inexplicable, but as the story goes on things are cast into clear and sharp relief. At its heart, it's a story of the evil and selfishness men are capable of.For fans of mysterious otherworlds, queer undertones, and evil patriarchs.

Odd Thomas

Dean Koontz

Koontz is routinely maligned as being less pulpy than his fellow horror author whose surname name begins with a K, but that serves the story of Odd Thomas just fine. As dark as this mystery gets, there is a profound wholesome core that evokes the charming characterization of Twin Peaks.

The Likeness

Tana French

Detective Cassie Maddox arrives on the scene of a murder to find that the victim, a young woman who can't have been dead for long at all, is a dead ringer for her. It's a long shot, but without any real evidence the only way to find her murderer is for Cassie to go undercover as the victim... Having miraculously survived but with no memory of the attack.For fans who wonder if Laura Palmer could have solved her own murder.

Atmospheric Disturbances

Rivka Galchen

What do you do when your spouse has been replaced by someone who looks and acts almost exactly the same. You know they're an imposter, but you're alone in your conviction. This is the situation that Dr. Leo Liebenstein finds himself in in this bizarre and surreal thriller.For fans of tulpas replacing your loved ones, psychological horror, and dark comedy.

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle

Haruki Murakami with Jay Rubin (Translator)

Murakami's work is often compared to the surrealist directorial style of David Lynch. Maybe it's the surrealism, maybe it's the offbeat humor, but this collaboration with translator Jay Rubin is often regarded as some of Murakami's most iconic work.While I wanted to keep this list to one book per author, and honorable mention goes out to Murakami's Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

Behind Her Eyes

Sarah Pinborough

Louise meets a man on a night out. They hit it off, fall into bed, and the next morning he's gone. The next day at work she finds out that he is her new boss. He's also married and his wife seems absolutely terrified of him. Tale as old as time, right?This edge-of-your-seat domestic thriller is perfect for early season fans who were rooting for Ed and Nadine, or Bobby and Shelly, or any of the other characters in the midst of an affair.

Leather Maiden

Joe R. Lansdale

A suspensful mystery with a wry sense of humor. Follow former Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Cason Statler as he returns to his home town in rural East Texas and takes one of the only jobs that will still have him. There, he begins to work his way through a cold-case file that will once again completely upend his life.For fans of small-town crime stories and washed-up men.

A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain

Adrianne Harun

Indigenous girls are vanishing from along a particular stretch of highway in British Columbia. In this lush, folklore-inspired horror mystery, readers are treated to an all-to-real story with an otherworldly twist.For fans of lyrical storytelling and sweeping rural settings.

A Man of Shadows

Jeff Noon

A series-starter and sci-fi mystery, John Nyquist takes on a teenage-runaway case that leads him down the path less traveled and into permanent darkness of a place called "Nocturna."For fans of detectives wandering into dark otherworldly regions in search of missing girls.

Night Film

Marisha Pessl

A 24-year-old woman is found dead in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan, and her death is ruled a suicide. However, veteran investigative journalist Scott McGrath believes there's more to the story - especially given the woman's famous father, a reclusive horror film director.For those who enjoy families with dark secrets and unconventional detectives.

Pines

Blake Crouch

Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke travels to the small town of Wayward Pines in search of a pair of missing federal agents. After an accident, he wakes up with his ID missing and no way to leave town. This small town is not what it seems...For fans of the first half act of Fire Walk With Me.

The Girls in the Garden

Lisa Jewell

A picturesque communal garden and free-range children make up this cozy community in the middle of London. Nothing can go wrong, and it's the kind of place where people leave their doors unlocked. This tranquility is upended when a thirteen-year-old girl is found unconscious in the corner of the park square. This begins a web of suspicion and escalating fear as the community tries to work out what could have happened.For fans of idyllic communities that are anything but.

Descent

Tim Johnston

In the Rocky Mountains, a family is on vacation. When their daughter goes out for a walk and never returns, this once-close family begins to splinter apart as the loss and unanswered questions take their toll.For people who at this point in the list still can't get enough of missing and murdered girls.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Shirley Jackson with Thomas Ott (Illustrator)

Whenever I make a list of books, I find myself including something by Shirley Jackson. In this case, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is the story of a troubled young woman who is isolated from her community. It's an intimate gothic tale and domestic drama set in a small town that is outright unskippable.For fans of instant classics that should be required reading.

Expanded Universe

Canon or "canon-adjacent" works created for and around the show.

On Twin Peaks

Writings about the show, interviews with performers, and works inspired by the creators.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

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Since its debut, David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks has enjoyed a dedicated cult following. The show's influences are many and storied, and in turn it's inspired and influenced countless others. It's a fantastic example of the power of a compelling mystery hook and features a rich setting, complex and unforgettable characters, and an original blend of other genre elements. If you're curious about the selection process for this list, read on. Or, you can click "The List" button above to dive right in.This is a fan project I took on for my Reader's Advisory class, as I'm currently pursuing my Master's in Library and Information Science. Creating a Reader's Advisory that may appeal to fans of the show is no simple task, while the show initially revolved around the mystery of "who killed Laura Palmer," even from the outset Twin Peaks made it clear to audiences that the world was much larger and much more strange than immediately clear. The original series two seasons moved at a glacial pace, which for some helped to flesh out the setting and tone, and for others was source of intense frustration. After the killer's reveal to the audience, tension ramped up as FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper and Sheriff Truman remained in the dark for several successive episodes.The show's roots are very deeply embedded in the common serialized television format of the time: the soap opera. Much of its later popularity could be attributed to the hard pivot into crime stories and the supernatural - but this is also true of the frequently-maligned soap opera. The show contains the sort of heightened performances that are often associated with soaps, and even contained a show-within-a-show, Invitation to Love. Some viewers and media critics take this to mean that the show is meant to lampoon or parody the soap opera, but the incredibly earnest characterization, writing, and tone make this difficult for me to agree with. Twin Peaks owes an incredible debt to shows like Dallas, whose DNA can be seen in the long-running battle between Catherine Martell and Josie Packard over control of the mill. Dark Shadows, a gothic fiction soap that began in the 1960s ran for years before struggling ratings lead to the introduction of the vampire Barnabas Collins. Its firm embrace of heavy genre elements reignited interest in the series to the point where many viewers interested in the series are unaware there were in fact multiple seasons of winding plots around the ownership of Collinwood House and the in-universe fishing company before vampires became the central plot device.Twin Peaks ended with a dramatic cliff-hanger and as well as the promise from an otherworldly Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) promising "I'll see you again in 25 years." Was this a message from Palmer to Agent Cooper that the evil presence that stalked the town would return? A message from Lynch and Frost (via Lee) that the show itself would return? Audiences were baffled. They'd be even more confused when the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me was released in 1992. Audiences hoping for answers would instead be treated to an exceptionally "Lynchian" movie which added further mystery and served as a prequel to the series. These elements were always present in the series - the onscreen murder of Maddy Ferguson, Laura Palmer's near-dentical twin cousin (also played by Sheryl Lee) remains one of the most shocking television moments of all time. The violence and brutality of it lingers, and the black comedy of her murderer almost being caught with her body in the trunk of his car highlights the tension and coldness that would associated with the series darker aspect.If the show was a soap opera given the prestige of prime time television, the movie was a psychological thriller with an arthouse sensibility. Brutal, cold, bizarre and absolutely unrelenting, Fire Walk With Me has been analyzed and written about at length, both as a singular piece of media and part of the larger Twin Peaks story. Its unvarnished depiction of a young woman spiraling, the tense family drama and themes of physical and sexual abuse have made it an unforgettable film. You'll see several thrillers on this list that lean into domestic horror like this.Then, in 2017, something unbelievable happened. 25 years after Fire Walk With Me, the show returned for a third season. Twin Peaks: The Return emerged in a very different media landscape than the original series. Serialized television was no longer relegated to soaps. Regular US broadcasting had seen incredible success with ABC's LOST, another puzzle-box mystery show with heavy genre elements. Meanwhile, cable and premium networks had built a sort of pantheon of high-quality serialized dramas, from The Sopranos and Six Feet Under to shows like Breaking Bad. For The Return, older series book tie-ins were republished, as well as a brand new story on the town's background (which starts this list off). Other genre series were also seeing success on multiple fronts. Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead, were genre stories first and foremost, dramas second. Not to mention the incredible success of streaming, which meant that audiences could enjoy a serialized story more-or-less on-demand and allowed for more complex storytelling.Series leads David Lynch and Mark Frost were also significantly more established in their respective careers. The result is a series that remains ahead of its time, uniquely experimental, frequently impenatrable, and aware of itself in a way that few pieces of media can manage without crossing into self-parody. The Return embraced the weirder aspects of the town, and returned to a version of the town that was bleak even in comparison to Fire Walk With Me, something fitting for the first year of the Trump administration. As controversial and bizarre as it was, fans to date are still asking for a return of The Return, now with an audience primed for even further unreality and surrealism. This isn't to say that the show lost its heart in any way. Many of the series regulars made their returns, the show has incredible moments that are heartbreaking, such as actress Catherine E. Coulson's final performance as Magaret Lanterman "The Log Lady," which brings me close to tears even now, seven years after its initial airing. The raw emotion and character focus of the show across its entire run remains one of the most enduring appeals to date, second only to love for the town itself.I would also be failing in my role if I didn't mention that there are elements to the original show that have aged poorly. The treatment of women across the series is abysmal. Unsurprising when one of your show's most enduring images is the body of a teenage girl, brutally murdered and wrapped in a translucent plastic sheet. The show leans on tropes and character decisions that felt out of place even in the era, for instance was it entirely necessary to put Piper Laurie into makeup to look like a Japanese businessman? Actor Michael J. Anderson, who played The Man From Another Place, has spoken out repeatedly against his treatment by the Lynch in particular. The show is also overwhelming white, with notable exceptions Joan Chen as Josie Packard and Michael Horse as Deputy Hawks. As a nonbinary person, I have conflicting feelings about actor David Duchovny as trans FBI Agent Denise Bryson - but his performance was revolutionary for its time and the show's treatment of the character in The Return was kind and earnest, with Lynch giving a quote that has remained in use within the community to this day: "Fix [your] hearts, or die."All that said, the show is a beloved piece of art that continues to inspire and inform the direction of serialized television. As the original run has made its way to streaming platforms, new fans appear with their own readings of the original (sometimes coming in better informed and with the context provided by the extensive supplemental media). Which brings me, finally, to the selection process for this list.For this Reader's Advisory, I was tasked to focus on Mystery genre stories, but you'll also find a significant amount of horror, fantasy, and a even sci-fi here too. Each book revolves around a core mystery, and my own tags as well as tags from TheStoryGraph are available to help you decide if a book is for you. Many books on this list are tagged "slow-paced," which some readers read as a negative. For me, I appreciate a leisurely pace in a novel - especially a series-starter, as it gives time for the reader to become engrossed in the setting.Dale Cooper (played by Kyle Maclachlan) is by far the most recognizable actor on the show, with Sheryl Lee locked into a series-wide continuing spiral of death and suffering, I've chosen to include more women and authors from diverse backgrounds in the hopes that fans can enjoy a broad variety of stories. As time goes on and with reader suggestions, I'll likely continue to update this regularly with new choices. In particular, I hope to find more Romantic Thrillers to provide representation for the show's many enduring love stories.This is a labor of love for a series I'm a huge fan of. I don't receive anything from doing this (other than class credit), but if you do have an interest in one of these stories, I ask that you purchase them through a local independent bookshop or from Bookshop.org. Better yet, borrow them from (and please support) your local library. You can install LibraryExtension in a variety of browsers in order to get a quick automatic catalog search telling you if something is available at a library near you.Now, please enjoy. Thank you for reading.