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  1. Genres
  2. ›Mystery

Best Mystery Books

Mystery and detective fiction

2,086 summaries

Showing 49–72 of 2,086

  1. What Alice Forgot

    Liane Moriarty

    ★ 4.1 (357k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    Amnesia forces a 39-year-old socialite to unravel the ten lost years that transformed her from a blissfully pregnant newlywed into a super-skinny, thrice-mothered divorcee, prompting a humorous yet poignant quest to rediscover her true self and the love she left behind.

  2. Everything I Never Told You

    Celeste Ng

    ★ 3.9 (339k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    In 1970s Ohio, the death of a Chinese American family's daughter shatters their world, exposing unspoken dreams, racial tensions, and the heavy weight of parental expectations.

  3. The Couple Next Door

    Shari Lapena

    ★ 3.8 (337k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    After their baby vanishes during a dinner party next door, a couple's perfect life crumbles under suspicion, revealing secrets and betrayals.

  4. The Hunt for Red October

    Tom Clancy

    ★ 4.1 (336k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A renegade Soviet submarine captain steers his nation's most advanced nuclear missile sub toward American shores, igniting a high-stakes Cold War chase where the fate of global peace hinges on deciphering his true intentions.

  5. The Godfather

    Mario Puzo

    ★ 4.4 (335k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Beneath the veneer of legitimate business, the Corleone family navigates a brutal world of loyalty, betrayal, and bloody power struggles to protect their empire and legacy.

  6. A Study in Scarlet

    Arthur Conan Doyle

    ★ 4.2 (324k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    A war-weary doctor in Victorian London meets an eccentric detective, and together they investigate a cryptic murder with a scarlet message, leading them to a vengeful tale from the American frontier.

  7. Turtles All the Way Down

    John Green

    ★ 4.0 (314k) average on GoodreadsPsychology

    Aza Holmes, a young woman dealing with escalating obsessive thoughts, searches for a missing billionaire, uncovering the complexities of friendship, unexpected love, and her own mind.

  8. Kiss the Girls

    James Patterson

    ★ 4.0 (313k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Detective Alex Cross races against time to unmask two cunning serial killers terrorizing the nation, whose synchronized murders escalate into a deadly competition.

  9. In the Woods

    Tana French

    ★ 3.8 (304k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Twenty years after being the sole, amnesiac survivor of three children who vanished into the woods, a detective must confront his own shattered past when a new murder in the same woods reopens the chilling, unsolved mystery of his childhood.

  10. The Casual Vacancy

    J.K. Rowling

    ★ 3.3 (303k) average on Goodreads

    In the quiet English village of Pagford, a sudden death starts a bitter fight over class, family secrets, and politics, revealing the rot beneath its perfect surface.

  11. The Name of the Rose

    Umberto Eco

    ★ 4.1 (301k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    In a 14th-century Italian abbey, a wise Franciscan friar must solve a series of murders and theological puzzles before the killer silences all witnesses and the truth itself.

  12. Nineteen Minutes

    Jodi Picoult

    ★ 4.1 (301k) average on GoodreadsYoung Adult

    A small town deals with a school shooting. Residents confront their part in the event and the unclear line between victim and perpetrator. A judge's daughter holds the truth, but she cannot remember it.

  13. 1st to Die

    James Patterson

    ★ 4.1 (296k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A San Francisco detective, battling a deadly blood disease and a serial killer, joins with three other women to find a murderer and finds love.

  14. Storm Front

    Jim Butcher

    ★ 4.0 (294k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A wizard-for-hire in modern Chicago, down on his luck, gets caught in a dark magic murder case, using his wit and magic against a dangerous, hidden enemy.

  15. Before I Go to Sleep

    S.J. Watson

    ★ 3.9 (290k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Amnesia-stricken Christine pieces together her past each day, only to uncover a chilling truth that makes her question everything her husband has told her.

  16. Into the Water

    Paula Hawkins

    ★ 3.6 (282k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    When a single mother and a teenage girl are found dead in the same river, a town's murky past of drowned women and long-buried secrets begins to surface, forcing a reluctant aunt to confront the very place she vowed to escape.

  17. Red Dragon

    Thomas Harris

    ★ 4.0 (274k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Haunted by his past and the monster he barely survived, FBI profiler Will Graham must re-enter the abyss of the criminal mind, seeking the chilling insight of Hannibal Lecter to stop a new, brutal serial killer obsessed with the Red Dragon.

  18. The Thirteenth Tale

    Diane Setterfield

    ★ 4.0 (272k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A reclusive author, known for her made-up pasts, reveals the gothic truth of her life and a missing story to a young biographer, linking their lives through shared secrets, madness, and the power of stories.

  19. The Runaway Jury

    John Grisham

    ★ 4.0 (272k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In a tobacco trial, a mysterious young woman and an odd jury lead a lawyer to suspect a plot to manipulate justice from inside the jury room.

  20. Defending Jacob

    William Landay

    ★ 4.0 (264k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A respected ADA's world shatters when his son is accused of murder, forcing him to confront the terrifying possibility that the boy he loves is a killer.

  21. Under the Dome

    Stephen King

    ★ 3.9 (257k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    An invisible dome traps a small Maine town, forcing residents to fight for survival. An Iraq veteran leads a group against a corrupt politician and the dome's mystery before humanity collapses.

  22. The Mysterious Affair at Styles

    Agatha Christie

    ★ 4.0 (255k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A recuperating war veteran's peaceful country retreat turns deadly when a poisoning at Styles Priory forces him to partner with an eccentric Belgian refugee detective to unmask a cunning killer.

  23. The Hound of the Baskervilles

    Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    ★ 4.1 (254k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Sherlock Holmes must unravel the chilling legend of a spectral hound and a family curse before the beast on the desolate moors claims its next victim.

  24. Odd Thomas

    Dean Koontz

    ★ 4.0 (250k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A short-order cook who sees the dead must race against time to prevent a disaster in his desert town, guided by silent specters and the love of his life, before a mysterious stranger unleashes evil.

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