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  1. Genres
  2. ›Mystery

Best Mystery Books

Mystery and detective fiction

2,086 summaries

Showing 73–96 of 2,086

  1. Killing Floor

    Lee Child

    ★ 4.0 (249k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Framed for murder, ex-military policeman Jack Reacher must uncover a conspiracy in a Georgia town where everyone is a suspect.

  2. The Green Mile

    Stephen King

    ★ 4.5 (249k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    On death row in the 1930s, a kind giant with a miraculous gift makes a prison guard question what justice means and see the wonder in the condemned.

  3. Dead to the World

    Charlaine Harris

    ★ 4.1 (244k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    When a powerful, ancient vampire with amnesia lands naked on her doorstep, telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse must protect the vulnerable, sweeter version of her complicated lover from the deadly forces that stripped him of his memory and now seek his life.

  4. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

    Arthur Conan Doyle

    ★ 4.3 (243k) average on Goodreads

    Sherlock Holmes, with Dr. Watson, solves mysteries in Victorian London, like the Red-Headed League and the blue carbuncle, but meets his match in Irene Adler.

  5. The Historian

    Elizabeth Kostova

    ★ 3.8 (242k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A young woman unearths a centuries-old quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, plunging into a labyrinth of historical secrets, ancient evils, and her family's perilous legacy.

  6. American Psycho

    Bret Easton Ellis

    ★ 3.8 (242k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Behind the polished facade of 1980s Wall Street, a young investment banker's obsession with designer labels and fine dining hides a horrifying descent into depravity and murder, exposing the dark side of American consumerism.

  7. Nine Perfect Strangers

    Liane Moriarty

    ★ 3.5 (242k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Nine strangers seeking an escape at a luxury health resort soon discover their serene retreat is a psychological pressure cooker, run by a guru with a terrifying vision for their 'wellness'.

  8. Mr. Mercedes

    Stephen King

    ★ 4.0 (241k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A haunted, retired detective and his allies race to stop a killer, who previously massacred job seekers with a stolen Mercedes, from launching a deadlier attack.

  9. Truly Madly Guilty

    Liane Moriarty

    ★ 3.6 (237k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A backyard barbecue among friends exposes buried secrets and guilt, changing the lives of six adults and showing the weaknesses beneath their perfect lives.

  10. Living Dead in Dallas

    Charlaine Harris

    ★ 4.0 (234k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a Dallas full of the undead, telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse navigates vampire politics and human betrayal to find a missing bloodsucker, all while trying to keep peace between hungry fangs and vulnerable necks.

  11. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

    Alexander McCall Smith

    ★ 3.8 (232k) average on Goodreads

    In Botswana, the detective Precious Ramotswe solves cases, from missing spouses to con artists, while risking her safety to find a boy believed taken by witch doctors.

  12. In a Dark, Dark Wood

    Ruth Ware

    ★ 3.7 (226k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A secluded bachelorette party in a glass house forces a woman to confront a decade-old betrayal that shattered her friendship, as a deadly secret from their past resurfaces.

  13. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

    John Berendt

    ★ 3.9 (224k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    Step into Savannah's sultry, Spanish moss-draped world, where a high-society murder uncovers eccentric characters, voodoo rituals, and Old South secrets.

  14. The Andromeda Strain

    Michael Crichton

    ★ 3.9 (223k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A crashed satellite in rural Arizona unleashes a deadly alien microorganism, wiping out a town and threatening humanity, forcing scientists into a desperate race against time in an underground lab.

  15. The Wife Between Us

    Greer Hendricks

    ★ 3.8 (223k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A jealous ex-wife's obsession with her replacement spirals into a twisted game where nothing is as it seems, revealing the dangerous truths hidden beneath a seemingly perfect marriage.

  16. The Lies of Locke Lamora

    Scott Lynch

    ★ 4.3 (222k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In the city of Camorr, a con artist and his crew must outwit a deadly enemy, or their world of lies and thievery will fall apart.

  17. The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings

    Edgar Allan Poe

    ★ 4.2 (222k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Poe's collection delves into the chilling depths of the human mind, where madness, murder, and the supernatural intertwine in tales like 'The Tell-Tale Heart' and poems such as 'The Raven'.

  18. The Complete Stories and Poems

    Edgar Allan Poe

    ★ 4.4 (220k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    This collection of Poe's tales and poems explores the darker side of human thought and imagination.

  19. Club Dead

    Charlaine Harris

    ★ 4.0 (220k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Sookie's road trip to a Mississippi vampire club to find her missing undead boyfriend takes a dark turn when she discovers him entangled in a betrayal that forces her to choose between rescue and revenge.

  20. The Silkworm

    Robert Galbraith

    ★ 4.0 (217k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Private investigator Cormoran Strike must navigate a venomous literary world to unmask a killer who brutally silences a novelist whose latest manuscript exposes the darkest secrets of everyone he knows.

  21. One of Us Is Lying

    Karen M. McManus

    ★ 4.0 (216k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Five high school stereotypes walk into detention, but only four walk out alive, leaving a murdered gossip blogger and a web of secrets that could incriminate any of them.

  22. Postmortem

    Patricia Cornwell

    ★ 4.0 (212k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Medical examiner Kay Scarpetta must find a serial killer known as 'Mr. Nobody' in a city paralyzed by fear, battling sabotage and threats from within the police department as she races against time.

  23. Needful Things

    Stephen King

    ★ 3.9 (210k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In the quiet town of Castle Rock, a mysterious new shopkeeper grants everyone their deepest desires, but the price is paid in escalating pranks and betrayals that spiral the community into a maelstrom of self-destruction.

  24. Then She Was Gone

    Lisa Jewell

    ★ 4.0 (209k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A decade after her daughter vanished, a mother finds herself drawn to a new man whose child bears an unsettling resemblance to her lost girl, reigniting the chilling mystery of what truly happened.

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