Mystery Recs

Mysteries I loved!

Updated August 19, 2023
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The Twyford code
Hallett, Janice
Paper Book
** WINNER OF THE CRIME & THRILLER BRITISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 *** THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*'The queen of tricksy crime. Every page is a joy' - SUNDAY TIMES 'Even better than The Appeal' - GUARDIAN 'Brilliant - a mind-bending, heartwarming mystery not to be missed' - OBSERVER 'Wonderful. An...

This is a great puzzle-type mystery, with so many twists and turns I lost count. If you like epistolary novels & mysteries, this is for you. The main character is endearing, and as he reveals his past he becomes even more sympathetic. I'm not the only one who loved it--the book got starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly, BookPage, and Booklist.

L.A. requiem : an Elvis Cole novel
Crais, Robert
Paper Book
A reckoning has come to the City of Angels... Karen Garcia is missing and her father doesn't trust the cops - he wants someone he knows on the case. So he enlists the help of Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. It seems that Karen is the latest victim of a distinctive serial killer and the...

This is the best of the excellent Elvis Cole series. The books are noir detective stories set in L.A., with a savvy, smart-mouthed private detective, and his sidekick, the enigmatic Joe Pike. The plot in this one is fabulous, and the character development has real depth. It's a great place to start this famous series.

Still life
Penny, Louise
Paper Book
Read the series that inspired Three Pines on Prime Video. In Still Life, bestselling author Louise Penny introduces Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec. Winner of the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys...
Curiosity killed the cat sitter : the first Dixie Hemingway mystery
Clement, Blaize.
Paper Book
Dixie Hemingway knows first-hand that many things in life are worse than a dirty litter box. Once happy as a Florida sheriff's deputy, she lost everything when senseless tragedy shattered her world. Now Dixie laces up her sneakers, grabs some kitty treats, and copes with one day at a time as a...
A is for alibi
Grafton, Sue
Paper Book
READ THE SENSATIONAL BLOCKBUSTER THAT STARTED IT ALL! Take it from the top in #1 New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton's knockout thriller that introduced detective Kinsey Millhone--and a hot new attitude--to crime fiction... A IS FOR...
Death by cashmere : a seaside knitters mystery
Goldenbaum, Sally.
Paper Book
Get entangled in the first novel in USA Today bestselling Seaside Knitters Mystery series. Not long after Isabel "Izzy" Chambers opens up a knitting shop in the sleepy fishing town of Sea Harbor, Massachusetts, a diverse group of women begins congregating each week to...
The black echo
Connelly, Michael
Paper Book
An LAPD homicide detective must choose between justice and vengeance as he teams up with the FBI in this "thrilling" novel filled with mystery and adventure (New York Times Book Review). For maverick LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch, the body in...
Open season
Box, C. J.
Paper Book
Joe Pickett is the new game warden in Twelve Sleep, Wyoming, a town where nearly everyone hunts and the game warden--especially one like Joe who won't take bribes or look the other way--is far from popular. When he finds a local hunting outfitter dead, splayed out on the woodpile behind his state...
Magpie murders
Horowitz, Anthony
Paper Book
When editor Susan Ryeland is given the tattered manuscript of Alan Conway's latest novel, she has little idea it will change her life. She's worked with the revered crime writer for years and his detective, Atticus Pund, is renowned for solving crimes in the sleepy English villages of the 1950s. As...

This book is a marvelous tour de force with not one but *two* separate murders to solve. A British book editor receives the latest manuscript from her best-selling mystery writer, who is subsequently murdered. She is motivated to investigate when she realizes that the last chapter of the manuscript is missing. This is a story-within-a-story format, where the manuscript is also presented. Part of the brilliance of this book is the distinctive styles of each of the two narratives, both with wonderful, twisty plots and interesting characters.


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