Find Whodunit: Murder Mystery Books To Wake Your Inner Sherlock Homes

Are you also a fan of figuring who is the mastermind behind the gruesome murders that leaves everyone shocked in the novels? Well, it’s time to bring out your pen and take notes through the twists and turns of these thrilling murder mystery books that leave everyone shell-shocked when the culprit is revealed.

Mystery Books
Murder Mystery Books

Reading novels of any genre can be quite thought awakening but the best murder mystery is what truly tests your capability as a budding detective, even if it’s just in your mind. There are many fans of the famous detective Hercule Poirot who was brought to life by Agatha Christie and those who enjoy the more older versions of Sherlock Homes by Arthur Conan Doyle to revisit the happening of 221B Baker Street in London. Fans of this genre are always looking for the next intriguing storyline to test their capabilities to see if they can find the one who has done it. Many times you are right but the shock of thinking it was someone and getting to see that it was the one you had trusted all along is definitely worth the lengthy read of mystery books. To help you pick up the next book, we have searched for the ones with the most shocking twists and reveals so your thirst of thrill is quenched. Let’s go through each with a written trailer of what you can expect from the story.

Thrilling Books With Murder Mystery That Will Keep You Guessing

Once you get into mystery books, it is impossible to get out, especially murder mystery. For those who find detective life intriguing and want to sharpen their minds, this genre offers one of the most effective ways of doing so. Let’s go through some books that each come with a twist that leaves you bewildered and questioning everything. 

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  • In the Woods By Tana French

    Bringing a storyline which departs from the norm of having reliable POVs, In The Woods by Tana French offers a mystery for the murder of a 12 year old named Katy Devlin. The main detectives follow the lines of the more the merrier by having two detectives on the case, Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox. Till now it sounds like a normal mystery novel but the added information that brings the story together is that she was murdered close to the same woods where Rob’s friends had gone missing years ago. 

    It moves in an eery manner where the reader might get confused from the telling as the POVs tend to change from past to present. It is more a psychological thriller involving a murder where you have to find what had happened in your memory and how it relates to the tragic end of the little girl. The author of the book has received the esteemed Edgar Award in 2008, giving you assurance on how immersive it is. 

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  • The Black Dahlia By James Ellroy

    Penned in 1987, The Black Dahlia is perfect for the relentless justice seekers who can digest a bit of truth in their crime novels. The setting of this novel which is set in the shady world of LA in the 1940s is what makes it an instant classic. Another unsettling fact about this novel is that it’s heavily influenced by the real murder of Elizabeth Short, who was left in an empty lot in a gruesome state. 

    The author makes it a point to make the protagonist a justice lover and how it consumes him, letting you see the dark part of life. With clear depictions of corruption and questioning of what’s right and wrong, readers would feel as if they are also attached to the victim and would keep turning pages until they find out who was the culprit. James Ellroy does give a fictional end to a story that still remains unsolved, which adds another layer of mystery on top.

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  • My Murder By Katie Williams

    What would you do if you were murdered by a serial killer on the loose and brought back to life by a government scheme along with the other five victims? Well you can ask Lou that question who also happens to be the protagonist of this story. It seems that the culprit is gone and she’s free to be back with her kid and husband but is all as it seems? Struggling to remember her past life before she was cloned, she starts to notice some weird things in her surroundings that don't quite match the story she was told. She sets out to figure out if she was really killed by the serial killer or was it somebody else. 

    You can follow her story throughout the book as she unravels what had really happened on the day she had died. This book has some really dark comic timings and will have you gasping from the surprises she comes across. 

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  • A Murder on Malabar Hill By Sujata Massey

    Bombay in 1921 was a different time and that is exactly where this book takes you when reading it. Starring the intelligent and quick witted Perveen Mistry who is introduced to be one of India’s first female lawyers (like we said, a different time). She is all set to join her father’s known law firm and she is very adamant in women’s rights based on her own past experiences which you will learn as you read. 

    One case of the Will settlement of a wealthy mill owner takes a dark turn when murder gets involved. She is running against the odds as her own life becomes dangerous while investigating this case. Her match with the criminal mind is definitely one to read, especially if you love to read about a female protagonist in a detective role.

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  • Killing Floor By Lee Child

    Investigating a murder can sometimes lead to you getting accused of it and our main protagonist, Jack Reacher, would know all about it. After he has gotten off the bus and just walked a few miles to a small place in margrave, he has found himself in the middle of chaos as he struggles to find out what had happened to his brother in that town. After a while of careful deductions and numerous introductions of characters, he starts to see a bigger conspiracy that is taking place around him.

    His investigation doesn’t leave him unscathed as he is met with some kind of danger at every turn but would he stop? Figure out how he and his partner detective from the same town unfold the mystery of counterfeit gangs and what really lies beneath it all. This book was the starting of the Jack Reacher character which is now beloved by many in the detective fiction genre. 

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Famous Murder Mystery Authors You Should Know

There are many authors who have pioneered the writing style of detective fiction but some of the names come on top when we think about classics and modern evolution of this genre. 

Agatha Cristie, who is also famously known as the “Queen of Crime” and coined the term “whodunit” with her style of writing which always had readers getting confused on who was the real killer. She had made her iconic detective, Hercule Poirot, the main protagonist in many classics like the murder of Roger Ackroyd and Orient Express. 

How can we not mention Arthur Conan Doyle when talking about murder mysteries when he was the inspiration of Agastha Cristie. He is known as the writer of Sherlock Homes and left behind many books like The Study In Pink and The Hound Of The Baskervilles which can still be read today and have the same effect. 

For newer authors in this genre, there is Gillian Flynn who has written Gone Girl, which was a psychological thriller and had you questioning what was happening and if you had things straight all through the book. 

You can also look through Lee Child’s written books as he had given us the character of Jack Reacher which delivers well on the troupe of a righteous detective who will stop at nothing, even the most bone chilling of murders. 

Read More: Best Classic Novels

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Faq's

  • Why are murder mysteries so popular?
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    Murder mysteries get inside the reader’s mind to bring out their calculation and psychoanalyzing skills which makes for a more engaging time than maybe other genres. The need to know what happened is so strong that it’s hard to put the book down.
  • What makes a good murder mystery?
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    What creates a good murder mystery is a planned crime (usually a murder), an array of suspects (everyone around), and enough clues to keep readers guessing. The detective should be quick to catch on small details, and the reveal should feel cathartic with everything making sense.
  • What’s the difference between murder mysteries and thrillers?
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    Murder mysteries are about solving a crime, typically a murder that happens suddenly and the detective leads the scene. Thrillers tend to have more action, danger, or tension and don’t always focus on a single crime. These two genres can come together in books if used right.
  • What tropes are famous in crime fiction such murder mystery or detective fiction?
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    Tropes such as a normal person solving a crime that they happen to stumble across or the experienced detective who finds themselves in new and more dark situations every time are the most common tropes. Red herrings which means misdirects who are used to confuse the reader are also there. Other than that, there is the trend of a morally flawed detective who is fighting inner demons which lets him do his job excellently.