I wanted to pull together some books from my favourite genre—Mystery. I started my independent reading a long time ago with the Famous Five series by Enid Blyton. From there, I moved on to the works of Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Since then, I can't even count how many mystery books I've read, but it's been a lot. This early exposure founded my love for mystery.
As I reflect on my journey through the mystery genre, I realise how it has shaped my reading preferences and fuelled my passion for solving puzzles alongside the protagonists. The thrill of unravelling secrets, following clues, and experiencing that "aha" moment when everything falls into place has kept me hooked for years.
In this blog, I want to share some of the best mystery books that have either captivated me or caught my eye. While I've read many of them, some are still on my to-be-read list, eagerly awaiting their turn. These books span different styles and subgenres, from classic whodunits to contemporary psychological thrillers, there are some stand-alone books and some books in series, Some old and some new books, all offering something for every mystery lover.
Whether you're a seasoned mystery reader or just starting out, I hope this list introduces you to new favourites and rekindles your love for the genre. Let's take a look into the world of suspense, intrigue, and masterful storytelling that makes mystery books so irresistible.
Let me know what your favourite mystery book so I can add it to the list and we can create an encyclopaedia of the best loved mystery books.
Alis x
Title: The Hound of The Baskervilles
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Series: Sherlock Holmes series book 3
Publisher: Original publisher George Newnes Ltd
Date Published: Original date 25 March 1902
Book Length: 154
About Book: In the story, the old and noble Baskerville family is threatened by a curse: "A great, black beast, shaped like a hound, yet larger than any hound that ever mortal eye has rested upon" terrorizes and kills any family member who comes to live at the Baskerville estate. As the story opens, the hound seems to have claimed his latest victim, Sir Charles Baskerville. Sir Charles's nephew, Henry, the new heir to the estate, is poised to take up residence the next day. A friend of the family, Dr. Mortimer, comes to consult the famous Sherlock Holmes in his rooms at 221b Baker Street, though he confesses he doesn't know if the case is more suitable "for a detective or a priest. Sherlock and his apprentice Watson work on the case to find out the mystery of the hound of Baskerville.
Title: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Author: Agatha Christie
Series: Hercule Poirot book 4 of 39
Publisher: Original William Collins Sons
Date Published: Original 1926
Book Length: 320
About Book: Poor Roger Ackroyd. He knew the woman he loved had been harbouring guilty secret. And then, yesterday, she killed herself.
But guilty secrets rarely stay secret. Who had been blackmailing her? Had it really driven her to suicide? Sadly, Roger Ackroyd wasn’t going to live long enough to find out . . .
Title: The Thursday Murder Club
Author: Richard Osman
Series: The Thursday Murder Club book 1 of 4
Publisher: Penguin
Date Published: 2021
Book Length: 400
About Book: In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.
Title: The Man Who Died Twice
Author: Richard Osman
Series: The Thursday Murder Club book 2 of 4
Publisher: Penguin
Date Published: 2022
Book Length: 448
About Book: It's the following Thursday. Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He's made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life. As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn't that be a bonus? But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn't bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can the Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?
Title: The Bullet That Missed
Author: Richard Osman
Series: The Thursday Murder Club book 3 of 4
Publisher: Penguin
Date Published: 2023
Book Length: 432
About Book: It is an ordinary Thursday and things should finally be returning to normal. Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club is concerned. A decade-old cold case leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers. Then a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill...or be killed. As the cold case turns white hot, Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun), while Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim chase down clues with help from old friends and new. But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?
Title: The Last Devil To Die
Author: Richard Osman
Series: The Thursday Murder Club book 4 of 4
Publisher: Penguin
Date Published: 2024
Book Length: 432
About Book: Shocking news reaches the Thursday Murder Club. An old friend in the antiques business has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing. As the gang springs into action they encounter art forgers, online fraudsters and drug dealers, as well as heartache close to home. With the body count rising, the package still missing and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out? And who will be the last devil to die?
Title: We Began at the End
Author: Chris Whitaker
Publisher: Zaffre
Date Published: 2020
Book Length: 464
About Book: Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer. Now, he's been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend, and sister of the girl he killed. Duchess Radley, Star's thirteen-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin - and to her deeply troubled mother. But in trying to protect Star, Duchess inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will have tragic consequences not only for her family, but also the whole town. Murder, revenge, retribution. How far can we run from the past, when the past seems doomed to repeat itself?
Title: The Bone Collector
Author: Jeffery Deaver
Series: Lincoln Rhyme series book 1 of 16
Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks
Date Published: 2014
Book Length: 480
About Book: Their first case, their worst killer . . .New York City has been thrown into chaos by the assaults of the Bone Collector, a serial kidnapper and killer who gives the police a chance to save his victims from death by leaving obscure clues. Baffled, the cops turn to the one man with a chance of solving them - Lincoln Rhyme. Left paralysed by a debilitating accident, ex NYPD cop Rhyme has to dig deep into the only world he has left - his astonishing mind - to have any hope of solving the case. With the help of a young police officer, Amelia Sachs, he starts to close in on the killer. But as he edges closer to the truth, the Bone Collector is closing in on Lincoln Rhyme himself.
Title: No One Saw a Thing
Author: Andrea Mara
Publisher: penguin
Date Published: 2024
Book Length: 400
About Book: Two children get on the train. Only one gets off...No one saw it happen. Your two little girls jump on the train ahead of you. As you try to join them, the doors slide shut and the train moves away, leaving you behind. Everyone is lying. It's only when you reach the next stop that you truly begin to panic. Because there aren't two children waiting for you on the platform. There's only one. Someone is to blame. Has your other daughter got lost? Been taken by a passing stranger? Or perhaps the culprit is closer to home than you think…
Title: Girl A
Author: Abigail Dean
Publisher: Harper Fiction
Date Published: 2021
Book Length: 336
About Book: Girl A,’ she said. ‘The girl who escaped. If anyone was going to make it, it was going to be you.’
I am Lex Gracie: but they call me Girl A.I grew up with my family on the moors. I escaped when I was fifteen years old.
NOW SOMETHING IS PULLING ME BACK…
Title: The Locked Door
Author: Frieda McFadden
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Date Published: 2023
Book Length: 320
About Book: While eleven-year-old Nora Davis was up in her bedroom doing homework, she had no idea her father was killing women in the basement.
Until the day the police arrived at their front door.
Decades later, Nora's father is spending his life behind bars, and Nora is a successful surgeon with a quiet, solitary existence. Nobody knows about her past, and she'll do anything to keep it that way.
Then one of her young female patients is murdered, killed in the same unique and horrific manner that her father used to kill his victims.
Somebody knows who Nora is. Somebody wants her to take the fall for this unthinkable crime. But she's not like her father. The police can't pin anything on her. As long as they don't look in her basement…
Title: The Housemaid
Author: Frieda McFadden
Series: The Housemaid book 1 of 3
Publisher: Bookouture
Date Published: 2013
Book Length: 336
About Book: "Welcome to the family," Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I'll soon learn that the Winchesters' secrets are far more dangerous than my own . . .Every day I clean the Winchesters' beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor. I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew's handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it's hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina's life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband. I only try on one of Nina's pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it's like. But she soon finds out... and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it's far too late. But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don't know who I really am. They don't know what I'm capable of . . .
Title: The Housemaids Secret
Author: Frieda McFadden
Series: Housemaid book 2 of 3
Publisher: Bookouture
Date Published: 2023
Book Length: 352
About Book: As he continues showing me their incredible penthouse apartment, I have a terrible feeling about the woman behind closed doors. But I can't risk losing this job - not if I want to keep my darkest secret safe . . .It's hard to find an employer who doesn't ask too many questions about my past. So I thank my lucky stars that the Garricks miraculously give me a job, cleaning their stunning penthouse with views across the city and preparing fancy meals in their shiny kitchen. I can work here for a while, stay quiet until I get what I want. It's almost perfect. But I still haven't met Mrs Garrick, or seen inside the guest bedroom. I'm sure I hear her crying. I notice spots of blood around the neck of her white nightgowns when I'm doing laundry. And one day I can't help but knock on the door. When it gently swings open, what I see inside changes everything....That's when I make a promise. After all, I've done this before. I can protect Mrs. Garrick while keeping my own secrets locked up safe. Douglas Garrick has done wrong. He is going to pay. It's simply a question of how far I'm willing to go....
Title: The Housemaid is Watching
Author: Frieda McFadden
Series: Housemaid book 3 of 3
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Date Published: 2024
Book Length: 400
About Book: "You must be our new neighbours!" Mrs. Lowell gushes and waves across the picket fence. I clutch my daughter's hand and smile back: but the second Mrs. Lowell sees my husband a strange expression crosses her face. In that moment I make a promise. We finally have a family home. My past is far, far behind us. And I'll do anything to keep it that way…I used to clean other people's houses―now, I can't believe this home is actually mine. The charming kitchen, the quiet cul-de-sac, the huge yard where my kids can play. My husband and I saved for years to give our children the life they deserve. Even still, I'm wary of our new neighbour Mrs. Lowell. When she invites us over for dinner it's our chance to make friends. Her maid opens the door wearing a white apron, her hair in a tight bun. I know exactly what it's like to be in her shoes. But her cold stare gives me chills…The Lowells' maid isn't the only strange thing on our street. I'm sure I see a shadowy figure watching us. My husband leaves the house late at night. And when I meet a woman who lives across the way, her words chill me to the bone: Be careful of your neighbours. Did I make a terrible mistake moving my family here? I thought I'd left my darkest secrets behind. But could this quiet suburban street be the most dangerous place of all?
Title: The Teacher
Author: Frieda McFadden
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Date Published: 2024
Book Length: 400
About Book: Lesson #1: trust no one
Eve has a good life. She gets up each day, gets a kiss from her husband Nate, and heads off to teach math at the local high school. All is as it should be. Except…
Last year, Caseham High was rocked by a scandal, with one student, Addie, at its centre. And this year, Eve is dismayed to find the girl in her class.
Addie can't be trusted. She lies. She hurts people. She destroys lives. At least, that's what everyone says.
But nobody knows the real Addie. Nobody knows the secrets that could destroy her. And Addie will do anything to keep it quiet.
Title: The Inmate
Author: Frieda McFadden
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Date Published: 2024
Book Length: 336
About Book: The guiltiest people aren't always the ones behind bars…As a new nurse practitioner at a maximum-security prison, Brooke Sullivan is taught three crucial rules:
1. Treat all prisoners with respect.
2. Never reveal any personal information.
3. Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates.
But nobody knows that Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary's most notorious and dangerous inmates. They certainly don't know that Shane was Brooke's high school sweetheart―the star quarterback, the golden boy who's serving a life sentence for a series of grisly murders. Or that Brooke's testimony was what put him there. But Shane knows. He knows more than anyone. And he will never forget.
Title: The 6.20 Man
Author: David Baldacci
Series: 6.20 Man book 1 of f3
Publisher: Pan
Date Published: 2023
Book Length: 592
About Book: It's time to catch a killer . . .Having survived combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq and been decorated with medals, Travis Devine leaves the army in mysterious circumstances, under a cloud of suspicion. And at thirty-two years old, he’s swapping fighting the Taliban and Al-Qaeda for a different kind of danger in the cut-throat world of high finance. His daily commute on the 6:20 a.m. train into New York’s financial district, to his new job as an analyst at the powerhouse investment bank Cowl and Comely, takes him into a world where greed, power, jealousy and ambition result in the financial abuse of the masses and the enrichment of an elite few. When a close friend of Devine’s is found dead, the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death at Cowl and Comely compel him to investigate further. As he digs deeper, he discovers strange coincidences and unnerving truths. As the deaths pile up, and the major players show their hands, he must question who he can trust – and who he must fight . . .
Title: The Mistress
Author: Valerie Keogh
Date Published: 2024
Book Length: 288
About Book: She wants what you have...
Hannah Parker is a woman who always gets what she wants.
When her current husband discovers she has been lying to him – again - she knows it’s time to move on and find someone who can give her the life she desires… The life she knows she deserves…
But who will be the lucky man?
When her eye catches a glimpse of an old flame in a photograph, she’s sure it’s a sign. Mark Shepherd has always been in her thoughts – they’d been happy once, he’d adored her, but she’d made a mistake and let him get away. She won’t make the same mistake again….
Hannah is older now and wiser. She knows what men want and she knows how to keep them happy.
So what if Mark is happily married with a family of his own?
All good things must come to an end…
Title: The Silent Patient
Author: Alex Michaelides
Publisher: Orion
Date Published: 2019
Book Length: 352
About Book: Alicia Berenson lived a seemingly perfect life until one day six years ago. When she shot her husband in the head five times. Since then she hasn't spoken a single word. It's time to find out why.
Title: None of this is True
Author: Lisa Jewell
Publisher: Penguin
Date Published: 2024
Book Length: 400
About Book: Celebrating her 45th birthday at her local pub, podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie is also celebrating her 45th. A few days later, they bump into each other again, this time outside Alix's children's school. Josie says she thinks she would be an interesting subject for Alix's podcast. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life. Alix agrees to a trial interview and indeed, Josie's life appears to be strange and complicated. Alix finds her unsettling but can't quite resist the temptation to keep digging. Slowly Alix starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it Josie has cajoled her way into Alix's life - and into her home. Soon Alix begins to wonder who is Josie Fair really? And what has she done?
Title: The One That Got Away
Author: JD Kirk
Date Published: 2023
Book Length: 350
About Book: What if your worst enemy was your only hope? When a fifteen-year-old girl fails to make it home after school, DI Heather Filson believes she’s dealing with just another teenage runaway. The girl’s grandfather, a notorious Glasgow gangster, disagrees. Convinced one of his underworld enemies has grabbed her, he’s prepared to bathe the city in blood in order to bring his princess home. But, as the days pass and the evidence mounts, Heather starts to fear that they’re both wrong, and that a brutal killer from the past has returned. A killer who once stalked the streets of her hometown, preying on vulnerable young victims. A killer that DI Heather Filson is uniquely familiar with…
Title: Ask for Andrea
Author: Noelle W Ihli
Date Published: 2022
Book Length: 293
About Book: Meghan, Brecia, and Skye have just one thing in common. They were all murdered by the same man. He hunted them online, masquerading as an eligible bachelor. Then he played the perfect gentleman, a thick layer of charm and a thousand-watt smile hiding the fact that his first dates end in shallow graves. He’s gotten away with murder three times now. The only thing that might keep him from killing again? The women he murdered. Meghan, Brecia, and Skye might be dead, but they’re not gone. They’ve found each other. And they won’t rest until they find a way to stop him. The haunt is on.
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