Introduction
Hey, Bookworm Buddies! It’s been a while since my previous post, and I was busy compiling a list of ten mystery books to read for every mystery book fan. If you are a beginner and want a beginner-friendly list, please see my post about it. However, you may also use this list.
What is Mystery?
Mystery novels are a relatively new genre of literature, having emerged in the early nineteenth century. Mystery is a fiction genre in which the nature of an event, typically a murder or other crime, is unknown until the end of the book. Within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is given a convincing motive and a reasonable chance to commit the crime. The main character is often a detective (such as Sherlock Holmes) who solves the mystery through logical inference from the evidence supplied to the reader. Some mystery books are nonfiction. Mystery fiction can be detective stories that focus on the mystery or suspense element and its logical solution, such as a whodunit. Check out more information about Mystery Fiction.
So let’s get started with the list of 10 mystery books to read for every mystery book lover.
1. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Ten strangers are invited to Soldier Island, an isolated rock off the Devon coast. Cut off from the mainland, with their generous host mysteriously absent, they are each accused of a terrible crime.
Then one of the party dies suddenly, and they realise there may be a murderer in their midst – a murderer who might strike again… and again…
And all the time, copies of a macabre nursery rhyme hang in each room, a nursery rhyme with an omen of death for all ten of them.
Interesting Facts about the Book:
- The novel has sold over 100 million copies worldwide.
- It is Agatha Christie’s best-selling novel and the world’s best-selling mystery.
- In 2015, And Then There Were None was selected as the World’s Favourite Christie in a global poll to mark Agatha Christie’s 125th anniversary.
Trigger Warnings:
Racism, Murder, Suicide, Misogyny, Anti-Semitism, Classism, Blood & gore depiction, Physical injuries, Gun Violence, Poisoning, Drowning.
2. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
There are two sides to every story …
Who are you?
What have we done to each other?
These are the questions Nick Dunne finds himself asking on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police suspect Nick. Amy’s friends reveal that she was afraid of him and that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn’t true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they weren’t made by him. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone.
So what did happen to Nick’s beautiful wife?
Interesting Facts about the Book:
- The novel has sold more than 20 million copies.
- It was adapted into a very successful film.
- Gillian Flynn also wrote the script for the cinematic adaptation.
Trigger Warnings:
Blood portrayal, domestic violence mentioned, murder, poisoning, animal death, Rape mentioned, Cheating, A parent’s death was recounted, A spouse has disappeared.
3. Murder in the Bookshop by Anita Davison
Someone’s been read their last rites…
1915, London: Working in the dusty bookshop that her Aunt Violet mysteriously inherited, Hannah Merrill is accustomed to finding twists in every tale. But discovering her beloved best friend Lily-Anne – with a paperknife through her heart – in the middle of the bookshop, is not a plotline she saw coming.
The case is anything but textbook. With the discovery of a coded German message, and Hannah’s instinct that Lily-Anne’s husband is keeping secrets, she determines to get to the bottom of it.
She can’t do it alone though. To crack this case, Hannah will need the enlist the help of her outrageous, opinionated, only-occasionally-objectionable Aunt Violet.
They think they’re making progress until one of their chief suspects is found dead. And Hannah realises that she is herself now in the murderer’s sights. Will the final chapter be the ending of a killer… or just a killer ending?
Interesting Facts about the Book:
- Murder in the Bookshop was released in August 2023, while Murder in the Library, the second instalment in the series, is expected in early 2024.
- The Miss Merrill and Aunt Violet Mysteries are set during WWI.
Trigger Warnings:
References to suicide, Murder.
4. Heart on the Edge by Novoneel Chakraborty
Naishee Kamaraj has a special bond with her younger brother, Shravan. One day when he suddenly goes missing, everyone tells her that perhaps he left of his own volition, but Naishee knows her brother better than anyone else. She fears there has been foul play. And her fears come true when she receives a second-hand phone with a video of her brother being held captive. She needs to perform some horrific activities to save her brother. As time ticks by, Naishee knows she will come out a totally different person by the end of it all…
Interesting Facts about the author:
- Novoneel Chakraborty is a bestselling author of fourteen thriller novels and a short story collection, Cheaters.
- His novel, Forget Me Not, Stranger, launched as the No. 1 bestseller in India.
Trigger Warnings:
Rape, Harassment, Child Abuse, Violence.
5. The Disappearance of Sally Sequeira by Bhaskar Chattopadhyay
With its pristine beaches and clear turquoise waters, the picturesque hamlet of Movim in Goa seems like the perfect holiday spot for Detective Janardan Maity and his friend Prakash Ray. But when the father of a local teenage girl receives a letter asking for a large sum of money in exchange for his daughter, Maity and Prakash find themselves in the thick of an unlikely mystery. For, they discover, the girl has not been kidnapped at all, and is safe and sound in her house.
As they begin to investigate, the duo encounter the mysterious characters who inhabit the tiny village, each hiding a secret of their own – not least the frail and shy Sally Sequeria, who keeps to herself but steps out at night to dance to the notes of a piano.
What truth does Movim hide? And how will Janardan Maity solve a crime that has not yet been committed?
Interesting Facts about the author:
- Bhaskar Chattopadhyay is the author of 3 novels: Here Falls the Shadow, Patang, and Penumbra.
- In addition to translating the writings of Rabindranath Tagore and Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay, he wrote and edited the bestselling anthology 14: Stories that Inspired Satyajit Ray, a collection of short stories.
6. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again…’
Working as a paid companion to a bitter elderly lady, the timid heroine of Rebecca learns her place. Life is bleak until, on a trip to the South of France, she falls in love with Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower whose proposal takes her by surprise. Whisked from Monte Carlo to Manderley, Maxim’s isolated Cornish estate, the friendless young bride begins to realise that she barely knows her husband at all. And in every corner of every room is the phantom of his beautiful first wife, Rebecca.
Rebecca is the haunting story of a woman consumed by love and the struggle to find her identity.
Interesting Facts about the Book:
- Rebecca was first released in 1938 and has never been out of print.
- Mrs de Winter, the protagonist of Rebecca, remains unnamed throughout the book.
- During World War II, a copy of Rebecca was found in the belongings of two captured German spies.
Trigger Warnings:
Fatmisia, incest, dementia, suicide, murder, racism, infidelity, alcoholism, cancer, and drowning.
7. The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie
‘Let us see, Mr Clever Poirot, just how clever you can be.’
There’s a serial killer on the loose, working his way through the alphabet and the whole country is in a state of panic.
A is for Mrs Ascher in Andover, B is for Betty Barnard in Bexhill, and C is for Sir Carmichael Clarke in Churston. With each murder, the killer is getting more confident – but leaving a trail of deliberate clues to taunt the proud Hercule Poirot might just prove to be the first, and fatal mistake…
Interesting Facts about the Book:
- The ABC Murders is one of the first examples of the ‘serial killer’ concept, which is now commonly seen in books and on television. When Agatha Christie wrote this story, the term ‘serial killer’ did not even exist.
- It has been adapted several times, most recently in 2018, with John Malkovich playing the legendary Belgian detective.
Trigger Warnings:
Death, Murder, Racism, Sexism.
8. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
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.
Interesting Facts about the book:
- When the book was released, it debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list.
- It later received the Goodreads Choice Award 2019 in the Mystery and Thriller categories.
Trigger Warnings:
Child abuse, Suicide and attempted suicide, blood and gore depiction, death of a parent recounted, murder, Strangulation, Ableism and ableist language, cheating, psychiatric hospitalisation, eyeball trauma, death of a husband, gun violence
9. The Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie
When a stranger runs his car into a ditch in dense fog near the South Wales coast, and makes his way to an isolated house, he discovers a woman standing over the dead body of her wheelchair-bound husband, a gun in her hand. She admits to murder, and the unexpected guest offers to help her concoct a cover story.
But is it possible that Laura Warwick did not commit the murder after all? And if so, who is she shielding? The house seems full of possible suspects…
Interesting Facts about the book:
- Following his success with Black Coffee and Spider’s Web, Charles Osborne adapted Agatha Christie’s play The Unexpected Guest into a novel in 1999.
- Osborne chose not to incorporate characters, lines, or sequences that would significantly modify what had been presented on the stage forty-one years earlier, although minor changes were made to produce appropriate chapter ends.
Trigger Warnings:
Death of a child, Murder, Car accident.
10. Truly Devious Trilogy by Maureen Johnson
Ellingham Academy is a well-known private school in Vermont that attracts the greatest thinkers, inventors, and artists.
Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth-century tycoon, founded it intending to create a magical area filled with puzzles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.”
His wife and daughter were kidnapped shortly after the school first opened. The sole actual clue was a sarcastic puzzle outlining techniques of murder written with the terrifying alias “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the most significant unsolved crimes in American history.
Stevie Bell, a true-crime enthusiast, is about to start her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has a big plan: solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the crime once she has a handle on her demanding new school life and her housemates, who include the inventor, novelist, actor, artist, and jokester. But something unusual is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprising comeback, and Death returns to Ellingham Academy. The past has emerged from its grave. Someone got away with murder.
Interesting Facts about the book:
- It is a New York Times and USA Today Bestseller.
- It is a Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2018
Trigger Warnings:
Disease (mentioned), Drug addiction (as indicated), Gun violence, Misgendering (accidental), Panic disorder, The disappearance and implied death of a wife and daughter (theme), Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Anxiety, Dissection, Murder, Panic attacks, Smoking, Social anxiety, childbirth, Child neglect (mentioned), Death (includes children)
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Let’s Chat!
Have you read any of the books mentioned above? Did you like it? Are you planning to read any of the novels I suggested above? Do you have any recommendations for mystery books to include on this list? Let me know in the comments!
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