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  1. Genres
  2. ›Mystery

Best Mystery Books

Mystery and detective fiction

2,086 summaries

Showing 409–432 of 2,086

  1. Roses are Red

    James Patterson

    ★ 4.0 (60k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A meticulous criminal mastermind terrorizes Washington D.C. with a series of bank robberies and murders, forcing Detective Alex Cross to untangle the psychopath's web while dealing with personal issues before a devastating final crime.

  2. The Omen

    David Seltzer

    ★ 4.0 (60k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A diplomat's perfect life shatters when he learns his young son is the prophesied Antichrist, meant to bring about evil.

  3. Foucault's Pendulum

    Umberto Eco

    ★ 3.9 (60k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Three jaded editors, playing a dangerous game with occult manuscripts and a supercomputer, accidentally conjure a real-world conspiracy that drags them into a deadly hunt for an ancient secret.

  4. From a Buick 8

    Stephen King

    ★ 3.5 (59k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A mysterious, otherworldly Buick Roadmaster in a rural Pennsylvania state police shed becomes a silent, breathing entity that consumes lives and fuels a young man's dangerous quest for answers after his father's death.

  5. The Bourne Ultimatum

    Robert Ludlum

    ★ 4.0 (59k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    David Webb must awaken his deadly alter ego, Jason Bourne, for a final, explosive confrontation with his nemesis, the Jackal, amidst a global conspiracy.

  6. When the Bough Breaks

    Jonathan Kellerman

    ★ 4.0 (59k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A child psychologist helps a seven-year-old witness to a murder, uncovering a forty-year-old conspiracy that links to his own past and endangers the girl's life.

  7. Stalking Jack the Ripper

    Kerri Maniscalco

    ★ 4.0 (59k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A defiant lord's daughter secretly dissects corpses to unmask Jack the Ripper, only to find the killer's shadow creeping closer to her privileged world.

  8. Authority

    Jeff VanderMeer

    ★ 3.5 (59k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A new director unearths unsettling truths behind the Southern Reach's failed expeditions into the anomalous Area X, only to find the agency's secrets are as corrupting and inscrutable as the mysterious zone itself.

  9. The Pit and the Pendulum

    Edgar Allan Poe

    ★ 4.2 (58k) average on Goodreads

    Trapped in the Spanish Inquisition, a condemned prisoner descends into madness as a pendulum swings closer and his cell walls close in.

  10. Cross

    James Patterson

    ★ 4.0 (58k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Haunted by his wife's unsolved murder, detective Alex Cross dives back into the shadows when a new serial rapist case resurfaces, threatening to expose the chilling truth behind the tragedy that shattered his life.

  11. The Brass Verdict

    Michael Connelly

    ★ 4.1 (58k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A defense attorney, returning to practice, takes on a murdered colleague's high-profile case and becomes entangled in an LAPD detective's hunt for a killer, leading to an unexpected alliance.

  12. The Kill Artist

    Daniel Silva

    ★ 4.0 (58k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A retired Israeli assassin and art restorer, haunted by tragedy, must hunt down a Palestinian zealot from his past who threatens Middle East peace, in a story of vengeance and political intrigue across three continents.

  13. Magic Hour

    Kristin Hannah

    ★ 4.1 (58k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    A disgraced child psychiatrist must unlock the secrets of a feral girl found in the wilderness, confronting her own past and a skeptical town, to give them both a chance at healing.

  14. The Cruelest Month

    Louise Penny

    ★ 4.2 (57k) average on Goodreads

    In the peaceful village of Three Pines, an Easter séance meant to drive out evil instead leads to a death, forcing Chief Inspector Gamache to face both spectral and human darkness.

  15. An Unwanted Guest

    Shari Lapena

    ★ 3.8 (57k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Trapped by a blizzard in a remote, luxurious lodge, guests find their cozy getaway transformed into a chilling nightmare as a killer hunts them one by one, leaving them to question if the storm or a fellow visitor is the greater threat.

  16. The 6th Target

    James Patterson

    ★ 4.0 (57k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A member of the Women's Murder Club fights for her life after an attack, while Detective Lindsay Boxer races to solve nanny-and-child kidnappings with no ransom, as San Francisco faces lethal danger.

  17. The Letter

    Kathryn Hughes

    ★ 4.0 (57k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    A curious 1970s housewife, escaping an abusive marriage, unearths a forgotten 1939 love letter that intertwines her destiny with the wartime secrets of its star-crossed authors.

  18. The Wrong Side of Goodbye

    Michael Connelly

    ★ 4.3 (57k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Ex-LAPD detective Harry Bosch, haunted by his past, looks for a dying billionaire's lost heir and tracks a serial rapist for a cash-strapped police department.

  19. Lightning

    Dean Koontz

    ★ 4.1 (57k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Haunted by a mysterious, lightning-borne stranger who repeatedly saves her from childhood to adulthood, Laura Shane must uncover if he is her guardian angel, a demonic force, or a puppet master of a destiny spanning beyond time itself.

  20. The Peach Keeper

    Sarah Addison Allen

    ★ 3.9 (57k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a Southern town where old money crumbles and new money blossoms, two women from rival families find a seventy-five-year-old skeleton beneath a peach tree, forcing them to confront a magical mystery and the deadly secrets that bind their intertwined histories.

  21. Legendary

    Stephanie Garber

    ★ 4.2 (56k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    To learn the Caraval Master's identity and save her life, Tella goes back into the deadly game, but she gets caught in a royal murder plot, a forbidden romance, and a web of secrets that could destroy everything she cares about.

  22. The 19th Wife

    David Ebershoff

    ★ 3.6 (56k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    In a dual-narrative spanning 1875 and present-day Utah, a former plural wife's fight against polygamy intertwines with a young man's murder investigation within a fundamentalist sect, exposing the enduring mysteries of faith, family, and freedom.

  23. Lock In

    John Scalzi

    ★ 3.9 (56k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In a future where a virus leaves millions 'locked in' their own bodies, an FBI agent, who is himself locked in and uses an 'integrator' body, uncovers a conspiracy larger than a single murder, exploring the dark side of a new human culture.

  24. I Was Here

    Gayle Forman

    ★ 3.8 (56k) average on GoodreadsPsychology

    Grief-stricken by her best friend's suicide, Cody uncovers a digital trail of secrets that shatters everything she thought she knew about their bond and the true circumstances of Meg's death.

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