The Moonstone is widely regarded as the first mystery novel ever published, and Wilkie Collins paved the way for subsequent books in this genre by introducing hallmark elements such as the large number of suspects, an incompetent constabulary force, and an exceptionally brilliant detective. The following novels and series are not an exhaustive look at the best fantasy novels of all time, but rather a sampling taken from various eras from the past to the present. Set in dimly-lit streets, The Woman in White is as much Gothic horror as it is mystery book, and that’s precisely why the clarity you get when the riddle is solved is so incredibly satisfying. The Detective is a classic when it comes to mystery novels — Thorp’s work is inspiration for several famous movies, including Die Hard. We've researched and ranked the best young adult mystery books in the world, based on recommendations from world experts, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. The story follows Frank Chambers and his roadside encounter with diner owner Cora Papadakis. Arguably, the best feeling when reading a crime novel is being faced with a sufficiently difficult puzzle and yet still being able to jump up and shout “I knew it!” when the final reveal comes around. The more she and the detective on the case, Richard Willis, delve into the mysteries, the closer to home Camille appears to be — much closer than she would hope. Too often, the protagonist of detective stories are portrayed as being rational to the point of cold-hearted; it’s probably worth your while to change it up a little with Travis McGee’s quest for goodness. But when they start dying off one by one — in disturbing parallels to a children’s nursery rhyme — they realize that this is no vacation, but a collective execution. What’s more thrilling is the fact that this kill order came from within the government and thus must be covered up well. The Girl on the Train is yet another suspenseful read that uses unreliable narrators to the full. Perhaps better known by its major motion picture adaptation, Gone Girl is the ultimate mystery puzzle for the modern media age. I went to the Alabama public schools at a time when my English teachers, all … Determined that her stamp-loving father, who has been heart-broken since the death of his wife, would never kill anyone, Flavia tours the town to try and prove his innocence. If you’ve read any of Ken Follett’s books, you’ll know he has a talent for vividly reviving the past in his pages. Spade’s sleuthing opens his eyes, and yours, too, to a worldwide system he had never thought he’d walk into. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is no exception. Capote had closely followed the investigation of a quadruple murder in Kansas, and was doing a bit of inerviewing himself before the murderers were caught. The Best Romance Novels of All Time Today, we're looking at thrillers. Read and vote for your favorites on the discover feed. Table of Contents. share. Homecoming proves harder than she thought: Camille had been estranged from her family, and must now reconnect with them. 1. Braithwaite’s novel is bleakly humorous and as wild as Lagos, the city it’s set in. Former policeman Jack Reacher gets arrested the moment he comes into the town of Margrave, for a murder he is sure he did not commit. score: 16 of 101 (16%) required scores: 1, 4, 8, 14, 25 list stats leaders vote Vote print comments. As haunting as it is alluring, In the Woods is more than just a mystery book. However, her shuddering exchanges seem to reveal less about the killer on the loose, and more about Lecter’s astounding ability to get into the head of his victims. Learn more. Learn more German spy Henry Faber, codename “The Needle,” stations himself in London, and is transmitting information back to Berlin. It is listed among the Mystery Writers Association top 100 crime novels of all time. The stakes, however, are raised when he found out that his own brother is somehow involved in the mystery, and the murder he is falssely accused of is nowhere near as simple as he thought. Follow Clarice Stirling on her bone-chilling mission, juggling two sociopathic criminals, in The Silence of the Lambs. We've researched and ranked the best murder mystery books in the world, based on recommendations from world experts, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. Although others may opt for Gaudy Night or Murder Must Advertise (inspired by Sayers’ own time working in advertising), we recommend this fifth novel featuring her best-known creation, the sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey, published in 1930.The mystery author Harriet Vane is on trial for the murder of her husband, whom she is suspected of poisoning. Georges Simenon was a prolific Belgian writer, best known for his series of detective or mystery novels with the main character of Superintendent (or Commissaire) Jules Maigret in France. Top 20 Must-read Classic Mystery Novels You’ll Regret Missing. I'm getting into the mystery genre, and wondering what you guys think the all-time greats are? Allen has also discovered a smuggled treasure buried somewhere in Florida, and is using that to fund his malicious exploits. Inspired by an actual failed assassination attempt on the French President and politcally developments in Europe at the end of the Cold War, The Day of the Jackal is intriguing on many fronts. Jane doesn’t know it, but there’s a piece of her past that makes her fit perfectly into this wild puzzle. 100 Best Young Adult Mystery Books of All Time . If you’ve ever heard the term “Netflix for books,” you’re already familiar with the book subscription model. The mysterious hosts of this strange party are not present, but left instructions for two of the ten to tend the house as the housekeeper and cook. The sleuth who saves the day in this novel is Flavia, an intuitive 11-year-old whose father is accused of murder. The further he digs into this messy business, the more complicated the story gets, as Carmen continues to be blackmailed by others in a web of unexpected relations between the characters. Laura was betrothed to Sir Percival Glyde and yet she was mysteriously warned not to proceed with the marriage. The Maltese Falcon. Beyond exploring the hurt and loss of each of these unfortunate families, Kate Atkinson also expertly tied all three together — how exactly, you’ll have to read to find out. Aristocrat Rachel Verinder receives a beautiful gem, the Moonstone, from her uncle, a soldier returning from India, for her eighteenth birthday. 2. These are the best mystery authors that go beyond simply writing a fun mystery and really elevate or add to the mystery genre in some way. Larsson’s story takes classic mystery tropes — family feud, blackmailing sequences — and spices them up with additional developments in the protagonists’ personal lives. A good murder case will always rank high on a list of mystery novels, but other stories also have their merits. The Top 100 Best Mysteries of All Time was compiled by the ‘active members’ of the Mystery Writers of America. 100 Best Murder Mystery Books of All Time . Trust real people, not robots, to give you book recommendations. What novels do you think exemplify the mystery genre? [5], The Collected Sherlock Holmes Short Stories, "Book awards: The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time Mystery Writers of America", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Top_100_Crime_Novels_of_All_Time&oldid=941358332, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 18 February 2020, at 03:03. This mystery book has everything from psychological analysis to breath-taking chases through New York’s grimy streets. As such, The Big Sleep is no ordinary story: private eye Philip Marlowe gets hired to investigate the blackmailing of Carmen Sternwood, the second daughter of a wealthy general. Conan Doyle's legendary detective, Sherlock Holmes, presumed dead, returns to the land of the living to shed light on the petrifying death of his friend, Charles Baskerville. There are plenty of clever hints and details about these cryptically named characters that you can pick up on, thus joining Smiley on the race to safeguard his country. Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker In Robert Kolker’s debut non-fiction book, he explores the lives of five women, all of whom were prostitutes murdered by a serial killer. It also won the Shamus Award for best First P.I novel. Two detectives, Rob and Cassie, are assigned the case, and the case forcibly reminds the former of the mystery that haunted his childhood — a mystery which happened in these same woods. Today I have given myself the impossible and unfair task of naming the top 10 best mystery authors of all time. A stranger has ended up dead in the family’s yard, one who happened to have been seen arguing with Flavia’s dad days before. Tales of suspense and adventure, thrillers get readers’ hearts racing and keep them turning the pages until the very end. Anatomy of a Murder, written by a Supreme Court Justice under the pseudonym Robert Traver, is such a classic. If you keep an eye on bestseller lists or popular fiction tables at your local bookstore, this likely doesn’t come as a surprise, as you’ve been aware … Conan Doyle's legendary detective, Sherlock Holmes, presumed dead, returns to the land of the living to shed light on the petrifying death of his friend, Charles Baskerville. The first victim who is found, and whose case Moore covered in the news, was dressed up like a girl and disturbingly mutilated, so much so that Moore believes there must be someone mentally sick behind it all. A veteran thriller and mystery writer of over 20 books, Cook shared his favorite mystery novels. The novel reads as Gothic thanks to its suspenseful mood, but the mystery wraps up all of its loose … Everyone loves a good mystery. Subsequently, he stumbles upon the mystery of King Richard III, a monarch accused of being a murderer but who Grant can only see as kind and wise. 3. Returning to detective stories we have The Maltese Falcon, which follows Sam Spade’s journey to find his client’s sister and her unwelcomed partner. Faber soon catches on to a crucial operation that the British are about to embark on — one that, if successful, will turn the table against Germany. The storylines of these books don’t just involve murder and crime but also philosophy at times straight from my bookshelf. The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time is a list published in book form in 1990 by the British-based Crime Writers' Association. 5. This spine-tingling subgenre is all about the mind-bending terror of the unknown. 21 comments. Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant takes time off from modern-day cases to recover from an injury, but still he searches for puzzles to occupy himself. We looked at top mystery novels from the Mystery Writers of America, Publisher’s Weekly, and Goodreads’ highest rated mysteries of all time. 3. The best mystery novels of all time. Told without a single paragraph dedicated to the thoughts of any of the characters, this is truly an enigma that keeps you guessing. ... 10 Best Zombie Movies of All Time, Reviewed Amongst all of her works, none has a story quite as impeccably crafted as And Then There Were None, which explains why it is the best selling mystery book of all time. Thirty-Six and a Half Motives (Rose Gardner Mystery #9) by Denise Grover Swank. Here, the experts recommend the best Gothic novels and writers of all time, including offerings for young adults. Dan Brown knows how to write up a riddle — just read The Da Vinci Code and you’ll see. 2. If you’re looking for more books to send chills down your spine, check out this list of best suspense books of all time! In probably the most unpleasantly satisfying way possible, Sharp Objects will leave you shivering with wonders about how far the effects of a broken family can reach. As it’s based on a real-life case that has already been solved, you might think all the mystery is taken out of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. If you still are in need of a good domestic thriller, Case Histories is your book. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Its intertwining perspectives will take turns changing your mind as to who is the real threat in this domestic drama. If courtroom drama isn’t your cup of tea then, well, it’s not. The first book of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series introduces us to journalist Mikael Blomkvist and freelance hacker Lisbeth Salander. You’ve probably never seen the motto “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer” in better action than this, as Smiley attempts to distinguish the double-agent amidst old partners. Read 4 983 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Featuring recommendations from Reese Witherspoon, Barack Obama, Gretchen Rubin, and 26 other experts. 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