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  1. Genres
  2. ›Mystery

Best Mystery Books

Mystery and detective fiction

2,086 summaries

Showing 433–456 of 2,086

  1. Violets Are Blue

    James Patterson

    ★ 4.0 (56k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Detective Alex Cross hunts a killer performing 'vampire' rituals while being stalked by the 'Mastermind' from his past, forcing him to face both city crime and his own personal demons.

  2. The Lost World

    Michael Crichton

    ★ 3.9 (56k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Six years after the Jurassic Park disaster, a new expedition goes to a hidden world where prehistoric predators have survived and evolved in terrifying ways.

  3. Unbelievable

    Sara Shepard

    ★ 4.0 (55k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Hanna fights for her life, while Emily, Aria, and Spencer deal with their own collapsing worlds, discovering that knowing too much can be a death sentence in their perfect town.

  4. Elizabeth Is Missing

    Emma Healey

    ★ 3.7 (55k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    An elderly woman with dementia, haunted by her best friend's disappearance and her sister's vanishing decades ago, uncovers a shattering truth hidden in her fragmented memories.

  5. Skulduggery Pleasant

    Derek Landy

    ★ 4.1 (55k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A witty, fire-wielding skeleton detective and a brave, magic-wielding twelve-year-old girl team up to stop an ancient evil from destroying the world, one snarky comment and explosive spell at a time.

  6. The Odessa File

    Frederick Forsyth

    ★ 4.1 (55k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A young German journalist’s investigation into an elderly Jew’s suicide unearths a sinister post-WWII Nazi organization, leading him on a perilous hunt for a notorious SS war criminal and a plot to reignite the Final Solution.

  7. The First Phone Call from Heaven

    Mitch Albom

    ★ 3.8 (55k) average on GoodreadsSpirituality

    When residents of a small town receive calls from deceased loved ones, a skeptical father investigates whether it's a miracle or a trick, making everyone consider what belief really means.

  8. Outbreak

    Robin Cook

    ★ 4.0 (55k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A deadly plague sweeps the nation, and Dr. Marissa Blumenthal must expose a sinister conspiracy within the medical community before a 'cure' becomes the deadliest weapon.

  9. Psycho

    Robert Bloch

    ★ 4.1 (55k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A desperate woman's impulsive stop at a secluded motel run by a shy, bird-loving manager and his domineering mother unravels into a nightmarish descent where privacy is a myth and a shower can be a death trap.

  10. Alone

    Lisa Gardner

    ★ 4.0 (55k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A sniper's decision during a hostage crisis shatters a woman's fragile peace, unleashing a vengeful predator from her past who seeks to corner them all in a deadly web.

  11. The Face on the Milk Carton

    Caroline B. Cooney

    ★ 3.7 (55k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A teenager's world shatters when she recognizes her own three-year-old face on a milk carton, uncovering a twelve-year-old kidnapping mystery that involves the only parents she's ever known.

  12. The Rithmatist

    Brandon Sanderson

    ★ 4.2 (54k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    When two-dimensional chalk drawings come to life, a non-magic user uncovers a dark plot against the Rithmatists he hopes to join, forcing him to solve a mystery that could destroy their world.

  13. The Drop

    Michael Connelly

    ★ 4.2 (54k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Nearing retirement, Detective Harry Bosch works to solve a cold case DNA mystery tied to an impossible child killer and investigates a politically charged death at the Chateau Marmont, uncovering a decades-old conspiracy that threatens his city's justice system.

  14. Petals on the Wind

    V.C. Andrews

    ★ 3.8 (54k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Haunted by their past, the Dollanganger siblings, now young adults, navigate forbidden desires and vengeful plots as Cathy seeks to reclaim their stolen innocence and exact retribution on those who wronged them.

  15. Past Tense

    Lee Child

    ★ 4.0 (54k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Jack Reacher's road trip turns dark when a detour to his ancestral hometown unearths a conspiracy involving his family's past and two stranded travelers with a dangerous secret.

  16. Black House

    Stephen King

    ★ 4.0 (54k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A retired detective, haunted by forgotten memories and strange visions, is pulled back into a terrifying parallel world to confront an ancient evil preying on a quiet Wisconsin town.

  17. The Forgotten

    David Baldacci

    ★ 4.1 (54k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    When his aunt's death in a beautiful Florida town is called an accident, Army Special Agent John Puller finds a dark conspiracy under Paradise's sunny surface, making him face hard truths to find her killer.

  18. 7th Heaven

    James Patterson

    ★ 4.1 (54k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    When wealthy homes ignite in deadly arsons, Detective Lindsay Boxer races to unmask a killer and uncover the truth behind a golden boy's disappearance, as danger closes in on her own life.

  19. Unnatural Exposure

    Patricia Cornwell

    ★ 4.1 (54k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Medical examiner Kay Scarpetta hunts a shadowy bioterrorist using virtual reality and forensic science, all while battling a rival investigator and a public panicked by a gruesome trail of headless, limbless bodies.

  20. The Eagle Has Landed

    Jack Higgins

    ★ 4.2 (54k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In a World War II thriller, a Nazi commando unit parachutes into an English village to abduct Winston Churchill, forcing townsfolk to become heroes in a desperate fight.

  21. A Rule Against Murder

    Louise Penny

    ★ 4.2 (53k) average on Goodreads

    Chief Inspector Gamache must unravel the secrets of a wealthy family reunion at an isolated inn where a 'rule against murder' is defiantly broken, leading him into a storm of buried hatreds and personal reflection.

  22. The Return of Sherlock Holmes

    Arthur Conan Doyle

    ★ 4.3 (53k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    After a three-year disappearance presumed fatal, Sherlock Holmes dramatically resurfaces, his return igniting a new era of thirteen perplexing cases, from deciphering cryptic dancing men to unmasking the assailant behind the shattered Napoleons.

  23. Glory in Death

    J.D. Robb

    ★ 4.3 (52k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In 2058 New York, Detective Eve Dallas investigates a high-society murder. The victims' affairs and powerful lovers, including her partner Roarke, lead to a killer hidden in the human heart's darkest desires.

  24. Wonderstruck

    Brian Selznick

    ★ 4.2 (52k) average on GoodreadsChildren's

    A deaf boy's search for his unknown father in 1977 connects with a runaway deaf girl's search for a silent film star in 1927, their journeys told through words and illustrations.

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