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72 of the Most Popular Mysteries and Thrillers of the Past Three Years
“All my books come to me, first of all, as a character in my mind and as a story that I want to tell. But how you tell that story, there are definitely some deliberate decisions involved.”
That’s British author Ruth Ware, one of the planet’s most accomplished contemporary mystery writers. In a Goodreads interview from a few books back, Ware talked about the “how” of the mystery/thriller novel—the way authors deploy careful narrative choices and techniques to tell all kinds of different stories.
We’ve gathered below 72 of the most popular mystery and thriller books of the past three years, as determined by Goodreads members’ Want to Read lists. The “what” of these books is interesting enough—stories about island weddings, small-town hotels, and obsessed academics. But pay attention to the “how” as well, the specific setups and particular premises that make mystery stories so compelling.
Scroll over the book covers to learn more about each title, and add the ones that pique your interest to your Want to Read shelf.
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Try Brushed Off, an amateur sleuth, his married lover, their dog and a detective solve the murder of 3 artists in Los Angeles.
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This list is compiled from the ‘Want to Read’ choices which is certainly one measure of popularity, but it might also reflect the intensity of publicity, or the perceived fame of the author, or other biases which may not be so obvious (for example, I never put books in the ‘Want to Read’ category although I have books lined up until the end of the year, so I’m not represented in that database). I have read 8 of the books on the list plus books not on the list but written by 12 authors on the list. Looking at the list, 26% are by male authors. However, there are a number of authors on the list who are mentioned more than once, 7 female covering 16 books and 5 male covering 12 books. Counting each author once means only 21% are male. I have a feeling this is reflecting a real shift in the gender distribution of authors in this field, although I can’t find current data. Using just my own data over the past two years (150 crime/mystery/thriller books), I see that 30% are male and I don’t think I am biased in my choices. My reviews of most of those are on Goodreads.
I've read 6 of these books. I'm currently reading a 7th. The Sundown Motel was my favorite. Looking forward to reading the author's next book.
Aly wrote: "I'm surprised the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series isn't on here."I read that book. Loved it!
I’ve read 23 of these “most popular” titles. Enjoyed them all. I was particularly impressed by Ruth Ware’s Turn of the Key and Simone St. James’s Sundown Motel.
Nono wrote: "I just completed the The Sun Down Motel by St. James and can't stop thinking about it. I can't wait to get my hands on her new book, The Book of Cold Cases.She's becoming a new fa..."I just read this book and it was good. I love all of her books!
Janet wrote: "Melliott wrote: "I find this list both underwhelming and incomplete. More than half of it is "popular fiction," touted for its author/notoriety and not for its story, and there are a couple of real..."I have to agree that “We Begin at the End” is an amazing read.
Great List! For those quick to complain that their favorites are not on here, perhaps instead of whining, it would probably be more useful to mention those titles so that people can look them up and check them out. The Perfect Ruin by Shanora Williams and anything by Sandie Jones, B.A. Paris or the writing team of Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen are some great reads!
I highly recommend the audiobook version of Razorbalde tears. It’s amazing.
Thank you for this list!!!! Most of them were either on my TBR list or I've read them already, but I got some gems that I was not aware of added to my TBR list now !
Zach wrote: "I always love historical fiction mysteries, like the Benjamin Weaver series by David Liss. Anyone recommend other books/series like that?"
Matthew Pearl's series of literary mysteries: The Dante Club, The Last Dickens, The Poe Shadow, The Last Bookaneer. They all revolve around a particular book and often feature real historical persons at the heart of the mystery.
Aly wrote: "I'm surprised the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series isn't on here."A great read! I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
Jim wrote: "I cannot believe that Michael Connelly and John Sanford failed to make the list. Any book by either will be an excellent crime read!"AGREE!
Razorblade Tears was amazing, as was the author's previous book, Blacktop Wasteland.
Julia wrote: "I'm currently reading 'The Plot' by Jean Hanff Korelitz and it's one of the best books I've read in a long time (providing the end doesn't dissapoint!). I would be keen to see more from her. Any re..."The end is fabulous. I was stunned by the fact that it ended that way. I was not expecting the author to go through with it.
Nono wrote: "I just completed the The Sun Down Motel by St. James and can't stop thinking about it. I can't wait to get my hands on her new book, The Book of Cold Cases.She's becoming a new fa..."
I read this book last year and still think about it. Her new one got released the other day and I just finished it. You won't be disappointed.
I agree with the Sun Down Motel!! I love her books!! I also have loved Lisa Jewel’s books! I get excited when I see books come out from Both of them.
I'm surprised there's no James Lee Burke books on this list.
ryn wrote: "Nono wrote: "I just completed the The Sun Down Motel by St. James and can't stop thinking about it. I can't wait to get my hands on her new book, The Book of Cold Cases.She's beco..."
I agree! I'm a HUGE Simone St. James fan and Sun Down Motel was my least favorite. Those of you who loved it and it's your first SSJ book, keep going! The Broken Girls is my personal favorite, but you can't go wrong with any of the others. She's amazing!
Janet wrote: "Melliott wrote: "I find this list both underwhelming and incomplete. More than half of it is "popular fiction," touted for its author/notoriety and not for its story, and there are a couple of real..."Which books would you recommend?
This was like getting a note from the teacher to do my homework. Actually read 50 of the books, but only rated 14. Some of my favorites were missing from your list (ones my book club read and enjoyed discussing.) Maybe I'm defining the mystery thriller category more widely. Missing "Loves"- Northern Spy by Flynn Berry, Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman, Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara, and Suburban Dicks by Fabian Nicieza. I'll rate the ones I owe soon. Thanks for a great list.
Jim wrote: "I cannot believe that Michael Connelly and John Sanford failed to make the list. Any book by either will be an excellent crime read!" Michael Connelly is outstanding and not just for his mystery books (TV and non-fiction too)- I discovered him when a friend gave me an ARC for Concrete Blond.
Just so many authors I've not heard of before. Time to do some reading of reviews and see which books get added to my TBR list.
I’ve read 30/72. From this list, my favorites were :
The Silent Patient
The Guest List
The Turn of the Key
One by One
The Sun Down Motel
Rock Paper Scissors
The Night Swim
Little Secrets
A Flicker in the Dark
Notable books NOT on this list:
Safe by SK Barnett
His & Hers by Alice Feeney
The Family Plot by Megan Collins
The Passengers by John Marrs
False Witness by Karin Slaughter
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson
The Therapist by BA Paris
Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup
The Au Pair by Emma Rous
My favorite author on the list is Tana French, but the Searcher is the least mysterious and I think her worst book, any of her others are fabulous! I'm currently reading the Paris Apartment. I'm enjoying it way more than the Guest List, which I thought was okay- I didn't get the hype. This list is a good spectrum of mysteries, there are books I loved, and ones I didn't like at all- so something for everyone here.
Apoorva wrote: "Nono wrote: "I just completed the The Sun Down Motel by St. James and can't stop thinking about it. I can't wait to get my hands on her new book, The Book of Cold Cases.She's beco..."
Nono wrote: "I just completed the The Sun Down Motel by St. James and can't stop thinking about it. I can't wait to get my hands on her new book, The Book of Cold Cases.
She's becoming a new fa..."
'Broken Girls' was also great. I liked 'the Sun Down Motel' also.
The Cormoran Strike series is my all time favourite mystery series.
Radhika wrote: "The Silent Patient is truly one of the best books i've ever read. The end will knock your socks off!"Totally agree! That book has become my gold standard of a great thriller.
Julie wrote: "The Push by Ashley Audrain was unforgettable"Yes, I like that very much too. Totally a hidden gem.
Most books are on my TBR list
