What kind of mystery books are there

Sometimes called the old-fashioned detective story, this sub-genre was at its height in the s. It generally features a mysterious death, a closed circle of suspects who all have motives and reasonable opportunity to commit the crime. The central character is the detective who, by logical deduction from the facts in evidence, solves the mystery.

Overlaps with the Cozy Mysteries category, above. Police Procedurals. In the s the police procedural evolved as a new style of dectective fiction.

Unlike the heroes of Christie, Chandler, and Spillane, the police detective was subject to error and was constrained by rules and regulations.

As Gary Huasladen says in Places for Dead Bodies , "not all the clients were insatiable bombshells, and invariably there was life outside the job. Writers include Ed McBain, P. James, and Bartholomew Gill. In his biography Ross Macdonald , Matthew J. Bruccoli describes hard-boiled literature as "realistic fiction with som eor all of the following characteristics--objective viewpoint, impersonal tone, violent action, colloquial speech, tough characters, and understated style; usually, but not limited to, detective or crime fiction.

Thrillers have a basic set of structural compoenents, such as threats to the social order, heroes and villains, and deduction and resolution. Tille is desperate to find out what happened to her sister, but as her obsession with the case intensifies, so does her addiction to opium. As each vice consumes her life, Tille struggles to know what's real in this Victorian-era murder mystery.

Daunis Fontaine is an year-old, biracial, unenrolled tribal member who has put her schooling on hold to care for her ill mother. When Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, she begins her own investigation to track down the criminals and protect her community, all while learning what it truly means to be a strong Ojibwe woman. First published in , this story tells the origin of Holmes and Watson meeting as new roommates and solving their first murder together, which proves far more complex and intricate than either could have imagined.

When Jay Murphy's sister, goes missing, he knows the police won't go looking for her, seeing as they don't search for most Black kids that go missing from the projects. To make matters worse, the local news picks up the story of his sister's disappearance and twists it into a scandal.

Despite the mountain of obstacles in his way, Jay is determined to find his sister in this gripping and authentic mystery about race and the dangerous power of stereotypes.

In this emotional thriller, Isiah and Derek are married and when they're both found murdered, their fathers each get a knock on the door with the terrible news. Fathers Ike and Buddy are flawed ex-cons with little in common besides their love for their sons, determination to find out who killed them, and a thirst for revenge. In this tense tour-de-force mystery, Blythe Connor wants nothing more than to be the mother she never had, but struggles to make a connection with her young daughter, convinced that something is wrong with her.

After Blythe's son is born, she feels all the maternal love and instincts she's always longed for, but when her family's life changes in an instant, Blythe is left struggling to find out what really happened, even if that means confirming her worst nightmares. Billy is ready to retire and preparing for one final job, but no matter what he does to prepare, it seems nothing is going how it should. When bestselling author Verity Crawford is injured in a terrible accident, her husband hires a young and struggling writer, Lowen Ashleigh, to finish Verity's highly anticipated series.

While sorting through notes in Verity's office, Lowen uncovers a hidden autobiography, full of terrible secrets — including the truth behind her daughter's death. Deciding to keep the devastating manuscript from Verity's husband, Lowen begins to search for the truth when it seems everyone has their own secrets. As Robert begins to investigate, he uncovers an elaborate plot against the Catholic Church by the Illuminati.

First published in , "Rebecca" is a classic mystery story where the unnamed narrator is swept off her feet by a wealthy and famous man named Maximilian de Winter, whose Cornwall mansion is even more famous than he is. When the narrator arrives at the mansion, she soon discovers that the ghostly presence of her husband's late wife is nearly impossible to escape — and slowly uncovers Rebecca's story in this mystery of layered revelations. When a recluse is found murdered in his New York City apartment, the FBI discovers a clue that not only gives them a lead, but links the crime to two other cold cases including the robbery and kidnapping of an heiress 20 years ago.

The clue leads the FBI to Windsor "Win" Horne Lockwood III, who has no idea how his family's stolen painting could have ended up at a crime scene, but is determined to use his personal connections and limitless fortune to solve the dangerous case. Sign up for Insider Reviews' weekly newsletter for more buying advice and great deals.

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NOTE: Due to the adult content in this group, you must be at least 18 to join. Welcome back. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Before that moment, none of these men has ever needed to concoct a simple plan to keep and conceal a fortune that quite obviously does not belong them.

In the midst of doing just that, they become criminals, as well as victims of crime. The story builds steadily as the wages of sin become more and more costly. Here is a classic cautionary tale about the penalty dishonesty may exact upon ordinary, and largely innocent, human beings. Sneaky People by Thomas Berger - This is arguably one of the funniest crime novels ever written.

It is set in the s, and its main character is Buddy Sandifer, a used car dealer who wants one very simple thing: his wife dead. The reason is no less simple. He yearns to live the rest of his days with Laverne, a woman who on occasion dimly realizes that sleeping with men for money adds up to prostitution.

Part novel of intrigue, part mystery, part love story, The Quiet American remains as powerful today as when it was first written. Wolfe, may not have committed the crime at all. The Millions. More from pw. The Best Books of PW Picks: Books of the Week. New Pub Dates for Forthcoming Books: