I have read a lot of murder mysteries and thrillers so that I can now mostly guess what’s going to happen within the first third of a book and it SUCKS. I’m okay with reading a book regardless if I like the atmosphere, a character, the writing style etc. but I’d love to be surprised once in a while.
Some relevant books / authors I’ve read:
– all of Agatha Christie’s work plus Simon Beckett, Dan Brown, Stieg Larsson, Ragnar Johansson, Henning Mankell & Fred Vargas
– all Sherlock Holmes novels (incl. spin-offs like Nancy Springer’s books)
– The Sweet Sickness, Strangers on a Train, and The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
– Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
– The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup
– The Last to Die by Kelly Garrett
– The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda
– A Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens
– The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
– My Sister The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
– How To Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie
– Five Total Strangers by Natalie D. Richards
– Could Mourning and Butterfly Kills by Brenda Chapman
– Gone Girl and Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
– I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makai
– Wrong Place Wong Time by Gillian McAllister
– Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson
– All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers
– Sadie by Courtney Summers
– The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
Recent DNFs:
– In the Woods by Tana French (I did finish this but I wish I hadn’t)
– I kisses Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston (DNF
– A Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson (DNF)
– 1979 by Val McDermid (DNF)
– Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams (DNF)
– The House Across The Lake by Riley Sager (DNF)
– The Cartographers by Peng Sheperd (DNF)
– The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (DNF)
– Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens (DNF)
– A Flicker In The Dark by Stacey Willingham (DNF)
– The Upstairs Family by Lisa Jewell ( DNF)
– When The Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica (DNF)
– One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus (DNF)
Please drop your murder mystery recommendations! No fantasy or dystopian novels please. YA welcome.
by hyeyah
17 Comments
I don’t have a suggestion, I just wanted to say that I laughed when I read your description for In The Woods because I feel the exact same way lol. That book made me so mad. I wish I spoiled the ending by reading the reviews first so I didn’t waste my time.
The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by Stuart Turton
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney (domestic thriller)
The Round House by Louise Erdrich (slow burn mystery)
The Summer That Melted Everything (slow burn mystery? I honestly don’t know how to categorize this.)
Malibu Burning by Lee Goldberg (detective/heist)
The Spellman Files (humorous mystery – great ending!)
It seems like you mostly like Thrillers, so hopefully some of these help you branch out a bit and you enjoy them! Happy reading! 🙂
Editing to add: based on Agatha and Arthur Conan, you may want to try some cozy-adjacent mystery series. No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Flavia de Luce, Mary Russell, Anna Pigeon, Stephanie Plum, Kate Burkholder, Eve Ronin, etc. etc.
Any book from John Grisham
The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji
The Chalk Man
True Crime Story
Paper Ghosts
The Silent Patient
Shoot the Moon
We Were Liars
Verity by Colleen Hoover
Mad Honey by Jodi Pocoult
Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica
I’d recommend author Michael Robotham to you.
I’m going to throw some oddball options at you that play with the genre a little bit, but are definitely mystery (or detective) less at their core.
City of Glass by Paul Auster (first book in the New York Trilogy)
The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
Secret Dead Men by Duane Swierczynski
Some more straightforward suggestions are:
Dennis Lehane
Harlan Coben
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
The End of Everything by Megan Abbott
The Laws of Our Fathers by Scott Turow
Snow Angels or Songs for the Missing by Stewart O’Nan
And this may be too obvious of a suggestion, but you should also read most of Crichton.
Same problem. I frequently lament that I can’t tell if it’s bad writing or just me.
Janice Hallett’s books for that for me. I don’t see her in your list so might be with a try.
Riley Sager has been hit or miss for me. Recently DNF’d Survive The Night. But I could not put down Home Before Dark. A little spooky with really great twists. Highly recommend.
Under the Midnight Sun.
Try the cormoran strike series by Robert Galbraith! Especially the Ink Black Heart and the Running Grave
Dark matter by Blake crouch and the 7 1/2 deaths of Evelyn hardcastle by Stu turton
Five survive by Holly Jackson!! Any of her books, I will always recommend they’re amazing
Try Dorothy L Sayers. One of the greats.
The Death in Paradise book series by Robert Thorogood, beginning with A Meditation on Murder