Love Playing Detective? Check Out 10 Best Mystery Books Of All Time

Beginning with Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl is only fair, as it still is the most memorable mystery thriller ever written. Flynn has truly crafted a master tale, where stereotypes are subverted, expectations are thrashed with each page, and the complexities of human relationships are put forth. Without giving any spoilers, the book entails a captivating story of a couple, and their changing relationship, where no stones are left unturned to get revenge. It is a story of manipulation, narcissism, and ugly love. This book was turned into a movie, and surprisingly, the screenplay, direction, and acting were very true to the book, and even won the Critics Choice Movie Best Adapataion, and we always love us some Ben Affleck.

When you've had enough time to recover from the journey that is this book, we recommend you pick up Sharp Objects as well.

Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code is such a pleasurable read, totally worth the backaches you get after sitting in the wrong positions for long hours (cc: personal experience). The whole book goes so quickly, with excellent characters, nuanced themes, and a whole lot of myth and history unravelled. The plot revolves around the murder in the Louvre museum and Robert Langdon attempting to solve the mystery around it. If you love folklore, symbolism, and history, with a well-knitted plot, this one is highly highly recommended.

Agatha Christie is always an honourable mention when it comes to the genre of mystery. Her books are honestly the perfect travel books and have given us two of the most popular detective figures in the genre of detective and mystery fiction, i.e. Hercule Poirot, and Miss Marple. All of her books are great mystery reads, with special mention to The Orient Express. But And Then There Were None takes the crown because of how it deals with complex issues of humanity and morality, where the meaning of justice and fairness change with each chapter. The story revolves around nine people who are killed by one after the other, and before it's all over, they have to band together and find out who is behind all of it. The historical context of the book is World War ll and a very fine critique of the moralities of that time.

Considered to be among the finest American fiction ever written, James M Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice is a crime novel in its truest fashion. The plot covers the saga of a wife and her lover as they plan to kill her husband to escape their socioeconomic difficulties, but things get all the more interesting when their clear attempt fails. The judiciary and the advocacy of the state get involved, revealing a layer of lies, false confessions, blackmailing, and a murder.

Penned by Liane Moriarty, Big Little Lies is a New York Times Bestseller, and a recipient of the Davitt Award as well. It's a beautiful novel, encapsulating a number of themes such as lust, repressed love, childhood trauma, manipulation, domestic abuse, and the strength of female friendship. The beginning establishes a seemingly perfect world, but as you move from page to page, the images are broken down, the motives and traumas are relived, and there is an exceptional end, with a tense legal battle between a mother and wife. The book was also adapted to a show, produced by Reese Witherspoon, and stars Nicole Kidman, and Meryl Streep, and a is a great watch as well.

Co-written by a duo, Amber and Danielle Brown Someone Had To Do It is a fast-paced thriller that draws out a world that confers to the realist movement of literature. While being a spellbinding read, it also covers very pertinent themes of modern-day America, critically engaging with themes like racism, exploitation, and a world of lies and hypocrisy. The setting of the plot is the nitty-gritty of the fashion industry, bringing forth its dark side, and is perfectly-regarded by admirers as the 'ultimate popcorn read'.

Another well-regarded novel that intersects the genres of mystery, drama, crime, and psychology, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo skilfully covers the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, and the truth behind it. The narrative weaves an extraordinary tale of deception, corruption, and unfathomable frauds and lies, that take the reader on an adrenaline journey. You won't be able to resist turning the page and finding out more, and the backdrop of the novel is truly exceptional, with each scene coming alive and playing itself in front of your eyes.

This book came to us via TikTok, and we are so glad that it did. A story about loss, love, yearning, coming of age, and a murder, but its true enchantment lies in the court scene that is so well done, and we can surely bet on your gasps. The narrative is about a 'Marsh girl' who is excluded from the village but things start changing when she gets involved with a star player, who is found dead one day. As the author is a zoologist herself, the science bit of the plants, animals, and atmosphere in tangent to the metaphors of Kya's life are just too perfect to describe, making it a truly joyous read.

An excellent mystery that questions and critically analyses the institution of society, the novel takes place inside a mental institution, where the mystery of an escaped patient lies. A U.S. Marshall, along with his partner is called to investigate, and the revelation in the end will have you jumping. It covers all the bases of mystery, where everything that's on the surface is a facade, and the duality of motives is truly haunting.

A psychological thriller, this one is a 'seemingly simple but not at all simple' novel that was the debut of Alex Michaelides. The plot of the story is fairly primitive as it covers interactions between a woman and a therapist after the woman killed her husband. There are major revelations that greatly challenge the conventional notions about health, and will definitely keep you over the edge, with a great 'never saw it coming' plot twist.