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Readers' Advisory: Mystery & Thrillers

Guide to finding reading recommendations.

 

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Crafty Cozy Mysteries

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Mystery Resources

The Hidden Staircase

A website is committed to providing readers and collectors of mysteries, thrillers, suspense and crime novels with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, books, and series.

StopYou'reKillingMe.com

A resource for lovers of mystery, crime, thriller, spy, and suspense books. We list over 5,000 authors, with chronological lists of their books (over 58,000 titles), both series (5,900+) and non-series.

Mystery Writers of America

Mystery Writers of America is the premier organization for mystery writers, professionals allied to the crime writing field, aspiring crime writers, and those who are devoted to the genre.

Mystery Authors

Mystery is defined as a loosely-defined term that is often used as a synonym of detective fiction — in other words a novel or short story in which a detective (either professional or amateur) solves a crime.

C. J. Box – mystery author, see author’s website here. Series include Joe Pickett novels and Cassie Dewell series and some stand-alone novels such as Blue Heaven and Three Weeks to Say Goodbye.

Agatha Christie – mystery author, see author’s website here. Notable works include titles from her famous characters Hercule Poirot (The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Murder on The Orient Express, and Curtain) and Mrs. Marple (The Murder at the Vicarage, The Moving Finger, and A Murder is Announced).

Mary Higgins Clark – mystery and psychological author, see author’s website here. Series include Under Suspicion series and Alvirah and Willy series. Other notable titles are Before I Say Goodbye, No Place like Home, and her latest novel I’ve Got My Eyes on You.

Margaret Maron – mystery author, see author’s website here. Series include the Deborah Knott series and Sigrid Harald series. Other notable titles are Bloody Kin and Last Lessons of Summer.

Patricia Cornwell – mystery and crime author, see author’s website here. The majority of titles include the Scarpetta series and other smaller series such as Andy Brazil/Judy Hammer series and the At Risk/Win Garano series.

Michael Connelly – mystery and crime author, see author’s website here. Series include Harry Bosch series, Mickey Haller series, and Renee Ballard.

Kathy Reichs – mystery author, see author’s website here. Series include the famous Temperance Brennan Bone series, the Virals series and the stand alone novel Two Nights.

Robert B. Parker – mystery author, see author’s website here. Series include Spencer novels, Cole & Hitch, and Jesse Stone series.

Louise Penny – mystery author, see author’s website here. Her notable works are all included in her “A Chief Inspector Gamache” series, with the newest title being Glass Houses.

Cozy Mysteries

Cozy mysteries are considered “gentle” books… no graphic violence, no profanity, and no explicit sex. Most often, the crime takes place “off stage” and death is usually very quick.

Alexander McCall Smith – cozy mystery author, see author’s website here. Series include the popular No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Sunday Philosophy Club, and 44 Scotland Street series.

Lilian Jackson Braun – cozy mystery author. Series include The Cat Who… novels such as The Cat Who Played Post Office and The Cat Who Said Cheese.

Joanne Fluke – cozy mystery author, see author’s website here. Series include the Hannah Swensen novels such as Raspberry Danish Murder, Apple Turnover Murder, and Blackberry Pie Murder.

M. C. Beaton – cozy mystery author, see author’s website here. Series include the Hamish Macbeth Mysteries and the Agatha Raisin series.

Donna Andrews – cozy mystery author, see author’s website here. Series include her popular titles from the Meg Langslow series and from the Turing Hopper series.  

Jacqueline Winspear – cozy mystery author, see author’s website here. Series include the Maisie Dobbs novels with titles such as Among the Mad and In This Grave Hour.

Diane Mott Davidson – cozy mystery author, see author’s website here. Notable titles include Tough Cookie, Dark Tort, and Fatally Flaky.

Elizabeth Peters – cozy mystery author, see author’s website here. Series include the Jacqueline Kirby series and the Amelia Peabody series.

Rhys Bowen – cozy mystery author, see author’s website here. Popular series include Lady Georgiana “Georgie” Her Royal Spyness series and the Molly Murphy series.

Suspense Mysteries

Suspense is a feeling of uncertainty and anxiety about the outcome of certain actions, most often referring to an audience's perceptions in a dramatic work.

Linda Howard – suspense author, see author’s website here. Notable series include the MacKenzie Family Saga and the CIA Spies John Medina series.

Joy Fielding – suspense author, see author’s website here. Notable titles include The First Time, Still Life and her newest novel The Bad Daughter.

Dean Koontz – suspense author, see author’s website here. Notable series include the Jane Hawk series, Odd Thomas, and the Moonlight Bay series.

Dennis Lehane – suspense author, see author’s website here. Notable works include the Kenzie-Gennaro novels, Shutter Island, and Mystic River – both as stand-alone novels.

Jeffery Deaver – suspense author, see author’s website here. Series include Lincoln Rhyme series, Kathryn Dance novels, and other notable titles such as The Devil’s Teardrop and The Lesson of her Death.

Tana French – suspense author, see author’s website here. Notable titles include In The Woods, The Likeness, and Broken Harbor.

Harlan Coben – suspense and mystery author, see author’s website here. Series include the Myron Bolitar series, the Mickey Bolitar trilogy and some stand-alone novels such as Play Dead and Don’t Let Go.

Karin Slaughter – suspense author, see author’s website here. Series include the Grant County series and the Will Trent series as well as notable stand-alone titles such as Pretty Girls and The Good Daughter.

Gillian Flynn – suspense author, see author’s website here. Notable titles are Gone Girl  and Sharp Objects.

Thriller Mystery

Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villains.

Brad Meltzer – thriller author, see author’s website here. Popular titles include The Millionaires, The Inner Circle, and The Book of Fate.

Steve Berry – thriller author, see author’s website here. Titles include The Columbus Affair, The Third Secret, and The Romanov Prophecy as well as books from the Cotton Malone novels.

James Rollins – thriller author, see author’s website here. Series include the Sigma Force series, the Godslayer Series, and other standalone novels such as Subterranean and Ice Hunt.

Dan Brown – thriller author, see author’s website here. Notable titles are Deception Point and Digital Fortress as well as the Robert Langdon series.

Daniel Silva – thriller author, see author’s website here. Series include Gabriel Allon books and the Michael Osbourne series.

David Baldacci – thriller author, see author’s website here. Series include Camel Club novels, Sean King and Michael Maxwell series, and John Puller novels.

Lee Child – thriller author, see author’s website here. Series include the Jack Reacher novels such as the latest The Midnight Line.

Robert Ludlum – thriller author, see author’s website here. Series include Jason Bourne novels and Covert-One series as well as some standalone novels such as The Scarlatti Inheritance, The Matarese Circle, and The Sigma Protocol.

Lisa Scottoline – thriller author, see author’s website here. Series include the Rosato & Associates novels and Rosato & DiNunzio series as well as a few standalone novels such as Save Me, One Perfect Lie, and Look Again.