The 50 best mystery books of all time
The best mystery books ranked: classic whodunits, detective novels, cozy mysteries and modern crime fiction. Top 50 with short reviews and where to read.
A good mystery gives you a puzzle you can almost solve. This list runs from the Golden Age whodunits of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle to cozy village mysteries and modern detective series, so there is a place to start whether you like clues and red herrings or a slow-burning case.
These are editorial picks, ranked for readability and lasting appeal, and nobody pays to be on the list. Not sure where to start? Try the book finder and get three picks for your mood.
Top 50 mystery books, ranked
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And Then There Were None
Ten strangers are invited to an island, and one by one they die.
- Gripping
Where to read
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Murder on the Orient Express
Detective Hercule Poirot must solve a murder aboard a train stopped by snow.
- Cozy
- Gripping
Where to read
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The Thursday Murder Club
Four retirees in a quiet retirement village meet weekly to look into cold cases, until a real murder lands on their doorstep.
- Cozy
- Funny
Where to read
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The Hound of the Baskervilles
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson investigate the legend of a spectral hound on the Devon moors.
- Gripping
- Cozy
Where to read
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In the Woods
A Dublin detective with a buried childhood trauma investigates the murder of a young girl.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
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Still Life
Chief Inspector Gamache investigates a death in the quiet Quebec village of Three Pines.
- Cozy
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Poirot, retired to a country village, investigates a murder with one of crime fiction's most famous twists.
- Gripping
Where to read
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Big Little Lies
Three mothers' lives unravel at a school trivia night.
- Funny
- Gripping
Where to read
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The Name of the Rose
A monk investigates a string of deaths in a medieval abbey.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
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The Murder at the Vicarage
Miss Marple's first full-length case, set in the village of St Mary Mead.
- Cozy
- Funny
Where to read
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The Maltese Falcon
Private detective Sam Spade is pulled into the hunt for a priceless jewelled statue.
- Gripping
Where to read
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Magpie Murders
An editor reads a manuscript with a missing ending and finds a real mystery inside it.
- Gripping
- Cozy
Where to read
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The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Precious Ramotswe opens a detective agency in Botswana and solves everyday mysteries with warmth and common sense.
- Cozy
- Funny
Where to read
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A Study in Scarlet
The first Sherlock Holmes story introduces the detective and Dr Watson.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Twelve short cases featuring the famous consulting detective.
- Gripping
- Cozy
Where to read
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The Sign of Four
Holmes and Watson are drawn into a mystery of stolen treasure.
- Gripping
Where to read
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Death on the Nile
Poirot investigates a murder aboard a luxury steamer on the Nile.
- Gripping
Where to read
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The ABC Murders
Poirot receives taunting letters before each murder, in alphabetical order.
- Gripping
Where to read
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The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Poirot's first case, set in an English country house.
- Cozy
- Gripping
Where to read
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A Murder Is Announced
Miss Marple investigates a murder advertised in the local paper.
- Cozy
- Gripping
Where to read
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The Body in the Library
A young woman's body turns up in the library of a respectable home.
- Cozy
- Funny
Where to read
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Crooked House
A wealthy patriarch dies and every member of his family is a suspect.
- Gripping
Where to read
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Evil Under the Sun
Poirot investigates a murder at a seaside hotel.
- Gripping
- Cozy
Where to read
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The Big Sleep
Private eye Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy general and drawn into blackmail and murder.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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The Long Goodbye
Marlowe befriends a troubled drinker and is pulled into a murder case.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
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The Postman Always Rings Twice
A drifter and a married woman plot to kill her husband.
- Gripping
Where to read
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The Secret History
A group of classics students at a New England college are bound together by a murder.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
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The Cuckoo's Calling
Detective Cormoran Strike investigates the apparent suicide of a supermodel.
- Gripping
Where to read
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Gaudy Night
Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane investigate trouble at an Oxford women's college.
- Cozy
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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The Daughter of Time
A bedridden detective investigates the reputation of Richard III.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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The Westing Game
Sixteen heirs compete to solve the puzzle of a millionaire's death.
- Funny
- Cozy
Where to read
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The Woman in White
A drawing teacher is drawn into a Victorian mystery of identity and conspiracy.
- Gripping
Where to read
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The Moonstone
A cursed diamond vanishes from an English country house in an early detective novel.
- Gripping
- Cozy
Where to read
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The Poisoned Chocolates Case
A club of amateur detectives each offers a different solution to the same murder.
- Funny
- Cozy
Where to read
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Case Histories
Private investigator Jackson Brodie takes on three unsolved cases.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
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Mystic River
Three childhood friends are reunited by a murder.
- Gripping
- Moving
Where to read
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The Alienist
A psychologist and a journalist hunt a killer in 1896 New York.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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Sharp Objects
A reporter returns to her hometown to cover the murders of two girls.
- Gripping
Where to read
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The Man Who Died Twice
The retirees of the Thursday Murder Club take on a new case.
- Funny
- Cozy
Where to read
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The Appeal
A mystery told through emails and messages from a community charity.
- Funny
- Gripping
Where to read
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The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
A man relives the same day in different bodies to solve a murder.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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The Guest List
A wedding on a remote island ends in a death.
- Gripping
Where to read
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The Thirteenth Tale
A biographer is summoned to hear a famous author's true story.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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The Likeness
A detective goes undercover as a murder victim who looks just like her.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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Broken Harbour
A detective investigates a family killing in an unfinished housing estate.
- Gripping
Where to read
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Killing Floor
Jack Reacher is arrested in a small Georgia town for a murder he did not commit.
- Gripping
Where to read
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The Dry
A federal agent returns to his drought-stricken hometown for a funeral.
- Gripping
Where to read
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Smilla's Sense of Snow
A Danish woman investigates the death of a young neighbour.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
A retired spy hunts a Soviet mole at the top of British intelligence.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
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Strangers on a Train
Two strangers on a train discuss swapping murders.
- Gripping
Where to read
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Types of mystery books
Looking for something more specific? These are the main kinds of mystery, with the sort of story or subject each one covers.
Cozy mysteries
Small-town settings, amateur sleuths and little on-page violence.
Classic whodunits
Golden Age puzzles with a closed circle of suspects.
Detective novels
Police and private-eye series built around one investigator.
Police procedurals
Realistic investigations led by working officers.
Historical mysteries
Crimes solved in earlier centuries.
Psychological mysteries
Who did it, and why does the narrator not remember?
Want to write and publish your own mystery book?
Many readers of this page are also writers. The stores in the lists above are where readers find books, while Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, IngramSpark, Lulu and Draft2Digital are the tools authors use to publish and distribute a book to those stores. You can also publish to Barnes & Noble Press and Google Play Books directly.
Our free KDP calculators help with print cost, royalties and cover size, and our publishing services can take care of setup for you.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best mystery book to start with?
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie is the usual first pick. It is short, self-contained and one of the best-selling mysteries ever written.
What is the difference between a mystery and a thriller?
A mystery asks who did it and asks you to work it out alongside the detective. A thriller usually shows the danger and asks whether the hero can stop it in time.
Where can I read or buy the best mystery books?
Each of the 50 books has links to Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble and Google Play Books. Authors who want to publish their own mystery book can start with our free guides to Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Lulu and Draft2Digital.
Not sure what to read next?
Pick a genre and a mood and the book finder will suggest three books to try.