r/mysterybooks

I love Micheal Connelly, John Stanford, Ian Rankin, John Grisham, and of course Agatha Christie. Any recommendations for new authors?

I’m looking for my next psychological thriller and would love some recommendations.

I’m particularly interested in books where:
• You can’t tell who is telling the truth
• Characters have secrets that slowly come to light
• The atmosphere feels increasingly unsettling
• There are twists, but they’re actually earned
• The ending makes you rethink what you read earlier

I’m **not necessarily looking for a straight murder mystery**. I’d prefer something psychological where the suspense comes from not knowing who to trust.
What book completely fooled you or kept you guessing until the end?

**Bonus points if it’s a lesser-known thriller rather than the usual bestselling recommendations.** 👀

The theme of the book club is going to be reading books featuring investigators (PIs, DIs, journalists, amateur sleuths, all count).

We may read authors like Michael Connelly, PD James, Ruth Rendell, Ian Rankin, Peter Robinson, Michael Robotham and more (this, of course, will be open to discussion and we can set up polls to choose what we read).

I hope you consider joining :)

There are lots of mystery books that are popular on BookTok, but I want to make sure I don't end up reading overhyped books that aren't actually that good.

You can suggest from mystery genre, but I specifically want the crime mystery genre and fantasy. It needs to be good, have an amazing twist if it suits the story, and have great characters with a smart protagonist, M or F, idc. (But I would especially love an F protagonist if she's a hottie LOL.) No romance.

Books I've read and liked: And Then There Were None, The Big Sleep, Sherlock Holmes stories, The Da Vinci Code(Favourite), and The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.

Books I've read and disliked: The Thursday Murder Club, The Appeal, The Last Thing He Told Me, The Maid, and The Guest List.

I'm looking for any and all fair play murder mystery books that have the Challenge part.

I think I've already read everything with a challenge written before 1980

I've read Soji Shimada and Alice's works

I've read Tom Meade (and I couldn't solve any)

I've read Ben Stevenson

I couldn't get into Martin Edwards

I've read a couple of Janice Hallett's books and I think the all her books are the same book. I've read the one with the >!phials !<one about >!ww2 gold!< and summer camp. I didn't bother reading the rest.

Been getting in Japanese Murder Mysteries lately. Read Decagon House, and Mill House by Yukito Atatsuji, as well as Strange Pictures and Strange Houses by Uketsu.

Started Labyrinth House, got a copy of Clock House, and looking forward to Black Cat House next year. I also have a copy of Strange Buildings coming, and I’m looking forward to Strange Maps next year.

Poking around Amazon, I see Soji Shimada and Seishi Yokomizo in the “Customers Also Bought” section.

Before I pull the trigger on either of these authors, have you read them? Are they any good? Any and all opinions, and maybe recommendations for authors not mentioned here would be appreciated.

Thanks so much!

So my libby just notified me that it is my turn to borrow KS's newest "the secrets we hide". So excited!! But i can't recall all the details from the previous book. I remember the case and the whodunit well but I can't recall any of the family details well.

>!I recall Jude is emmy's mom not sister. But they have a brother?? Emmy has a son cole right but i can't recall details about him i think he comes out as gay?? Who is emmy's husband or cole's father?? I know Jude left because of drugs but i don't recall other details about her life at all. What was the whole Clifton-Clifton thing I forget?? I recall mother has dementia anything else about her i need to know?? I can't recall many details about the father?? So basically if I could get a full recap/details of the family dynamics/drama i would really appreciate it!! more details the better!!!<

TIA

Hey, I hope this isn't against the rules but would it be okay for me to post my readalongs for various mystery novels here, my theories and thoughts on the books and so on?

I'm looking for some variety in my mysteries (and also for some suspension of disbelief help where I'm not as familiar with the justice system), and I'd love to read books set in other countries. I'm open to thriller adjacent mysteries, historical, modern, standalone, series, whatever.

Thank you!

Edit: Thank you to everyone who gave me recommendations! I can't reply to everyone individually but I'll look into all the books and authors. I've got a lot of good reading ahead of me!

I’m looking for book recommendations and I’m having a hard time finding exactly what I want.

I want a psychological thriller where romance or an intense, almost irresistible attraction is central to the story. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a romance novel, and it doesn’t have to be queer, but I do want that magnetic pull between characters where they’re fascinated by each other and can’t seem to stay away, even when they probably should.

What I REALLY want is the feeling of Hannibal (the TV show): intense fascination, psychological games, obsession, attraction, manipulation, and two people who understand each other in a way that feels intimate, seductive, and unsettling.

I also want a genuine mystery. I want to be sitting there thinking:

Who actually killed who?
Who is telling the truth?
Is this person actually crazy, or am I being manipulated?
Are they manipulating each other?
Can I trust either of these characters?

Basically, I want a book where the romance/attraction and the psychological thriller are tangled together, with twists and unreliable characters that keep me questioning everything.

Some things I’ve read/watched for reference:
● Gone Girl → enjoyed it, but didn’t absolutely love it
● Deep Water → really enjoyed the toxic relationship, jealousy, attraction, and psychological games
● Rebecca → enjoyed it, but didn’t love it
● Hannibal → THIS is the intensity and character dynamic I’m chasing
● The Sinner → absolutely loved the show. Really enjoyed the mystery and psychology, especially the feeling of thinking I finally understood what was going on at the end of each episode, only to realize at the beginning of the next episode that I absolutely had no idea. I want that feeling in a book.
● Crimson Peak → loved the gothic atmosphere + romance
● Nocturnal Animals → loved how deeply unsettling it was

I’m not necessarily looking for something super gory. I care more about psychological tension, obsession, atmosphere, complicated relationships, and not knowing who or what to believe.
So I’m looking for something with a strong, irresistible romantic/sexual pull + psychological manipulation + murder/mystery + unreliable characters + an unsettling or gothic atmosphere.

I want to be sitting there thinking, “These two absolutely should not be together… so why can’t they stay away from each other?” while also wondering “WHAT THE HELL IS ACTUALLY GOING ON?”

I’m especially interested in books where I genuinely cannot tell who is dangerous, who is being manipulated, who is telling the truth, or whether either character is actually sane.

Please give me your best recommendation. Bonus points if the book makes you feel like you should probably stop reading, but absolutely cannot. 🫶🏽

So far I’ve read 7 chapters and my god, it’s so much hornier than The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Everyone is hooking up. Lizbeth, the once brooding and isolated badass, now has breast implants. She’s far more toned down in her seemingly dark and tough self in the past book.

Maybe it’s cultural, maybe it’s her stunted growth as a person, but sleeping with a 16-year-old in the Caribbean really irked me.

She just seems like an entirely different, less-satisfying character.

But altogether, this book reads so much hornier than the last. Wish Larsson jacked-off more when he wrote this.

Hier bin ich heute drüber gestolpert, hört sich interessant an. Ein Mystery Horror Roman der vor historischen Hintergrund spielt, in Deutschland.

Beim Schreiben hiervon fällt mir auf, ich hab meine Brille verlegt. Hoffe ich habe alle Schreibfehler entfernt.

Neuveroffentlichung auf Amazon

I found this author on the New York Times fifty best mystery/thrillers. I think this was the only one in the top ten I hadn't read. OMG, if you're a fan of Lehane, Flynn, Hawkins, Cosby, or Abbott then you need to add this to your list. Great setting, tricky thoughts because some of it is in the free indirect style. The voice and the characters are engaging. Totally deserves a spot on the list.

I am looking for a book mentioned in one of JA Jance's Brandon Walker books. In the afterward/prologue(?), it mentions a book that a missionary wrote about the beliefs of a Native American tribe.

I want the title of that book to buy as a gift. I can't remember which book in the series that it is from. Probably one of the ones that crossed over with the Brady or Beaumont series.

I know it's not a cozy, but I am not able to post on r/mysterybooks yet. I thought someone in this subreddit could help. I have looked at library and Half-Price books and haven't had any luck.

For the record, I really enjoy this subreddit and the recommendations the I've gotten from all of you!​

About 25 years ago, I fondly remember watching a few episodes of a show called Boomtown. It very likely does not hold up, but I remember it being unique because it told the same story from multiple perspectives throughout the episode. By the end, all the parts came together in a satisfying conclusion. I’m looking for mystery novels that scratch that same itch. It is surprisingly hard to Google because many books feature different POVs - but what I’m looking for in particular is different perspective of the same event and/or nonlinear storytelling.

Summertime would be the best

I just got into reading and i heard mystery books are good. Any recommendations?

Has anyone else here read the D.I. Luc Callanach series by Helen Fields? I finished all of them within a couple of weeks and absolutely loved them! The next book in the series is coming out in September, so had to pre-order it.

If you are looking for a good detective book, then i highly recommend it!

I know there are lots of pet dog or cat cozy mysteries, but can anyone recommend any good bird mysteries? Thanks!

I’m looking for creepy murder mystery books, similar to the 2000’s (2010??) show Harper’s Island. I love whodunit shows and recently read Ruth Ware’s One by One and did enjoy it, but would like something a bit spookier/gorier if possible?

Harper’s Island is a series where a wedding party / guests go to an island for a wedding and start getting murdered one by one, with the ending being a surprise.

Thank you in advance!