Looking for Mystery novels and short story collections and anthologies with more than 50,000 ratings. mjf

Books with less than 50,000 ratings will be removed from this list.

For purposes of this list it doesn't matter if the book is a cozy mystery or a crime mystery or a historical mystery or a literary mystery or a general mystery. When in doubt, check the shelves for the book - if it is shelved more than a 100 times as mystery and you want to, put it on this list.

See also:
Agatha Mystery Award Nominees and Winners
100 Mysteries and Thrillers to Read in a Lifetime Readers Picks
Best Mysteries of the 21st Century
Best Mysteries of the 20th Century
Popular Highly Rated Mystery

Best Mysteries by Subgenre
Best Cozy Mystery Series
Best Crime Mystery Books
Best Historical Mystery
Best Literary Mysteries
Best Thrillers

Edgar Awards:
Edgar Award Winners
Edgar Award Winners for Best First Novel
Edgar Award Winners for Fact Crime
Edgar Award Winners for Best Young Adult Fiction

Best Mysteries By Decade
1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2020

Best Mysteries By Ratings
100,000 or more
50,000 to 99,999
25,000 to 49,999
10,000 to 24,999

Related Lists By Topic:
All, Anthropology, Astronomy, Biography, Biology, Botany, Climate, Children, Classics, Computer Science, Economics, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, Genetics, Geography, Graphic Novels, History, Horror, Judaism, Language, Manga, Military Science Fiction, Music, Mysteries, Non-Fiction, Philosophy, Picture Books, Poetry, Politics, Productivity, Psychology, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Space Opera, Steampunk, Travel, Young Adult
1

by
4.08 avg rating — 66,946 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
3.97 avg rating — 64,676 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.08 avg rating — 79,363 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.12 avg rating — 53,889 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
3.91 avg rating — 99,362 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.24 avg rating — 92,594 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.48 avg rating — 82,085 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.04 avg rating — 88,168 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
3.79 avg rating — 97,677 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
3.98 avg rating — 84,638 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.11 avg rating — 94,805 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
4.04 avg rating — 70,136 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.20 avg rating — 95,129 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
4.48 avg rating — 98,875 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.07 avg rating — 98,623 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
3.94 avg rating — 71,171 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 79,449 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
3.99 avg rating — 59,068 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
4.02 avg rating — 68,303 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
3.90 avg rating — 84,801 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.10 avg rating — 73,102 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
3.98 avg rating — 85,867 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.12 avg rating — 99,562 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
3.99 avg rating — 87,931 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.03 avg rating — 94,046 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
3.86 avg rating — 66,755 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.14 avg rating — 64,111 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
3.98 avg rating — 89,435 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.02 avg rating — 84,275 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.08 avg rating — 93,034 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.07 avg rating — 81,117 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
3.97 avg rating — 77,297 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
3.91 avg rating — 75,221 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
4.05 avg rating — 68,126 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.23 avg rating — 97,354 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.10 avg rating — 84,193 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.35 avg rating — 98,634 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.88 avg rating — 75,712 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
3.95 avg rating — 62,981 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
3.92 avg rating — 67,347 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
4.14 avg rating — 73,101 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.76 avg rating — 79,479 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
3.99 avg rating — 78,568 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
4.11 avg rating — 90,381 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
3.96 avg rating — 73,504 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.76 avg rating — 92,303 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
4.04 avg rating — 86,323 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
3.87 avg rating — 70,055 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.01 avg rating — 87,064 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
4.27 avg rating — 70,897 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
3.85 avg rating — 99,004 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
4.07 avg rating — 77,129 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
3.88 avg rating — 72,163 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.79 avg rating — 62,974 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
4.44 avg rating — 80,243 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.92 avg rating — 101,355 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
3.85 avg rating — 95,013 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.32 avg rating — 74,138 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
3.57 avg rating — 75,413 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.18 avg rating — 79,915 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
4.20 avg rating — 91,592 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
4.06 avg rating — 63,919 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
3.73 avg rating — 85,061 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.68 avg rating — 72,514 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.88 avg rating — 84,396 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
4.07 avg rating — 57,164 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.05 avg rating — 83,485 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
4.06 avg rating — 76,497 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.77 avg rating — 60,267 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.32 avg rating — 90,519 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.96 avg rating — 57,584 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
4.24 avg rating — 80,386 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
3.28 avg rating — 72,628 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
3.85 avg rating — 58,886 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
3.96 avg rating — 75,463 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.03 avg rating — 96,553 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.24 avg rating — 98,495 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
4.07 avg rating — 64,306 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
4.43 avg rating — 84,549 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.01 avg rating — 70,224 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
4.07 avg rating — 59,766 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
4.12 avg rating — 72,886 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
3.82 avg rating — 69,319 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.87 avg rating — 66,470 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
4.27 avg rating — 73,055 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.93 avg rating — 54,216 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.85 avg rating — 53,200 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
4.01 avg rating — 83,351 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
3.69 avg rating — 98,430 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.06 avg rating — 62,083 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.16 avg rating — 62,276 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.46 avg rating — 71,225 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
4.07 avg rating — 80,962 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
4.33 avg rating — 82,021 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
4.25 avg rating — 75,895 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
3.73 avg rating — 58,595 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
3.84 avg rating — 71,844 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
4.01 avg rating — 94,619 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
4.21 avg rating — 75,461 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
4.06 avg rating — 61,734 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
330 books · 148 voters · list created October 7th, 2014 by Mitchell Friedman (votes) .
144 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Mitchell 11617 books
172 friends
Dennis 823 books
0 friends
Anna 119 books
4 friends
Viktoriia 9566 books
31 friends
Mickey 24362 books
74 friends
Judith 5762 books
19 friends
Frank 3362 books
59 friends
Beth 2199 books
23 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-20 of 20 (20 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) @ Mitchell
Aren't 'Crime Mystery' and 'Mystery' often the same? If not, where do you draw the line?


message 2: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman Booklovinglady wrote: "@ Mitchell
Aren't 'Crime Mystery' and 'Mystery' often the same? If not, where do you draw the line?"


I definitely don't have any deep knowledge on Mystery. For this list I'm happy enough if the book has mystery of some sort as it's biggest tag. Or shows up on the first two pages of one of the other mystery lists. Or has some minimum number of Mystery tag that is still unspecified.

At 183 books, this list is still pretty knowable and watchable. There are probably some books on this list that most of us would agree aren't Mystery. But an exception adds somewhat.


message 3: by Greg (new)

Greg Mitchell wrote: "Booklovinglady wrote: "@ Mitchell
Aren't 'Crime Mystery' and 'Mystery' often the same? If not, where do you draw the line?"

I definitely don't have any deep knowledge on Mystery. For this list I'm..."


Mitchell, I LOVE murder-mysteries (rather cozy murder mysteries with little violence). But about the definition of 'mystery': isn't every non-fiction book a mystery? Because really, we read to find out what happens, who did it (crime or not), who did who,who will fall in love with who, will X finally have the pursue a dream, etc. So, I think 'crime mysteries' works very well, as many novels don't have a crime, but still we read them to solve some kind of mystery.


Charlotte Igelkott Removed for not having enough shelvings as "mystery":
Bring Up the Bodies
Micro

Removed for having too few ratings:
The Third Twin
This one qualifies for the 25000-49999 list, if anyone wants to add it there.


message 5: by Mbuye (new)

Mbuye BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) wrote: "@ Mitchell
Aren't 'Crime Mystery' and 'Mystery' often the same? If not, where do you draw the line?"


This is a wild guess: I think in the eighteenth century, a lot of what are called Gothic novels had the word 'Mystery' in the title. In the nineteenth century, Dickens set this in stone when he named his last novel 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood'. And there was a lot of actual crime in these so-called mysteries.

So yes, there is a very thin line between the two.

And today, there is plenty of crime, and not much mystery, so the confusion!


message 6: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman Just a heads up - on Sat Dec 16th, this list will be split up and a new list will be created. This list will become just for mysteries from 50,000 to 99,999 ratings.

And a new list will be created for mysteries from 100,000 ratings and more. The primary list maintainers will add books to the new list and remove them from the old. But feel free to help out by voting for as many books on the new list as fit the criteria (but at least your most favorite books that meet the criteria).

When the new list is created I will post a link.


message 7: by Mitchell (last edited Dec 15, 2023 10:43PM) (new)

Mitchell Friedman A new list has been created for Mysteries with 100,000 or more ratings.

Most Popular Mysteries on Goodreads

We will be deleting books from this list in bulk that are now on the new list. Please vote for those books there.

And that process is done. There are few books now on this list with over 100,000 ratings but not enough tags as mystery - but we are still checking those


back to top



Related News

If you’re looking for a new book with lots of positive early buzz—and you’re kind of in a hurry—then today’s collection is for...

Anyone can add books to this list.