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  1. Genres
  2. ›Mystery

Best Mystery Books

Mystery and detective fiction

2,086 summaries

Showing 289–312 of 2,086

  1. Twelve Sharp

    Janet Evanovich

    ★ 4.2 (89k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum's chaotic life in Trenton turns deadly when a mysterious woman stalks her, forcing Stephanie to work with Ranger to find a killer, rescue a child, and outrun danger, all while her boyfriend Joe Morelli watches.

  2. The Maltese Falcon

    Dashiell Hammett

    ★ 3.9 (89k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A cynical private eye navigates a web of lies, betrayals, and murder in 1930s San Francisco, all while hunting for a jewel-encrusted falcon and the truth behind his partner's death.

  3. End of Watch

    Stephen King

    ★ 4.1 (89k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A comatose serial killer, now with psychic powers, causes a wave of suicides from his hospital bed, making retired detective Bill Hodges and his team face a final, supernatural fight to save a city.

  4. Burial Rites

    Hannah Kent

    ★ 4.0 (89k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    On the desolate 19th-century Icelandic frontier, a condemned murderess, sent to await her execution on an isolated farm, slowly unveils a haunting truth to the reluctant family and the young priest tasked with her spiritual care, forcing them to question the nature of justice and perception.

  5. The Penultimate Peril

    Lemony Snicket

    ★ 4.0 (89k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In their second-to-last, dangerous adventure, the Baudelaire orphans enter a mysterious hotel, navigate many secrets and disguises, and confront their enemy, Count Olaf, in a race to find the truth and perhaps justice.

  6. Gone Tomorrow

    Lee Child

    ★ 4.2 (89k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    On a New York City subway late at night, ex-military drifter Jack Reacher thinks he sees a suicide bomber. He must decide if he will intervene and risk everything based on his gut feeling and a dozen clues.

  7. A Scanner Darkly

    Philip K. Dick

    ★ 4.0 (89k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In dystopian Los Angeles, an undercover narcotics agent's mind breaks as he succumbs to the drug he is fighting, blurring the lines between hunter and hunted until his identity is lost.

  8. The Racketeer

    John Grisham

    ★ 3.8 (89k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A disgraced lawyer, imprisoned for a minor crime, holds the key to a federal judge's murder. His information comes with a price: freedom and a plan to get it.

  9. Case Histories

    Kate Atkinson

    ★ 3.8 (88k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Thirty years after a little girl vanishes, an office worker is brutally murdered, and a new mother commits a grisly act of rage, private investigator Jackson Brodie unearths the shocking, interwoven truths behind these seemingly disparate Cambridge tragedies.

  10. Altered Carbon

    Richard K. Morgan

    ★ 4.0 (87k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In a future where death is a mere inconvenience and consciousness can be 'resleeved' into new bodies, a cynical ex-envoy is resurrected into a world of corporate intrigue and violent conspiracy to solve the murder of a billionaire's previous self.

  11. Lean Mean Thirteen

    Janet Evanovich

    ★ 4.1 (87k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    When her ex-husband vanishes after a public brawl, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum gets caught in a web of old relationships, disappearances, and a dangerous game where her own life is at risk.

  12. The Thief Lord

    Cornelia Funke

    ★ 4.0 (87k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In Venice, two runaway orphans find refuge with a gang of child thieves and their leader, only to discover a magical carousel that can steal their childhoods and a detective looking for them.

  13. The Life We Bury

    Allen Eskens

    ★ 4.0 (87k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A college student's simple writing assignment unravels a dying veteran's murder conviction, forcing him to confront a dangerous past while battling his own fractured family and a haunting childhood memory.

  14. Ninth House

    Leigh Bardugo

    ★ 4.0 (87k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A street-smart survivor of a brutal murder gets a scholarship to Yale, only to find herself policing the dark, occult rituals of its secret societies, where the dead walk and power comes at a terrifying cost.

  15. The Brethren

    John Grisham

    ★ 3.7 (86k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Three disbarred judges running a lucrative mail scam from a minimum-security prison find their con spiraling into a deadly game when they inadvertently swindle a man with dangerous connections.

  16. The Bone Clocks

    David Mitchell

    ★ 3.8 (86k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    From a teenage runaway's psychic awakening in rural England to an epic, centuries-spanning war between immortal souls, Holly Sykes's life becomes the unexpected fulcrum of humanity's hidden destiny.

  17. Ordinary Grace

    William Kent Krueger

    ★ 4.2 (85k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    In the summer of 1961, a thirteen-year-old boy in rural Minnesota deals with several tragedies that show the hidden side of his quiet town, making him face sin, grace, and the end of his innocence.

  18. Fearless Fourteen

    Janet Evanovich

    ★ 4.0 (84k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum navigates a chaotic mix of family vendettas, hidden millions, and a monkey named Carl, all while juggling her on-again-off-again romance with Joe Morelli and a tempting offer from the enigmatic Ranger.

  19. Hearts in Atlantis

    Stephen King

    ★ 3.8 (84k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    From the wonder of 1960 to the reflections of 1999, Stephen King weaves five connected tales. They show how the Vietnam War and hidden evils scar ordinary Americans.

  20. Shadows of Self

    Brandon Sanderson

    ★ 4.3 (84k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A lawman and his shapeshifting partner must stop a religiously-motivated terrorist from unraveling Scadrial's new society, forcing the lawman to confront his past.

  21. Ghost Story

    Peter Straub

    ★ 4.3 (83k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In the snow-covered town of Milburn, four old men face a terrifying past when their decades-old secret sin returns as a malevolent force.

  22. The Evolution of Mara Dyer

    Michelle Hodkin

    ★ 4.3 (83k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Haunted by a killer from her past and grappling with the terrifying ability to kill with her mind, Mara Dyer must master her powers and uncover the truth behind Jude's impossible survival before she loses her sanity, or Noah, forever.

  23. The Broker

    John Grisham

    ★ 3.8 (83k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A pardoned power broker, holding secrets to the world's most advanced spy satellite, is unleashed into a deadly international arena as the CIA orchestrates his assassination to expose who truly wants him silenced.

  24. The Wasp Factory

    Iain Banks

    ★ 3.8 (83k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A dark, funny, and unsettling story about a Scottish teenager whose ritualistic violence and strange family life lead to a shocking truth when his institutionalized brother escapes.

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