Mystery Books

Welcome to our running list of the best mystery books of 2025, which we'll continue to update through the end of the year. A broad range of books are filed under 'mysteries' these days, and we try to give a flavour of what's out there. On this list, we also include books that have been nominated for prestigious awards, like the Edgars in the US and the Dagger Awards in the UK. Bear in mind that these are the best books of the previous year, rather than the very latest—with the advantage that they're already likely to be in paperback.  

The 'everyman' quality of an amateur sleuths makes for a particularly readable subgenre of mystery book, says Jess Kidd—the author of a new series starring a crime-solving former nun. Here, she recommends five brilliant amateur detective novels with finely calibrated puzzles at their hearts.

When it comes to whodunnits, the latest ones aren't always the best. Veteran crime writer Simon Brett talks us through some of his all-time favourites, of which the most recent was published nearly four decades ago.

2024 was a solid year for mystery books, with books out from some of the best contemporary writers in the genre, including Tana French, S.A. Cosby, and Ruth Ware. The range of mood was also broad, with some wistful and nostalgic tales, and other books that are laugh-out-loud funny. Our best mystery books of 2025 list is now up and running. 

Mysteries and crime novels make for great listening as audiobooks, as suspense about what's going to happen next keeps you completely engaged. For advice on which ones to listen to, we turned to the audiobook experts at AudioFile magazine. Here's their list of the best audiobooks of 2024 in mystery and suspense, great choices if you're looking for a good whodunnit to listen to in early 2025.

Do you enjoy being immersed in the detail of a well-observed historical novel, or gripped by the mystery of a detective story? Historical mysteries combine the best of both. From 1st century Rome to Victorian London, from Tang dynasty China to 20th century Bombay, our contributing editor Tuva Kahrs brings you a crop of well-researched mysteries that will transport you to different times and places.

The best mystery books are completely unputdownable and addictive, the entertainment they provide more portable than watching TV and so much more satisfying than looking at your phone. Bestselling author David Baldacci, one of the masters of the genre and a passionate advocate for literacy and reading, talks us through some of the best mystery books ever written—as well as the contemporary authors he most admires.

As a year for mystery books, 2023 was definitely eclectic, with historical mysteries, mysteries that could be filed as supernatural horror, and the Edgar award for best novel going to the story of a serial killer on death row. The year also saw the publication of Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter, which experiments with different formats to engage the reader.

It's a lot of fun listening to mystery books or crime novels as audiobooks, with good narrators adding suspense and enjoyment to the reading experience. Editors at AudioFile magazine, who specialize in reviewing audiobooks, pick out the best ones of 2023, good books made even better by being read aloud by a skilled narrator.

With so many works of detective fiction coming out each year, which books stand the test of time? Here, bestselling British author Jeffrey Archer talks us through some of his favourites, the books he found completely unputdownable and made him want to read everything the author had written.