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
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
335 books ·
147 voters ·
list created October 7th, 2014
by Mitchell Friedman (votes) .
Comments Showing 1-19 of 19 (19 new)
date
newest »
newest »
Booklovinglady wrote: "@ MitchellAren'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.
Mitchell wrote: "Booklovinglady wrote: "@ MitchellAren'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.
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.
BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) wrote: "@ MitchellAren'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!
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.
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
Graduated:The Talented Mr. Ripley
The God of the Woods
When No One Is Watching
Dial A for Aunties
Killer Instinct
Graduated:Bad Luck and Trouble
Worth Dying For
The Last Mile
Still Missing
Persuader
The Girls in the Garden
Related News
For devoted bookworms, the new year is an exciting time. Specifics on the year’s upcoming books start making the rounds, along with release...
Anyone can add books to this list.










Aren't 'Crime Mystery' and 'Mystery' often the same? If not, where do you draw the line?