Best Books
Best Mystery & Thriller Books of All Time
Quick answer
Read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie first. Ten strangers are lured to an island and killed off one by one, with no detective and no outside world to call for help — it's the best-selling mystery novel ever written and the purest version of the puzzle-box premise.
This list covers general mystery and thriller classics; for a focused spy list see our best spy novels guide, and for unreliable-narrator domestic thrillers see our best psychological thrillers list.
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"Mystery and thriller" covers a lot of ground, so the eight books below are grouped by era and style: the classic whodunits and hardboiled detectives that built the genre, and the modern thrillers that reshaped it. No twists spoiled.
How We Chose
Every pick had to be a genuine mystery or thriller (a central crime or danger, solved or escaped through investigation) with major, lasting critical or commercial reputation. We checked every author and year against Wikipedia and Open Library as of October 2026.
Classic whodunits
1. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Ten people with secrets are invited to an isolated island by a host who never appears, and are killed off one at a time following the pattern of a children's rhyme.
- Who it's for: readers who want the purest closed-circle mystery, with no detective solving it from the outside.
- Where to start: it's a standalone. And Then There Were None (1939), the best-selling mystery novel of all time.
2. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes and Watson investigate a supposedly supernatural hound haunting the Baskerville family on the Devon moors, after the family patriarch is found dead of apparent fright.
- Who it's for: readers who want the original modern detective, still quoted and referenced constantly in the genre he founded.
- Where to start: it's a standalone Holmes novel; you don't need the short stories first. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902).
Hardboiled detectives
3. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
Private investigator Sam Spade gets pulled into a hunt for a priceless jeweled statuette, surrounded by clients and criminals who are all lying to him.
- Who it's for: readers who want the hardboiled genre's defining voice: cynical, terse, morally gray.
- Where to start: it's a standalone. The Maltese Falcon (1930).
4. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired for what looks like a simple blackmail case involving a wealthy general's wild daughters, and finds it tangled up with much bigger crimes.
- Who it's for: readers who want Chandler's famously sharp, quotable prose style alongside the plot.
- Where to start: it's a standalone, the first Philip Marlowe novel. The Big Sleep (1939).
Modern thrillers
5. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
FBI trainee Clarice Starling is sent to interview imprisoned cannibal psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter for insight into a different serial killer who skins his victims.
- Who it's for: readers who want a psychological-horror edge mixed into a procedural thriller.
- Where to start: it's a sequel to Red Dragon (1981), but works well read first; most readers start here. The Silence of the Lambs (1988).
6. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
A Harvard symbologist is pulled into a murder investigation at the Louvre that unravels into a conspiracy involving the Catholic Church, secret societies, and hidden codes in Leonardo da Vinci's art.
- Who it's for: readers who want a fast, puzzle-driven conspiracy thriller with short, cliffhanger chapters.
- Where to start: it's a sequel to Angels & Demons (2000), but was written to stand alone and is where most readers start. The Da Vinci Code (2003).
International and literary mystery
7. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
A disgraced journalist and a brilliant, troubled hacker investigate a wealthy family's decades-old unsolved disappearance, uncovering darker crimes along the way.
- Who it's for: readers who want a dense, slow-building international thriller with real investigative detail.
- Where to start: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, first published in Swedish in 2005, in English in 2008.
8. In the Woods by Tana French
A Dublin murder detective investigating a girl's death in the same woods where he survived a childhood trauma he can't fully remember finds the two cases colliding.
- Who it's for: readers who want literary, character-driven mystery that takes its time, with an ending some readers find deliberately unresolved.
- Series status: first of the Dublin Murder Squad series; each book follows a different narrator and can be read on its own.
- Where to start: In the Woods (2007), winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Novel.
If you only read one from each group
- Classic whodunit: And Then There Were None.
- Hardboiled detective: The Maltese Falcon.
- Modern thriller: The Silence of the Lambs.
- International/literary: In the Woods.
Want a specific mystery series in order? See our Hercule Poirot books in order guide, or browse every list on our best book lists hub.
FAQ
What is the best mystery novel of all time?
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (1939) is the best-selling mystery novel of all time and the one most commonly named the genre's greatest puzzle.
What is the difference between a mystery and a thriller?
A mystery centers on solving a crime, usually a whodunit, where the reader works the puzzle alongside the detective. A thriller centers on danger and pacing, where the reader often knows more than the characters and the tension comes from what happens next.
What are the classic hardboiled detective novels?
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1930) and The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1939) defined the hardboiled detective genre and its cynical, wisecracking private-eye voice.
What thriller features Hannibal Lecter?
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (1988), in which FBI trainee Clarice Starling consults imprisoned cannibal psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter to catch another serial killer.
What is a good modern international thriller?
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, originally published in Swedish in 2005, became a global bestseller following a journalist and a hacker investigating a decades-old disappearance.
Eight books, eight decades of the genre. Start with And Then There Were None.
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