Mystery Books

You can’t turn on a television or pass an airport bookstore without seeing the influence of America’s most generative writer, Edgar Allan Poe. He orginated true life crime and detective fiction, sci-fi and horror story tropes, and wrote unforgettable poems. Poe expert Shawn Rosenheim, a professor at Williams College, recommends where to start with Poe, as well as the best books about his influence.

Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 56 short stories and four novels starring his fictional sleuth. Michael Dirda – Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, writer and lifelong Sherlockian – gives us his personal choice of the best Sherlock Holmes books and tells us more about their creator.

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.

Wilkie Collins (1824-1889), the sensationalist author and inventor of the detective novel, knew precisely how to "make 'em laugh, make 'em cry, make 'em wait”. Jason Hall, Victorian literature expert and editor of a new edition of Jezebel's Daughter, chooses the five best books from Collins's extensive oeuvre – and considers the voracious appetites and unorthodox lifestyle of this intriguing Englishman.

The crime book genre is massive and caters to all sorts of tastes, but once you find a detective or main character you love, there are few pleasures greater than reading the entire series. British journalist Stig Abell, author of Death Under a Little Sky, picks some of the best classic crime, books he's read over and over again.

Fantasy and mystery blend beautifully because PIs and wizards occupy the same role, says Jim Butcher, bestselling author of The Dresden Files. He tells us about the inspiration for his own PI, Harry Dresden, and introduces us to his top five fantasy mysteries: stories where our modern urban fears can be explored, and where metaphorical and literal underworlds meet.

Agatha Christie and Raymond Chandler were among the leading lights of a 'golden age' of detective fiction in the 1930s. It's also a period that contemporary writers like to revisit as a setting for their own books. Louise Hare—author of the evocative historical crime novel Harlem After Midnight—recommends five of the best 1930s mysteries.

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.

Throughout the year, as new books are published and the shortlists for prizes are announced, we keep an eye on the mysteries we think might be gripping or fun to read. Here's our list of the best mysteries of 2023, put together by Five Books editor, Sophie Roell.

Crime writers are often mild-mannered individuals who have learned to delve into the deepest, darkest recesses of their imagination to create their books, says the bestselling author Mark Edwards. Here, he recommends five of the best contemporary mysteries that will keep you guessing right to the final page.