Mystery Recs

Mysteries I loved!

Updated August 19, 2023
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The Twyford code : a novel
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
Crais, Robert
Paper Book
They killed the only one who ever cared and now they're going to pay. 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...

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.

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.

Still life
Penny, Louise.
Paper Book
As the early morning mist clears on Thanksgiving Sunday, the homes of Three Pines come to life – all except one… To locals, the village is a safe haven. So they are bewildered when a well-loved member of the community is found dead in the maple woods. Surely it was an accident – a...
"A" is for alibi : a Kinsey Millhone mystery
Grafton, Sue.
Paper Book
The wife of a hated divorce lawyer becomes the main suspect in his murder and hires private detective, Kinsey Millhone, to find the real killer.

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