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A good mystery or thriller will stop you dead (no pun intended) in your tracks, planting a question in your brain and refusing to let you rest until you’ve turned it over from every angle. Whether we’re following the seasoned detective in a procedural, the affable amateur sleuth in a cozy, or the unreliable narrator in a psychological thriller, the best mysteries and thrillers of the century so far don’t just ask whodunit, or how: they interrogate our biases and what we think we know about the world.
Crime fiction has shifted shape in the last 25 years. The perspectives in these stories have slowly grown more diverse. We still reach for classic tropes, but new subgenres have taken shape. Domestic suspense has peeled back the wallpaper on seemingly perfect lives. Thrillers explore our anxieties about technology, power structures, and identity. Technology itself has drastically changed the landscape of crime, both in how it gets committed and how it gets solved. The titles on this list aim to capture the full breadth of that evolution, featuring a diverse spread of settings, subgenres, tropes, and themes.
These are the mysteries and thrillers that have defined this century so far.
A Curious Beginningby Deanna Raybourn
Oh, witty banter, how I love thee. Throw in a clever woman who I want to go on adventures with and who bucks at society’s rules, a grump of a man, interesting mystery cases, hilarious dialogue, a slow-burn romance, and you have my whole heart. This series is an absolute delight and fun ride from the start, as lepidopterist Veronica Speedwell and natural historian Stoker find themselves butting heads while delving into scandals and solving the ol’ murder mystery in late 1880s England. Ten books in and I still drop everything to read a new release in this series.
A Study in Scarlet Womenby Sherry Thomas
In this brilliant gender-flipped take on Sherlock, Charlotte Holmes makes a living assisting her brother Sherlock in solving cases in Victorian England. But there is no Sherlock here; Charlotte is really doing the detecting all on her own through some light subterfuge, all with the help of her benefactor, Mrs. Watson. Charlotte is one of my favorite characters in literature, a woman whose powers of deduction are matched only by her love of a good slice of cake. She’s found a way to live independently in a society that does not typically afford women agency, chasing down clues while also pursuing the object of her affection in the mother of all slow burns. This book is the first in a series that keeps getting better and better.
Age of Viceby Deepti Kapoor
Oh, how I envy anyone picking up this book for the first time! It’s about wealth, class, and corruption. It’s about gangsters and drug deals and nepo babies doing their damnedest to squander the family fortune. It’s what you would get if you put The Sopranos, Succession, and White Lotus into a blender and poured the resulting concoction into modern-day India. At turns dishy, suspenseful, and shocking, Age of Vice is always entertaining and always substantial. It’s a potent combination you’ll be thinking about long after you turn the final page.
American Spyby Lauren Wilkinson
This character-driven literary espionage thriller set during the Cold War stars FBI agent Marie who, as a young Black woman, struggles to be taken seriously by her bosses. When she’s offered her first meaningful assignment to infiltrate the inner circle of a revolutionary new president in Burkina Faso, she jumps at the opportunity. But the more she learns about her target, the more she starts to question her own government’s agenda and her role in it. It’s a fascinating and unique perspective on real historical events with a richly layered protagonist you’ll think about long past the final page.
An Elderly Lady is Up to No Goodby Helene Tursten
How about instead of solving a murder, we try to get away with one--or maybe even several? That's exactly what 88-year-old Maud is doing while living her best life in a rent-free apartment in Sweden. It would be a perfectly peaceful life, if only her pesky neighbors would quit getting in the way. Maud is the perfect protagonist for this series of unlikely crime stories about an octogenarian retiree happy to solve any problem that comes her way with a little murder.
Arsenic and Adoboby Mia P. Manansala
This first book in a bestselling and award-winning cozy mystery series is full of delicious Filipine recipes and a cute weiner dog. Things start off when Lila Macapagal moves back home after a breakup. Her attention gets directed to helping revive her Tita Rosie's dying restaurant, while her aunties try to do a little matchmaking for her. Well, things don't exactly go to plan when a sassy food critic—who is also her ex-boyfriend—dies right after speaking to her. Partnered with her dachshund Longanista, she'll need to utilize her network of snooping aunties lest she remain suspect #1, and her family's restaurant gets shut down for good.
Bellweather Rhapsodyby Kate Racculia
This book has it all: A hotel that was the site of a horrible murder/suicide during a wedding 15 years ago; hundreds of teen musicians gathered for a competition, as well as someone who happened to have been at the tragic wedding; a missing student; friendships; secrets; and a giant blizzard about to trap them all inside together. It's fabulous and menacing, but still tame enough to win an Alex Award for teens. Bellweather Rhapsody is an Agatha Christie story in a sinister Overlook Hotel setting, one that serves up a delicious mystery with humor, heart, and sharp teeth, and then signs the hotel guest book, "Angst for the memories."
Big Little Liesby Liane Moriarty
A parent falls off a balcony at a school fundraiser. Was it an accident or a murder? The police and the reader are both trying to answer this question as the book jumps back six months to introduce a group of moms meeting at Kindergarten orientation. These women are wading through domestic and sexual violence, divorce and co-parenting, and their children’s dramas ranging from birthday party invitations to bullying accusations. Other parents share their perspectives, rumors, and evidence with the police throughout these chapters. But the only people who know what happened in this gripping mystery are the people who were out on the balcony.
Blacktop Wastelandby S.A. Cosby
Beauregard “Bug” Montage is an honest mechanic, a loving husband, and a hard-working dad. In the not-so-distant past, he was also known up and down the East Coast as the best damn getaway driver there ever was. Bug has left that life behind now with too much to lose, and only wants to do right by the people he loves. But like anyone who's ever watched a heist movie knows, there’s always that one last job... I white-knuckled my way through this audiobook, flawlessly performed by the legendary Adam Lazarre-White. It's not every day you come across an author who writes the kinds of scenes that make you forget to breathe, but the breakneck speed and almost unbearable tension of this book did just that.
Bluebird, Bluebirdby Attica Locke
East Texas comes alive in this rural noir by the Emmy Award-winning Attica Locke. In it, Darren Matthews is a Black Texas Ranger who contends with protecting and serving a place that has not protected or served him. Now he's investigating two murders in a small town—that of a Black attorney from Chicago and a white female resident of the town. Things get real as the murders help long-held bitterness bubble over—and Matthews will need to solve the crimes before the town, and he, succumbs to them. Locke's TV writing skills are fully on display in this suspenseful and atmospheric mystery-thriller.
Claire DeWitt and the City of the Deadby Sara Gran
This isn't just a detective novel, it's a mercurial experience, a book that knocks you down and roots in your brain's pockets for loose change. Claire DeWitt is a former-teen-detective-turned-mercurial-grown-up-sleuth, a brilliant student of French detection methods, and a human train wreck. She's twenty pounds of dynamite in a five-pound bag. Traveling to New Orleans to find a missing person, her brain ambles and dashes as she seeks answers and self-medicates until we ask, do we even care about the mystery anymore? Just give us more. Lots of stories tell of detectives set to self-destruct, but none are as fascinating or as badass as Claire.
Confessionsby Kanae Minato, translated by Stephen Snyder
East Asian mysteries and thrillers grew not only in access over the first quarter of the 2000s, they also exploded in popularity with Western readers. Minato is among the authors who have developed a reputation for dark story lines and unpredictable twists. In Confessions, a young educator believes she has nothing to live for. Following an accident at the middle school where she teaches, she decides to resign–but not before delivering one last lesson to her students, two of whom she accuses of murdering her child. Now those students are turning on each other in revenge. It's a disturbing and riveting read packed with secrets and revelations.
Dark Matterby Blake Crouch
Blake Crouch is a prolific author and screenwriter, but Dark Matter catapulted him into the broader public eye, reaching readers who don't usually search for the uncanny in their thriller fiction. This sci-fi thriller follows a man who wakes up after a kidnapping to a distorted version of his life where his family is not his family and he's a groundbreaking genius. This book was such a knockout success that it got a series adaptation but, more than that, in a genre brimming with unexpected plot twists this book stands out for its unpredictability and ability to blow the mind of even the most voracious thriller reader.
Death by Dumplingby Vivien Chien
When this book was published in 2018, there just wasn’t a lot of diversity in the cozy genre and it showed. But the Noodle Shop Mystery series renewed my love for cozy mysteries. Twelve books in, people seem to love the series as much as I do. Death by Dumpling introduces us to Lana Lee, who finds herself back at the family restaurant, Ho-Lee Noodle House in Cleveland. There she ends up playing amateur sleuth to save herself, her family, and her community with her dog, Kikkoman (Kikko) by her side. It’s a life-affirming series that celebrates family, friends, Chinese heritage, and of course, food.
Dial A for Auntiesby Jesse Q. Sutanto
Jesse Q. Sutanto takes cozy mystery to its most hilarious extremes in this book about an accidental murder and a family trying to hide a body during the biggest wedding of the season. It’s more hijinks than whodunit since we know exactly who the culprit is from almost page one. But that just lends even more creativity to all the ways Sutanto devises to keep her characters out of trouble.
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Deadby Olga Tokarczuk, Antonia Lloyd-Jones
This literary murder mystery by Tokarczuk, who won the 2018 Man Booker International Prize for Flights and the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature, unfolds in a Polish town, where “[a]ll you can see on the map is a road and a few houses, no letters.” In the snowy Plateau, only three neighbors reside year-round. There, reclusive Janina and her neighbor Oddball wrestle their other neighbor Big Foot—dead with a pointy bone lodged in his throat—into a brown suit and call for help. Big Foot drew me in, but this compelling novel, with entrancing prose full of humor and keen observations, touched on so many of my passions: astrology, names, poetry, fairy tales, and quirky protagonists.
Even Though I Knew the Endby C.L. Polk
This genre-bending magical mystery is full of demons, sapphic lovers, and all the dazzling trappings of 1940s Chicago. Our story's detective, Helen Brandt, has a bit of a problem: she sold her soul to save her brother's life, and her time on the mortal plane is almost up. But then she gets offered one last job, a job that promises that she no longer has to give up her soul, and can spend more time with the woman she loves. Thing is, the job means hunting down the White City Vampire, the deadliest killer in the city, and descending into a world of divine monsters, even as the clock ticks on her own life.
Everything I Never Told Youby Celeste Ng
I can remember where I first read Ng’s captivating debut, a haunting literary mystery. After I complained about the long library queue, my love gifted me a copy. I curled up in a recliner then time slipped away. That attention-demanding opening—“Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.”—clutched my bookish attention, and I devoured the poignant story. When I think of the bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere and Our Missing Hearts, I think of beginnings that hook: a burned-down house; a mysterious letter. And it all began in an Ohio suburb during 1977 with the Lee family mourning the loss of their blue-eyed middle child—only 16.
Far From Youby Tess Sharpe
It was not that long ago when finding LGBTQ+ genre books was nearly impossible. Sharpe's debut young adult novel was among the first–if not the first–YA mystery to center a queer lead character. Sophie is a disabled, bisexual, and navigating an addiction to prescription pain killers; she's not exactly the person police or her small town believe when she presents evidence related to her best friend's murder that contradicts the working theories. This 2014 book is a moving, atmospheric read about a romantic relationship cut too short and the ways an "unlikable" female character must push back against the boxes in which she's been put.
Firekeeper’s Daughterby Angeline Boulley
Angeline Boulley's name is one any mystery/thriller reader, as well as any young adult reader, knows. That's thanks to her debut novel, which set her career on fire. What does it mean to be an Anishinaabe kwe? That's what Daunis has been wondering as she's never quite fit in either in her hometown or the nearby Ojibwe reservation. But her dreams of leaving for a fresh start in college are challenged by a family tragedy, and now, Daunis pulls on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to help uncover corruption in her community. Among this book's decorations are an Edgar Award, a Printz Award, a Morris Award, and so many more.
Goldie Vanceby Hope Larson
Kid detectives are a big part of the legacy of the mystery genre, and my favorite new addition is Goldie Vance. Sixteen-year-old Goldie aspires to be the in-house detective at the Florida resort she lives in with her father. So, when a guest's necklace goes missing, she jumps at the chance to investigate. The case turns out to be much bigger than it appears, and she needs to recruit help—including her crush, Diane. I love that this all-ages mystery graphic novel series stars a queer girl of color, including a cute sapphic romance subplot. There are also several Goldie Vance middle grade novels, and new bind-ups of the comics are out this year.
Gone Girlby Gillian Flynn
There aren't words to describe the impact this book made when it published in summer 2012. It was the definition of buzzy, with reader interest garnered almost immediately. Flynn wasn't new to writing, but this book took her from an author thriller readers knew to an author that turned people into readers and turned so many of those readers into thriller devotees. Gone Girl is directly responsible for the ongoing popularity of twisty, messy thrill rides, and not only did it get a worthy film adaptation, it's a book clocking in at nearly 3.5 million reviews on Goodreads. Find here imperfect characters, wicked secrets, and a genre-defining classic.
In the Woodsby Tana French
I will read anything Tana French writes—her stories' deeply rooted sense of place, absorbing characters' lives, and layered plots are *chef’s kiss.* The Irish police procedural In The Woods starts off The Dublin Murder Squad series which, unlike most crime procedural series, focuses on different detectives in the unit in each of the six books. We start with detectives, and good friends, Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox. They're assigned to a murder case that is further complicated by Rob keeping a secret about his identity, which only Cassie knows. The secret, of course, ties into the current case…
Magpie Murdersby Anthony Horowitz
Susan Ryeland is the editor of the Atticus Pünd mysteries, bestselling Agatha Christie-esque whodunnits set in a mid-century world of cozy-but-murdery English villages. But when she receives the latest manuscript in the series from its misanthropic author, there’s a real-life mystery buried in its pages. Magpie Murders is two mysteries in one; not only does Susan have to solve a real murder, but we get to read the full Atticus Pünd novel along with her. Though the Golden Age homage is admittedly stronger than the present-day mystery, the cleverly metatextual framework elevates Magpie Murders from simply a very good pastiche to a classic.
Miracle Creekby Angie Kim
I was hard-pressed to choose between Angie Kim’s two gripping literary mysteries for this list, as both are brilliant in different ways. I ultimately went with her debut novel, but don’t sleep on Happiness Falls either! Kim’s legal drama Miracle Creek is set around a tragic accident inside an experimental medical device that leaves two dead and multiple others injured. As we view the accident and its aftermath through the perspectives of various involved parties, the question of blame becomes increasingly complicated. It’s a finespun tale that explores technological advancement, criminal responsibility, the anxieties of modern parenting, immigrant experiences, and much more. Angie Kim is a must-read author for mystery lovers.
Monday’s Not Comingby Tiffany D. Jackson
Tiffany D. Jackson is one of thee premier YA writers of mystery, thriller, and even a little horror. Her stories take on contemporary issues and center Black people, specifically Black girls, in stories that real-life news tends to ignore. In Monday's Not Coming, Monday Charles is missing, and it feels like her best friend Claudia is the only one who's noticed. With her best friend gone, and the bullies and tests mounting up, Claudia needs her best friend more than ever. But Monday's mother and sister are no help at all—and it's been weeks since anyone has seen Monday.
Moon of the Crusted Snowby Waubgeshig Rice
Waubgeshig Rice's post-apocalyptic thriller following an Anishinaabe community struggling to survive after the lights go out everywhere strikes that rare balance of being profoundly moving while keeping readers on the edge of their seats; its follow-up, Moon of the Turning Leaves, is even more action-packed. Together, these books stand out as singular stories in the genre, asking big questions about the erosion of Indigenous traditions, the staying power of colonization, and how we nurture and preserve community. The thrills here are deep and thoughtful, and the perspective is, unfortunately, hard to come by in the genre.
My Sister, the Serial Killerby Oyinkan Braithwaite
No mystery about what is happening here—the title tells you everything you really need to know—so the fun to be had is with why and how. And what fun it is! Braithwaite’s story about a woman reckoning with the dawning realization that her sister is killing off her boyfriends (hard to ignore when three in a row have ended up dead) is as funny as it is compelling. It’s a hard trick to pull off, and Braithwaite makes it look effortless. One of the most memorable and widely recommendable reading experiences I can recall.
One by Oneby Ruth Ware
Ruth Ware has penned a number of mysteries that would be at home on this list, from her fabulous debut, In a Dark, Dark Wood, about a night gone horribly wrong at a house in the middle of the woods, or The Woman in Cabin 10, the psychological thriller that made her a household name. I landed on One by One because if I close my eyes, I can still feel the chill that went down my spine when the killer was revealed, and the nerve-frazzling tension of everything that happened next. This snowed-in thriller set at a luxurious ski chalet high in the French Alps is Ware at her absolute best, and why she's often dubbed this generation's Agatha Christie.
Six Wakesby Mur Lafferty
I cannot count the number of time I've overheard or received a recommendation to pick up Mur Lafferty's science fiction thriller, which was a Hugo and Nebula Awards finalist. The story follows a clone who emerges from her vat with no memory of how she died, waiting for the other six clones to wake up, attempting to solve the mystery of their deaths. Science fiction mystery mashups have gained a huge audience and this is one of the iconic books that drove its success. What's more existentially thrilling and edge-of-seat than a murder mystery set in the vast void of space? This book does that setting justice.
Spy x Familyby Tatsuya Endo
My intro to the wonderful world of manga was Spy x Family and I could not have had a better first read. This charming and hilarious series has so much fun with the spy trope. It follows a family of four (yes, I include the dog!) made up of strangers keeping secrets, which makes for hilarious and madcap moments. Loid is a spy who needs a family to get close to his new target, so he adopts a girl and gets a fake wife. Funny thing: the child he adopts, Anya, is able to read people’s thoughts, the fake wife, Yor, is actually an assassin, and the adopted dog has precognitive abilities. And none of them know this about each other!
Still Lifeby Louise Penny
From the jump, Louise Penny's Inspector Armand Gamache series has been incredible. Inspector Gamache is a more empathetic Poirot, a Canadian Jessica Fletcher with a badge, and the fact that his kindness is mistaken for weakness is his weapon. Working for the Surêté du Québec, in Still Life he travels to Three Pines to investigate the death of a local woman. It seems like a hunting accident at first, but using his shrewd powers of observation, Gamache recognizes something more ominous has happened. Part of the magic of this series is Penny's ability to make every novel more realistic and heart-pounding than the last. Gamache ou la mort!
The Da Vinci Codeby Dan Brown
With more than 80 million copies sold since it first hit shelves in 2003, this is one of the bestselling books of all time, and it’s the best of Dan Brown’s now-famous oeuvre of conspiracy theory thrillers. It seems almost quaint today that a novel about a shadowy cabal that secretly ran the world while engaging in sex rituals would be controversial enough to inspire official comments from The Vatican, but in its day, The Da Vinci Code was pretty radical. And it was radically popular. Dan Brown’s signature blend of history, religion, art, and philosophy made amateur symbologists of us all, and I’ve rarely had more fun reading.
The Devotion of Suspect Xby Keigo Higashino
Japanese crime novels have exploded in popularity this century. The first book of the Detective Galileo series was a hit when it came out in 2005 in Japan, racking up several of the country's most prestigious literary awards for mysteries. Its acclaim only grew when it was published in English in 2011. It's also been adapted four times as a movie: in Japan, Korea, China, and recently, on Netflix in Hindi. Part psychological thriller, part "howdunit" mystery, this twisty crime novel will keep you guessing throughout, despite the detective being sure of the murderer from the beginning.
The Eyre Affairby Jasper Fforde
This unique novel takes place in an alternate reality of Great Britain in 1985 where cloning is common, the Crimean War never ended, and classic literature dominates pop culture. Time travel is possible and so is traveling into books. When a criminal starts entering books and killing off characters, literary detective Thursday Next must stop him before he attacks his next target: Jane Eyre. Thursday travels into the book to protect this beloved story and character. With clever prose, an abundance of literary puns, and a zany cast of characters, this book is part science fiction, part cozy mystery, and (above all else) a book lover’s book.
The Girl on the Trainby Paula Hawkins
Whatever you think of the infantalizing "girl" moniker in mystery/thriller titles, Paula Hawkins' psychological thriller threw fuel on that fire by becoming a bestselling sensation. The Girl on the Train was Hawkins' debut and, through its profound success, she gained instant name recognition. Following in the footsteps of Rear Window, this book features an unreliable narrator who believes she's witnessed a terrible crime involving strangers around whom she's created a personal narrative. The novel became a trendsetter, creating a mold you can identify in thrillers published even a decade later.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattooby Stieg Larsson
You know your book has reached the upper echelons when David Fincher adapts it. Stieg Larsson's first book in the Millennium series of crime novels has seen not one but two great adaptations, and the books have transformed into a franchise and pop culture sensation. If you have to follow someone down a dark, psychologically twisty, intense rabbit hole, you can't do much better than Lisbeth Salander, one of the most fascinating powerhouses of the genre. Larsson gave us a crime thriller masterpiece that can't stop flying off the shelves and getting picked up for adaptation, and for that, we thank him.
The God of the Woodsby Liz Moore
It's not unusual for the book of the summer to be a thriller, but it takes not just a page-turning story but great writing to make it one of the books of the year. Liz Moore delivers on all fronts in this 2024 blockbuster, celebrated by everyone from Barack Obama to the New York Times. The story about a mysterious disappearance at an Adirondacks summer camp in the 1970s is compelling by itself. Add Moore’s deft exploration of intimate family secrets and bigger-picture issues of class and entitlement, and you get an elevated exemplar of the genre that becomes a crossover hit.
The Lincoln Lawyerby Michael Connelly
Many of the biggest mystery and thriller series today started in the 90s—aka, last century! An exception is the Mickey Haller series, which started in 2005 with The Lincoln Lawyer. It follows a criminal defense lawyer who takes on what should be an easy, high-paying case that ends up putting his own life in danger. It was adapted into the 2011 film of the same name starring Matthew McConaughey, and in 2020, it was also adapted as a Netflix series. Season four aired in 2026, and it's been renewed for season five. The Lincoln Lawyer was Michael Connelly's 16th novel, but it quickly became his most popular, and the series is still ongoing.
The Mysterious Benedict Societyby Trenton Lee Stewart
It has been almost two decades since Mr. Benedict's mysterious society made its first appearance, and the series has had a lasting impact. Mr. Benedict, a brilliant, rich, eccentric recluse, brings together a small group of exceedingly clever orphans and runaways to help him stop a supervillain from conquering the planet. As the children study and spy together, they form the bonds of family and friendship they were missing from their lives. The series is, yes, mysterious, and lots of fun. It works so well because it's written for kids, and kids never question why it is that only children can save the world. They just do it!
The Other Black Girlby Zakiya Dalila Harris
Nella’s dream is to become a book editor. But between workplace microaggressions and pandering to mediocre white authors, it’s really difficult being the only Black employee at the publishing house where she works. So she’s excited when another Black woman, Hazel, is hired and assigned to the desk next to hers. But threatening notes start appearing on Nella’s desk, and Hazel seems to be setting Nella up to look bad with their bosses. Soon, Nella wonders if her life as well as her job are in danger. This book called out the overwhelming whiteness of publishing and delivered a gasp-inducing, twist-filled thriller at the same time.
The Snowmanby Jo Nesbø
Whether you call it Nordic Noir or Scandinavian Crime, it has been one of the biggest trends in the mystery/thriller genre this century. One of the best known Nordic Noir authors is the Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø, who won the Raymond Chandler Award for Lifetime Achievement. The Snowman follows Harry Hole (pronounced HOO-leh) as he investigates a serial killer who leaves a snowman beside each victim. This is the seventh book in the Harry Hole series, but it's the most popular, including being adapted into a 2017 movie starring Michael Fassbender. A Netflix series starring Tobias Santelmann as Detective Hole is out this year, on March 26th.
The Spellman Filesby Lisa Lutz
Lisa Lutz flipped the detective novel script by creating a dark comedy centering a family of private investigators that puts the capital “D” in dysfunctional, offers plenty of laughs and witty dialogue, and has a sarcastic misfit lead. It starts with 28-year-old Izzy Spellman, who's ready to quit the family’s PI business. That's how she ends up on the first of two cases, a missing-person case she has to solve before her parents will let her quit. The second case she takes on is the disappearance of her younger teenage sister, Rae. Treat yourself to this six-book series when you need an unconventional family of PIs to make you laugh.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pieby Alan Bradley
In 1950s England, 11-year-old Flavia de Luce is regularly left unsupervised, riding around on a bike named Gladys and regularly telling people to "suck her galoshes." She's whip-smart and insatiably curious with a passion for scientific experiments, all of which come in handy in her adventures as an amateur sleuth. The precocious kid detective thing could easily lean toward twee or annoying, but it's endlessly entertaining, even when some of Flavia's hijinks are a tad far-fetched. The hilarity of Flavia's inner monologue is matched by the tenderness of her relationship with valet Dogger, all of which adds to the fun of solving the whodunnit. This clever book and series are personal favorites and certainly among the century's best.
The Tainted Cupby Robert Jackson Bennett
This is one of the most imaginative and clever new series of the past decade. It's set in a plant-magicked world, where Dinios Kol is a new recruit assigned to work with legendary detective Ana Dolabra, a wildly unpredictable genius who is feared by most everyone else. Ana might be a bit unhinged, but it turns out she and young Din make sense as partners, bringing out the best in each other. Their first case has them searching for answers to the death of a high imperial officer, who was killed when a tree sprouted from his body. (That'll do it.) This first entry in the Shadow of the Leviathan series is exciting, inventive, and really funny, and should please both fantasy and mystery lovers.
The Thursday Murder Clubby Richard Osman
It’s no wonder that so many mysteries in the past few years have emulated The Thursday Murder Club’s cover design, title, and/or septuagenarian antics. Richard Osman’s fiction debut, about four retirees who meet up regularly to solve cold cases but suddenly find themselves with a very hot murder on their hands, is just that good. It combines a delightfully intricate puzzle box mystery with hilarious dialogue, a strong element of farce, and—just when you least expect it—genuine tearjerker pathos. The subsequent books in the series are just as good if not better, adding complexity to the initially goofy club members with every installment.
The Unquiet Deadby Ausma Zehanat Khan
I have so much love for the excellent leads and their partnership, along with all the cases and history that are tackled in this procedural series. The Canadian federal government created a community policing unit and Esa Khattak is running it. Detective Rachel Getty recently had her career tanked as retaliation, which prompts Esa to have her assigned to his unit. Their first case together doesn’t even seem like a case—a man accidentally fell to his death—but something about it feels off… If you’re looking for deeply layered stories, complex characters, and a modern setting with ties to histories that rarely get focus, this series starter is a must-read.
The Widows of Malabar Hillby Sujata Massey
This award-winning and atmospheric mystery by Sujata Massey takes place in 1920's Bombay and stars an endearing protagonist named Perveen Mistry, who works as one of the first female lawyers in India. The mysteries of this novel grow compelling on multiple fronts, from the legal suspense of Perveen’s work, to the murder mystery she gets involved in with an eccentric family, and the slowly revealed secrets of her own troubled past. Massey’s examination of women’s rights during this era, as well as abusive relationships, adds incredible depth to the story. Plus, she creates characters you care about. Every book in this series is worth reading!
When No One Is Watchingby Alyssa Cole
Sydney grew up in her Brooklyn neighborhood, but little by little finds it changing as her friends and neighbors are getting pushed out by high rent and pushy real estate agents to make room for new condos. Theo is one of the new people—a white guy who bought the brownstone across the street. But whether from guilt or an interest in history, he agrees to help her research the history of the neighborhood for a walking tour. What the two find in their research points to a deadly conspiracy theory that will threaten both their lives. This thriller delivers a genuinely terrifying plot while also dramatizing the horrors of gentrification.
You Will Know Meby Megan Abbott
Abbott launched her career with feminist noir, playing with and against the conventions of hardboiled crime novels of the 1950s. Though she shifted away from noir in the 2010s, her feminist lens and compulsively readable writing stayed firm. You Will Know Me is a gripping read about ambition that follows an Olympics-hopeful gymnast and her parents as a violent death rattles the foundations of their gymnastics community. What price is too high to pay for a dream? Any of Abbott's books could be on this list, but this one's commentary on over-involved parenting and the dark corners of suburbia touches on perennially compelling and divisive issues.
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