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  1. Genres
  2. ›Mystery

Best Mystery Books

Mystery and detective fiction

2,086 summaries

Showing 913–936 of 2,086

  1. Sometimes a Great Notion

    Ken Kesey

    ★ 4.2 (21k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    In an Oregon logging town, the Stamper family, led by a defiant father and his sons, fights a strike and their own destructive past, ending in a clash of wills and unexpected revenge.

  2. Sidetracked

    Henning Mankell

    ★ 4.1 (21k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Haunted by a teenage girl's self-immolation, Inspector Wallander races against time to catch a scalping serial killer, all while his department is consumed by budget cuts and World Cup fever.

  3. Glamorama

    Bret Easton Ellis

    ★ 3.5 (21k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    In 90s Manhattan, a model's celebrity-obsessed life spirals into a nightmarish conspiracy of terror and mistaken identity, blurring the lines between fame, fashion, and deadly mayhem.

  4. Kindred in Death

    J.D. Robb

    ★ 4.3 (21k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Lieutenant Eve Dallas investigates the brutal murder of a police captain's daughter, uncovering a killer who uses digital identities to taunt the NYPD.

  5. This Book Is Not Good for You

    Pseudonymous Bosch

    ★ 4.3 (21k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    When her mom is kidnapped by an evil chocolatier for a legendary tuning fork, Cass and her friend Max-Ernest must unravel the mystery of his delicious, yet dangerous, confections before it's too late.

  6. Nerve

    Jeanne Ryan

    ★ 3.4 (21k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A shy high school senior plays a high-stakes online game of dares, finding herself involved with a mysterious partner and challenges that quickly escalate, blurring the lines between reward and deadly consequence.

  7. Storm of the Century

    Stephen King

    ★ 3.9 (21k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A malevolent stranger traps an isolated Maine island community during a brutal blizzard, demanding an unspeakable sacrifice in exchange for their survival.

  8. What the Dead Know

    Laura Lippman

    ★ 3.5 (21k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Thirty years after two sisters disappear from a mall, a woman claiming to be the younger sibling resurfaces. Her story unravels a perfect family's facade, leaving a skeptical detective to untangle her web of secrets before the truth disappears again.

  9. Zodiac

    Romina Russell

    ★ 3.9 (20k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A teenage Cancerian astrologer, who reads stars through stories instead of equations, must unite a fractured galaxy against a vengeful 13th house, after a celestial attack thrusts her into leadership.

  10. As the Crow Flies

    Jeffrey Archer

    ★ 4.1 (20k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    From the fruit stalls of East End London to the battlefields of World War I and beyond, Charlie Trumper's pursuit of an honest empire is shadowed by a generational vendetta that threatens to unravel his every triumph.

  11. Chasm City

    Alastair Reynolds

    ★ 4.1 (20k) average on GoodreadsScience Fiction

    In a future Chasm City where a flesh-and-metal plague corrupts all it touches, a security officer hunts a killer, only to uncover a conspiracy that could rewrite humanity's past.

  12. The Charlemagne Pursuit

    Steve Berry

    ★ 3.9 (20k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A former agent's quest to uncover his father's true fate aboard a lost nuclear submarine unravels a Nazi-era Antarctic secret, linking ancient clues, rival heirs, and a ruthless admiral in a race to control a revelation that could reshape humanity.

  13. The Devil All the Time

    Donald Ray Pollock

    ★ 4.1 (20k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In the rural South after WWII, an orphaned son of a disturbed veteran navigates a world of killers, fanatic preachers, and his own violent nature, all while seeking justice and peace.

  14. Thankless in Death

    J.D. Robb

    ★ 4.3 (20k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    As Thanksgiving approaches in 2060 New York, Lieutenant Eve Dallas hunts a disgruntled son who brutally murdered his parents and plans to unleash his new love for violence upon the city, proving that some family ties are best severed by a blade.

  15. Elite

    Rachel Van Dyken

    ★ 4.0 (20k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A Wyoming farm girl wins a scholarship to an elite university. She soon learns she is a pawn in a dangerous game where the most powerful students keep their enemies closer than she ever imagined.

  16. Summer of Night

    Dan Simmons

    ★ 4.0 (20k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In the summer of 1960, five boys in Elm Haven, Illinois, discover a history of missing children and an old evil threatening their town, forcing them to face horrors beyond childhood fears.

  17. The Sunday Philosophy Club

    Alexander McCall Smith

    ★ 3.4 (20k) average on GoodreadsPhilosophy

    An Edinburgh philosopher watches a stranger fall to his death, decides that witnessing it makes it her business, and ends up choosing whether the man who caused it should be punished at all.

  18. Blue Labyrinth

    Douglas Preston

    ★ 4.1 (20k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Special Agent Pendergast investigates his family's dark past after a murdered enemy appears on his doorstep with a mysterious turquoise clue.

  19. The Crow Road

    Iain Banks

    ★ 4.0 (20k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    After his grandmother's sudden death, Prentice McHoan returns to his Scottish family, questioning death, desire, and his family's hidden past while uncovering many secrets.

  20. The Other

    Thomas Tryon

    ★ 4.0 (20k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In 1930s Connecticut, the bond between thirteen-year-old twins becomes a terrifying mystery of personality transference that shatters the peaceful country setting.

  21. Where Things Come Back

    John Corey Whaley

    ★ 3.8 (20k) average on GoodreadsSpirituality

    A small Arkansas town erupts in 'woodpecker-mania' over a rediscovered, supposedly extinct bird. A teenager grapples with his brother's disappearance, intertwining their search for meaning with a missionary's crisis of faith across continents.

  22. Concealed in Death

    J.D. Robb

    ★ 4.3 (20k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    When demolition unearths a dozen skeletal remains of teenage girls in a forgotten shelter, Lieutenant Eve Dallas must uncover the dark secrets of 'The Sanctuary' and confront the evil hidden in a familiar heart.

  23. The Bone Tree

    Greg Iles

    ★ 4.2 (20k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A Southern prosecutor's search for his fugitive father unravels a decades-old conspiracy involving the KKK, the Mafia, and the JFK assassination, all converging on a legendary killing ground known as the Bone Tree.

  24. The Sky is Falling

    Sidney Sheldon

    ★ 3.6 (20k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A relentless TV anchorwoman, chasing the truth behind a wealthy family's 'accidental' deaths, uncovers a global conspiracy of assassinations and secret auctions, where friends become foes and no one can be trusted, all while unseen forces manipulate her world and endanger her loved ones.

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