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Getting started with mysteriesUnpublished

Looking for a mystery series to get lost in? This list has the first book in some popular series to get you started!

Updated September 19, 2022

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Getting started with mysteries

Looking for a mystery series to get lost in? This list has the first book in some popular series to get you started!

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The girl with the dragon tattoo

Larsson, Stieg

Paper Book

A spellbinding amalgam of murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue. It's about the disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden . . . and about her octogenarian uncle, determined to know the truth about...

Storm front

Butcher, Jim

Meet Harry Dresden, Chicago's first (and only) Wizard P.I. Turns out the "everyday" world is full of strange and magical things--and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Harry is the best at what he does--and not just because he's the only one who does it. So when...

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

McCall Smith, Alexander

Paper Book

NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Fans around the world adore the bestselling No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series and its proprietor, Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's premier lady detective. In this charming series, Mma Ramotswe--with help from her loyal associate, Grace Makutsi--navigates her...

One for the money

Evanovich, Janet

Paper Book

Stephanie Plum is down on her luck. She's lost her job, her car's on the brink of repossession, and her apartment is fast becoming furniture-free. Enter Cousin Vinnie, a low-life who runs a bail-bond company. If Stephanie can bring in vice cop turned outlaw Joe Morelli, she stands to...

The big sleep

Chandler, Raymond

Paper Book

One of the most acclaimed works of crime fiction ever written, The Big Sleep is the first novel featuring Raymond Chandler's iconic creation Philip Marlowe, hailed as the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times). One of The Atlantic's Great...

In the woods

French, Tana

Paper Book

When he was twelve years old, Adam Ryan went playing in the woods one day with his two best friends. He never saw them again. Their bodies were never found, and Adam himself was discovered with his back pressed against an oak tree and his shoes filled with blood. He had no memory of what had...

The cuckoo's calling

Galbraith, Robert

Paper Book

Published under a pseudonym, J. K. Rowling's brilliant debut mystery introduces Detective Cormoran Strike as he investigates a supermodel's suicide in "one of the best books of the year" (USA Today), the first novel in the brilliant series that inspired the acclaimed HBO Max series...

The mysterious affair at Styles

Christie, Agatha

Paper Book

"It's tempting to say that Agatha Christie is a genius and let it go at that, but the world's had plenty of geniuses. Agatha Christie is something special."--Lawrence Block, New York Times bestselling author In this official and fully restored edition, Hercule Poirot solves his first case...

Case histories

Atkinson, Kate.

Paper Book

Cambridge is sweltering, during an unusually hot summer. To Jackson Brodie, formar police inspector turned private investigator, the world consists of one accounting sheet--Lost on the left, Found on the right--and the two never seem to balance. Surrounded by death, intrigue and...

The sweetness at the bottom of the pie

Bradley, Alan

Paper Book

Winner of the 2007 Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger A delightfully dark English mystery, featuring precocious young sleuth Flavia de Luce and her eccentric family. The summer of 1950 hasn't offered up anything out of the ordinary for eleven-year-old Flavia de...

A study in scarlet and, the adventure of the speckled band

Doyle, Arthur Conan

In the first of all the Sherlock Holmes stories, Dr. John Watson, discharged from military service after suffering severe wounds, is at a loose end until a chance encounter leads him to take rooms with a remarkable young man. The arrogant, irascible Sherlock Holmes is a master chemist, a...

"A" is for alibi

Grafton, Sue.

When Laurence Fife was murdered, few mourned his passing. Plenty of people had reason to want him dead. But the police thought his wife Nikki - with motive, access and opportunity - was the #1 suspect. The jury thought so too. Eight years later and out on parole, Nikki hires Kinsey Millhone, a...

The beekeeper's apprentice : or, on the segregation of the queen

King, Laurie R.

Paper Book

The Twentieth-Anniversary Edition of the First Novel of the Acclaimed Mary Russell Series by Edgar Award-Winning Author Laurie R. King. An Agatha Award Best Novel Nominee * Named One of the Century's Best 100 Mysteries by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association...

The murder at the vicarage : a Miss Marple mystery

Christie, Agatha

Paper Book

In this exclusive authorized edition from the Queen of Mystery, a dead body in a clergyman's study proves to the indomitable sleuth that no place, holy or otherwise, is a sanctuary from homicide. Miss Marple encounters a compelling murder mystery in the sleepy little village of St. Mary...

Midnight riot

Aaronovitch, Ben

Paper Book

"Midnight Riot is what would happen if Harry Potter grew up and joined the Fuzz. It is a hilarious, keenly imagined caper."--Diana Gabaldon Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London's Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans 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...

Whose body?

Sayers, Dorothy L.

Paper Book

The first book in Dorothy L Sayers' classic Lord Peter Wimsey series introduced by crime writer Laura Wilson - a must-read for fans of Agatha Christie's Poirot and Margery Allingham's Campion Mysteries. 'D. L. Sayers is one of the best...

Maisie Dobbs a novel

Winspear, Jacqueline

Crocodile on the sandbank

Peters, Elizabeth

Paper Book

From a New York Times bestselling author, a Victorian-era thriller featuring Egyptologist Amelia Peabody, a self-proclaimed spinster and heiress who's unrattled by anyone-including mummies. The unshakeable Amelia Peabody embarks on an Egyptian...

El coleccionista de huesos

Deaver, Jeffery

Paper Book

Después de un accidente que lo deja completamente paralizado, el criminólogo Lincoln Rhyme se hunde en un infierno de depresión. Pero cuando la policía se ve incapaz de neutralizar al Coleccionista de huesos, un asesino serial que siempre de cadáveres la

The bat

Nesbø, Jo

Paper Book

**HARRY HOLE IS SOON TO BE A MAJOR NETFLIX TV SERIES** OVER 60 MILLION BOOKS SOLD WORLDWIDE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER HARRY IS OUT OF HIS DEPTH. Detective Harry Hole is meant to keep out of trouble. A young Norwegian girl taking a gap...

Knots & crosses

Rankin, Ian

Paper Book

Discover how it all began in the very first Rebus novel from 'Britain's No.1 crime writer' Daily Mirror 'And in Edinburgh of all places. I mean, you never think of that sort of thing happening in Edinburgh, do you...?' 'That sort of thing' is the...

Death at La Fenice

Leon, Donna.

Paper Book

"A gripping first mystery, as beguiling and secretly sinister as Venice herself. Sparkling and irresistible." -- Rita Mae Brown The first book in the internationally bestselling Guido Brunetti detective series in which a high society murder leads Guido to investigate the darker side...

Cover her face

James, P. D.

Paper Book

Sally Jupp was a sly and sensuous young woman who used her body and her brains to make her way up the social ladder. Now she lies across her bed with dark bruises from a strangler's fingers forever marring her lily-white throat. Someone has decided that the wages of sin should be death....

Magpie murders

Horowitz, Anthony

Paper Book

"Magpie Murders is a double puzzle for puzzle fans, who don't often get the classicism they want from contemporary thrillers." --Janet Maslin, The New York Times A New York Times Bestseller | #1 Indie Next Pick | NPR Best Book of 2017 | Amazon Best Book of 2017 | Washington Post Best Book...

Deal Breaker

Harlan Coben

Paper Book

The debut of Myron Bolitar, a hotheaded, tenderhearted sports agent and one of the most fascinating and complex heroes in suspense fiction--a page-turning classic from Edgar Award-winner and master storyteller Harlan Coben. "One of the most engaging heroes in mystery fiction."...

The Thursday murder club

Osman, Richard

Paper Book

Now a Netflix Film The first installment in the beloved and New York Times bestselling series from Richard Osman, also author of We Solve Murders Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves A female cop with her first...

Raven Black

Ann Cleeves

Paper Book

Raven Black is the first book in Ann Cleeves' bestselling Shetland series, also a BBC One and Netflix drama starring Douglas Henshall as Jimmy Perez.Now reissued with a new cover look.A remote community, touched by evil - would you know who to trust?It is a cold January morning and...

The Crossing Places

Elly Griffiths

Paper Book

An atmospheric adventure with beloved forensic archaeologist and "captivating amateur sleuth" Ruth Galloway, as she teams up with Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson to investigate a set of remains, thought to be the bones of a little girl who went missing ten years before--"an inspired creation"...

Chocolate chip cookie murder a Hannah Swensen mystery

Fluke, Joanne

Paper Book

No one cooks up a delectable, suspense-filled mystery quite like Hannah Swensen, Joanne Fluke's dessert-baking, red-haired heroine whose gingersnaps are as tart as her comebacks, and whose penchant for solving crimes--one delicious clue at a time--has made her a bestselling favorite. And it all...

Her royal spyness

Bowen, Rhys.

Paper Book

THE FIRST ROYAL SPYNESS MYSTERY! The New York Times bestselling author of the Molly Murphy and Constable Evan Evans mysteries turns her attentions to "a feisty new heroine to delight a legion of Anglophile readers."* London, 1932. Lady Victoria...

The quiche of death

Beaton, M. C.

Paper Book

The first book in M. C. Beaton's New York Times bestselling Agatha Raisin series--now a hit show on Acorn TV and public television. Putting all her eggs in one basket, Agatha Raisin gives up her successful PR firm, sells her London flat, and settles in for an early...

The Godwulf manuscript a Spenser novel

Parker, Robert B.

Paper Book

A New York Times Bestselling Author -- Spenser earned his degree in the school of hard knocks, so he's ready when a Boston university hires him to recover a stolen rare manuscript. His only clue is a radical student with four bullets in his chest. The cops are ready to throw the book at the pretty...

The word is murder a novel

Horowitz, Anthony

Paper Book

"One of the most entertaining mysteries of the year. It's also one of the most stimulating, as it ponders such questions as: Which is of greater interest to the reader, the crime or the detective? And: Is the pencil truly mightier than the butcher knife?" -- Wall Street Journal New...

The distant echo

McDermid, Val

Paper Book

The first novel in the bestselling Karen Pirie series The award-winning Number One bestseller and Queen of crime fiction Val McDermid carves out a stunning psychological thriller. The past is behind them, but what's still to come will tear them apart... From the creators of Line of...

A duty to the dead

Todd, Charles

Paper Book

The First Bess Crawford Mystery! "Readers who can't get enough of Maisie Dobbs, the intrepid World War I battlefield nurse in Jacqueline Winspear's novels...are bound to be caught up in the adventures of Bess Crawford." --New York Times Book...

The stranger diaries

Griffiths, Elly

Paper Book

International Bestseller Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel "This lively whodunit keeps you guessing until the end." --People "Utterly bewitching...As unforgettable as it is original." --A.J. Finn ...

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