A mystery
Everyone is lying. Your job is to work out who, and why.
Crime novels, spy fiction and true crime: books in which the question that matters is “who”. Readers’ ratings set the order; a detective series appears once, by the volume to start with.
364 books behind this door, a series counted once · Murder mystery · Detectives · Missing & kidnapped
Narrow it down in the finder →The best, according to readers
- 1Watchmen
8.98.9 / 10 - 2Say Nothing
8.88.8 / 10 - 3A Drop of Corruption
8.78.7 / 10 - 4Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators
8.78.7 / 10 - 5The Green Mile
8.68.6 / 10 - 6Leviathan Wakes
8.68.6 / 10 - 7The Godfather
8.68.6 / 10 - 8Guards! Guards!
8.58.5 / 10 - 9From Hell
8.58.5 / 10 - 10Crime and Punishment
8.58.5 / 10 - 11The Rithmatist
8.48.4 / 10 - 12And Then There Were None
8.48.4 / 10 - 13The Sandman
8.48.4 / 10 - 14House of Earth and Blood
8.48.4 / 10 - 15Fugitive Telemetry
8.38.3 / 10 - 16A Memory Called Empire
8.38.3 / 10 - 17The Raven Scholar
8.38.3 / 10 - 18A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
8.38.3 / 10 - 19Killers of the Flower Moon
8.38.3 / 10 - 20Cigars of the Pharaoh
8.28.2 / 10 - 21Red Dragon
7.97.9 / 10 - 22The A.B.C. Murders
7.87.8 / 10 - 23The Thursday Murder Club
7.77.7 / 10 - 24Storm Front
7.57.5 / 10
Ways in through this door
Moods behind this door
Which volume should I start a long crime series with?
Usually the first, but not always: some series only find their stride a few books in. We show the starting volume, and the series page has the full order with a rating for every part.
Are there mysteries here without brutality?
Yes. Puzzles in the Christie manner and today’s cosy mysteries are behind the same door as dark Scandinavian crime; the mood in the tool separates them.
How is “A mystery” different from “A good scare”?
In a mystery the solution matters, in a scare the tension. Many books are in both; this door also opens onto the quiet crime novels in which nobody runs.