If you love the classic Golden Age Mysteries made famous by Agatha Christies and many others, and happen to be in search of a modern whodunit, then you’ve come to the right place. Below are 20 books that pay homage to the Golden Age era while offering a modern take on the genre. From mind-bending mysteries to head-scratching murders, there’s a little something for everyone below.
Happy Reading!
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
From the New York Times bestselling author of Moriarty and Trigger Mortis, this fiendishly brilliant, riveting thriller weaves a classic whodunit worthy of Agatha Christie into a chilling, ingeniously original modern-day mystery.
When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the bestselling crime writer for years, she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan’s traditional formula has proved hugely successful. So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job.
Conway’s latest tale has Atticus Pünd investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but the more Susan reads, the more she’s convinced that there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition, and murder.
Masterful, clever, and relentlessly suspenseful, Magpie Murders is a deviously dark take on vintage English crime fiction in which the reader becomes the detective.
From TRBS: I’ve written extensively about Horowitz and his Magpie Murders series, which is now two books long. What makes this such a perfect fit for this list, though, is that you get two stories in one, as Horowtiz blends a story within the story, giving readers two whodunits to solve. There’s the mystery of who killed author Alan Conway, which is investigated by his editor, Susan Ryeland, who must use clues from Alan’s final manuscript to solve. Within those pages—which are presented as its own, real book (complete with fake blurbs and everything)—which follows detective Atticus Pünd (think a softer, kinder Poirot) as he investigates the death of a woman in a small town. It’s a brilliant, must-read effort from Horowitz and perfect for fans of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.
In Still Life, bestselling author Louise Penny introduces Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec.
Winner of the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards.
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.
Still Life introduces not only an engaging series hero in Inspector Gamache, who commands his forces—and this series—with integrity and quiet courage, but also a winning and talented new writer of traditional mysteries in the person of Louise Penny.
From TRBS: The first novel in Penny’s long-running Armand Gamache follows the Surêté du Québec detective as he investigates the death of an elderly woman who lives in a quaint, small town outside of Montreal. Initial reports suggest her death was a hunting accident, but Gamache—who is a far more compassionate, humble, and caring version of Hercule Poirot—has reason to believe it was murder. There’s certainly a psychological thriller vibe to Penny’s series, though each story is wrapped in a whodunit, which makes her writing unique. She’s been compared to Agatha Christie more than any living author, and that’s certainly not by mistake. Golden Age mystery fans should dive into her series immediately.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
“Don’t trust anyone, including the four septuagenarian sleuths in Osman’s own laugh-out-loud whodunit.” —Parade
Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves
A female cop with her first big case
A brutal murder
Welcome to…
THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club.
When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case.
As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it’s too late.
From TRBS: Fun, light, and full of laughs, Richard Osman’s first Thursday Murder Club novel was a massive hit when it came out in 2020, selling millions of copies around the world. Readers especially love the chemistry and dynamics between the four unlikely friends who live at England’s upscale Coopers Chase Retirement Village. Don’t let these elderly folks fool you, though. They’re perfectly content to spend their days solving cold case murders, trading laughs and clues along the way. These books are helplessly fun and hopelessly addictive.
The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz
HE PLANNED HER OWN FUNERAL. BUT DID SHE ARRANGE HER OWN MURDER?
New York Times bestselling author of Magpie Murders and Moriarty, Anthony Horowitz has yet again brilliantly reinvented the classic crime novel, this time writing a fictional version of himself as the Watson to a modern-day Holmes.
One bright spring morning in London, Diana Cowper – the wealthy mother of a famous actor – enters a funeral parlor. She is there to plan her own service.
Six hours later she is found dead, strangled with a curtain cord in her own home.
Enter disgraced police detective Daniel Hawthorne, a brilliant, eccentric investigator who’s as quick with an insult as he is to crack a case. Hawthorne needs a ghost writer to document his life; a Watson to his Holmes. He chooses Anthony Horowitz.
Drawn in against his will, Horowitz soon finds himself a the center of a story he cannot control. Hawthorne is brusque, temperamental and annoying but even so his latest case with its many twists and turns proves irresistible. The writer and the detective form an unusual partnership. At the same time, it soon becomes clear that Hawthorne is hiding some dark secrets of his own.
A masterful and tricky mystery that springs many surprises, The Word is Murder is Anthony Horowitz at his very best
From TRBS: Horowtiz, the only author listed twice here, kicked off this series—where a fictional version of the author, playing Watson to detective Hathorne’s Sherlock Holmes—back in 2018, putting his own modern spin on the type of deduction reasoning made famous by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes so famous. One could argue that, in many ways, Doyle created the genre, and while Horowitz doesn’t reinvent the wheel here, he does take full advantage of readers having gained decades of experience with whodunit, often circumventing expectations by knowing what readers will assume is about to happen, and then zigging just as they expect his to zag. Plus, seeing Horowitz, who doesn’t mind taking a poke at his own expense when the situation calls for it, write himself in a fictional universe is a real treat, and provides more than a few laughs.
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Turn of the Key and In a Dark, Dark Wood returns with another suspenseful thriller set on a snow-covered mountain.
Getting snowed in at a luxurious, rustic ski chalet high in the French Alps doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world. Especially when there’s a breathtaking vista, a full-service chef and housekeeper, a cozy fire to keep you warm, and others to keep you company. Unless that company happens to be eight coworkers…each with something to gain, something to lose, and something to hide.
When the cofounder of Snoop, a trendy London-based tech startup, organizes a weeklong trip for the team in the French Alps, it starts out as a corporate retreat like any other: PowerPoint presentations and strategy sessions broken up by mandatory bonding on the slopes. But as soon as one shareholder upends the agenda by pushing a lucrative but contentious buyout offer, tensions simmer and loyalties are tested. The storm brewing inside the chalet is no match for the one outside, however, and a devastating avalanche leaves the group cut off from all access to the outside world. Even worse, one Snooper hadn’t made it back from the slopes when the avalanche hit.
As each hour passes without any sign of rescue, panic mounts, the chalet grows colder, and the group dwindles further…one by one.
From TRBS: When co-workers of a London-based tech startup gather for a corporate retreat at the luxurious ski chalet high in the French Alps and become stranded, things take a sudden dark and twisting turn. David Baldacci called Ware “the Agatha Christie of our generation,” which is fitting, though not in the way some may take the comment right off the cuff. Ware doesn’t trot out a Miss Marple stand-in or Poirot wannabe. Instead, she tends to go for the edgier, darker thriller—one that shocks but also scares. Fans of Chrsitie’s iconic And Then There Were None will love this book.
The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
ALL OF THEM ARE FRIENDS. ONE OF THEM IS A KILLER.
“A ripping, riveting murder mystery — wily as Agatha Christie, charged with real menace, real depth. Perfect for fans of Ruth Ware.” – A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of thirtysomething friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands—the perfect place to get away and unwind by themselves.
The trip began innocently enough: admiring the stunning if foreboding scenery, champagne in front of a crackling fire, and reminiscences about the past. But after a decade, the weight of secret resentments has grown too heavy for the group’s tenuous nostalgia to bear. Amid the boisterous revelry of New Year’s Eve, the cord holding them together snaps.
Now, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead . . . and another of them did it.
DON’T BE LEFT OUT. JOIN THE PARTY NOW.
From TRBS: It’s a tradition ten years in the making. A group of friends from Oxford get together every New Year’s Eve to celebrate and reconnect. This time around, they’ve picked an isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands, which should have been the perfect place to get away and unplug from any distractions. Then a blizzard hits, and they all become trapped . . . and a short while later, one of them turns up dead. Alex Michaelides, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient, says Foley’s book is “reminiscent of Agatha Christie at her best.” Trust me, you’re in for a treat with this one.
Everybody knows everybody in The Hollows, a quaint, charming town outside of New York City. It’s a place where neighbors keep an eye on one another’s kids, where people say hello in the grocery store, and where high school cliques and antics are never quite forgotten. As a child, Maggie found living under the microscope of small-town life stifling. But as a wife and mother, she has happily returned to The Hollows’s insular embrace. As a psychologist, her knowledge of family histories provides powerful insights into her patients’ lives. So when the girlfriend of her teenage son, Rick, disappears, Maggie’s intuitive gift proves useful to the case—and also dangerous.
Eerie parallels soon emerge between Charlene’s disappearance and the abduction of another local girl that shook the community years ago when Maggie was a teenager. The investigation has her husband, Jones, the lead detective on the case, acting strangely. Rick, already a brooding teenager, becomes even more withdrawn. In a town where the past is always present, nobody is above suspicion, not even a son in the eyes of his father.
As she tries to reassure him that Rick embodies his father in all of the important ways, Maggie realizes this might be exactly what Jones fears most. Determined to uncover the truth, Maggie pursues her own leads into Charlene’s disappearance and exposes a long-buried town secret—one that could destroy everything she holds dear.
From TRBS: Unger’s book, which is fantastic, is different than most of the others on this list because rather than kick off a series centered around a main character, she introduced a universe here where characters come, go, and pop up randomly in future books. For example, Jones Cooper, the detective who serves as the protagonist here, is more of a supporting character in later books. With her approach, Unger manages to keep things fresh, and each book (there are currently five) packs a mean punch. This one, in particular, is fascinating. People calls it a “nail-biting nuanced whodunit,” and they’re right on the money.
They All Fall Down by Rachel Howzell Hall
It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime.
Delighted by a surprise invitation, Miriam Macy sails off to a luxurious private island off the coast of Mexico with six other strangers. Surrounded by miles of open water in the gloriously green Sea of Cortez, Miriam is soon shocked to discover that she and the rest of her companions have been brought to the remote island under false pretenses―and all seven strangers harbor a secret.
Danger lurks in the lush forest and in the halls and bedrooms of the lonely mansion. Sporadic cell-phone coverage and miles of ocean keeps the group trapped in paradise. And strange accidents stir suspicions, as one by one . . .
They all fall down
From TRBS: A group of strangers, all of them carrying a dark secret, are invited to a private island for what is supposed to be a relaxing weekend. You may recognize the setup so that the next part won’t surprise you. Soon, one by one, bodies start turning up, and suddenly, everyone is racing for answers—answers that reveal a shocking truth that you may think you’ve solved ahead of time, buts trust me, you haven’t. This one goes from Clue to And Then There Were None real quick . . . and fans of Chrsitie’s classic will devour this one in a hurry.
If you’re on the list, someone wants you dead.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Eight Perfect Murders comes the heart-pounding story of nine strangers who receive a cryptic list with their names on it—and then begin to die in highly unusual circumstances.
Nine strangers receive a list with their names on it in the mail. Nothing else, just a list of names on a single sheet of paper. None of the nine people know or have ever met the others on the list. They dismiss it as junk mail, a fluke—until very, very bad things begin happening to people on the list.
First, a well-liked old man is drowned on a beach in the small town of Kennewick, Maine. Then, a father is shot in the back while running through his quiet neighborhood in suburban Massachusetts. A frightening pattern is emerging, but what do these nine people have in common? Their professions range from oncology nurse to aspiring actor, and they’re located all over the country. So why are they all on the list, and who sent it?
FBI agent Jessica Winslow, who is on the list herself, is determined to find out. Could there be some dark secret that binds them all together? Or is this the work of a murderous madman? As the mysterious sender stalks these nine strangers, they find themselves constantly looking over their shoulders, wondering who will be crossed off next . . .
From TRBS: Here’s another one for fans of And Then There Were None. The setup is simple: Nine names are on a list. One by one, they all start dying. None of them know each other, and none of them seem to be linked to the others. FBI agent Jessica Winslow is desperate to figure out what’s going on and nail whoever is behind the killings, not because she’s an FBI agent . . . but because her name is on the list, and she has no clue why. Or who might be coming for her. Don’t expect to have any fingernails by the time you finish this one. Swanson’s riveting mystery sucks you in a hurry, and he knows how to keep his readers on the edge of their seats.
The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith
The Cuckoo’s Calling is a 2013 crime fiction novel by J. K. Rowling, published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.
A brilliant mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel’s suicide. After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.
Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, thelegendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.
You may think you know detectives, but you’ve never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you’ve never seen them under an investigation like this,
From TRBS: Yes, we all know (it’s even mentioned in the product description) that Robert Galbraith is actually J. K. Rowling. But this ain’t Harry Potter. And her protagionist here, Cormoran Strike, a London PI, is no wizzard. Strike is a fascinating character with a somewhat dark and troubled past. And those wounds are evident, though Rowling/Galbraith does a nice job developing him over the course of her series, which is now seven books long. I wouldn’t really call these whodunits, but there’s always a mystery, and they’re always well-written. Then again, Rowling is perhaps one of the greatest storytellers alive today, so would anyone really expect anything less?
One For The Money by Janet Evanovich
Discover where it all began—the first “snappily written, fast-paced, and witty” (USA TODAY) novel in the beloved Stephanie Plum series featuring a feisty and funny heroine who “comes roaring in like a blast of very fresh air” (The Washington Post), from Janet Evanovich, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dirty Thirty.
Meet Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter with attitude. In Stephanie’s opinion, toxic waste, rabid drivers, armed schizophrenics, and August heat, humidity, and hydrocarbons are all part of the great adventure of living in Jersey.
She’s a product of the “burg,” a blue-collar pocket of Trenton where houses are attached and narrow, cars are American, windows are clean, and (God forbid you should be late) dinner is served at six.
Out of work and out of money, Stephanie blackmails her bail-bondsman cousin Vinnie into giving her a try as an apprehension agent. Stephanie knows zilch about the job requirements, but she figures her new pal, el-primo bounty hunter Ranger, can teach her what it takes to catch a crook. Her first assignment: nail Joe Morelli, a former vice cop on the run from a charge of murder one. Morelli’s the inamorato who charmed Stephanie out of her virginity at age sixteen. There’s still powerful chemistry between them, so the chase should be interesting…and could also be extremely dangerous
Laugh-out-loud hi-jinks, action, and suspense.
From TRBS: Different in tone and style than your traditional whodunit, Evanovich’s series belongs on this list because Stephanie Plum is, without question, one of the most beloved and recognized characters in fiction today. She’s not a PI or detective, but that doesn’t stop her from investigating mysteries, and her career as a bounty hunter ensures that she has plenty of run-ins with unsavory types who are usually up to no good. These books are much lighter and always have legitimate laugh-out-loud moments, but there’s also a mystery to unravel, and few authors working today can match Janet Evanovich, who, word for word, is still one of the best writers in the game right now.
A resident of one of LA’s toughest neighborhoods uses his blistering intellect to solve the crimes the LAPD ignores.
East Long Beach. The LAPD is barely keeping up with the neighborhood’s high crime rate. Murders go unsolved, lost children unrecovered. But someone from the neighborhood has taken it upon himself to help solve the cases the police can’t or won’t touch.
They call him IQ. He’s a loner and a high school dropout, his unassuming nature disguising a relentless determination and a fierce intelligence. He charges his clients whatever they can afford, which might be a set of tires or a homemade casserole. To get by, he’s forced to take on clients that can pay.
This time, it’s a rap mogul whose life is in danger. As Isaiah investigates, he encounters a vengeful ex-wife, a crew of notorious cutthroats, a monstrous attack dog, and a hit man who even other hit men say is a lunatic. The deeper Isaiah digs, the more far-reaching and dangerous the case becomes.
From TRBS: Joe Ide is a brilliant writer who serves up a modern, urban take on Sherlock Holmes with IQ, the first in his Isaiah Quintabe series (currently six books long and counting) featuring a genius born into a poor South Central LA neighborhood who serves his community by working as an unofficial private investigator. Most of his clients have little to no money and find other ways to pay him. But Isaiah doesn’t do it for the cash. He does it to help others and to use his unique set of skills, which rival Holems’ art of deduction, to clean up the streets. Ide also weaves in a mystery from Isaiah’s past, as he searches for the truth about his older brother’s death, and even introduces a Moriarty-like villain for IQ to lock horns with.
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
Knives Out and Clue meet Agatha Christie and The Thursday Murder Club in this “utterly original” (Jane Harper), “not to be missed” (Karin Slaughter), fiendishly clever blend of classic and modern murder mystery.
“A witty twist on classic whodunits… Stevenson not only ‘plays fair,’ he plays the mystery game very, very well.” — Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post
Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.
I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that.
Have I killed someone? Yes. I have.
Who was it?
From TRBS: Benjamin Stevenson has fast become one of my favorite writers over the last year or so, and it all started with this book. All the misdirection, suspense, and brilliantly placed clues you’d find in a classic whodunit, but with a modern spin that places our hero, Ernest Cunningham, and his entire family under a microscope. There’s also a lot of humor and sarcasm, which is where Stevenson’s sharp prose shines brightest, as readers will hang on his every word, anxiously racing to see how this one ends. One of my favorite books on this list, I cannot recommend Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone enough.
The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah
Since the publication of her first novel in 1920, more than two billion copies of Agatha Christie’s books have been sold around the globe. Now, for the first time ever, the guardians of her legacy have approved a brand-new novel featuring Dame Agatha’s most beloved creation, Hercule Poirot.
Internationally bestselling author Sophie Hannah breathes new life into the incomparable detective. In this thrilling tale, Poirot plunges into a mystery set in 1920s London—a diabolically clever puzzle that will test his brilliant skills and baffle and delight longtime Christie fans and new generations of readers discovering him for the first time. Authorized by Christie’s family, and featuring the most iconic detective of all time, this instant Christie classic is sure to be celebrated by mystery lovers the world over.
From TRBS: How can you have a list like this and not include “The New Hercule Poirot Mystery” series? We all know Poirot died in Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case (1975) and was the first fictional character to have their obituary published in the New York Times. But in 2014, Christie’s estate commissioned Sophie Hannah to continue the character’s legacy, and thus, The Monogram Murders was published. Since then, Sophie has contributed four move novels to the series, and while her books and style aren’t exactly identical to Christie’s, she’s done a bang-up job treating readers to more adventures with Poirot, who still uses his “little grey cells” to solve cases nobody else can crack.
Finalist for the International Thriller Writers, Strand Critics, and Barry Award for Best First Novel
“A brave, unflinching heroine and brave, unflinching writing add up to an extraordinary debut–highly recommended.”–Lee Child
A dark, compulsively readable psychological suspense debut, the first in a new series featuring the brilliant, fearless, chaotic, and deeply flawed Nora Watts—a character as heartbreakingly troubled, emotionally complex, and irresistibly compelling as Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander and Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole.
It begins with a phone call that Nora Watts has dreaded for fifteen years—since the day she gave her newborn daughter up for adoption. Bonnie has vanished. The police consider her a chronic runaway and aren’t looking, leaving her desperate adoptive parents to reach out to her birth mother as a last hope.
A biracial product of the foster system, transient, homeless, scarred by a past filled with pain and violence, Nora knows intimately what happens to vulnerable girls on the streets. Caring despite herself, she sets out to find Bonnie with her only companion, her mutt Whisper, knowing she risks reopening wounds that have never really healed—and plunging into the darkness with little to protect her but her instincts and a freakish ability to detect truth from lies.
The search uncovers a puzzling conspiracy that leads Nora on a harrowing journey of deception and violence, from the gloomy rain-soaked streets of Vancouver, to the icy white mountains of the Canadian interior, to the beautiful and dangerous island where she will face her most terrifying demon. All to save a girl she wishes had never been born.
From TRBS: Here, Kamal introduces readers to Nora Watts, a brilliant detective with world-class investigative skills. The mystery at hand is centered around the daughter that Watts once gave up for adoption. The girl’s parents report her missing, and that forces Watts to trek down memory lane, a place filled with pain and heartache, in order to find the daughter she’s never known and save her before it’s too late. Gone Girl fans will really love this one, which is certainly more mystery than whodunit. Watts does a spectacular job with Watts, who’s scarred and hardened by a lifetime of pain and suffering, offering her a character arc that’s deftly and wonderfully handled.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • “A heartwarming mystery with a lovable oddball at its center” (Real Simple), this cozy whodunit introduces a one-of-a-kind heroine who will steal your heart.
FINALIST FOR THE EDGAR® AWARD • “The reader comes to understand Molly’s worldview, and to sympathize with her longing to be accepted—a quest that gives The Maid real emotional heft.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
“Think Clue. Think page-turner.”—Glamour
ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Reader’s Digest
WINNER: The Anthony Award, The Fingerprint Award, The Barry Award
In development as a major motion picture
Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.
Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.
But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?
A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.
From TRBS: Good luck finding a book that was released within the last two years that’s garnered more hype or accolades than this one, the first in Nita Prose’s “Molly the Maid” series. Molly is a charming armature sleuth whom Stephen King calls “the most interesting (and endearing) main character in a long time” and is sure to be a favorite among Miss Marple fans and locked-door enthusiasts. Prose is a gifted plotter and storyteller. This book is a lot of fun to read, and the heartwarming nature of Molly’s character makes these cozies the kind of thing you can enjoy guilt-free, knocking it out in a single sitting.
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
This book blew my mind! Utterly original and unique.”―Sophie Hannah, New York Times bestselling author
A murder mystery novel inspired by Agatha Christie with a dash of Groundhog Day and a hint of Quantum Leap and Downton Abbey.
The Rules of Blackheath
Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m.
There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhabit.
We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer.
Understood? Then let’s begin…
Aiden Bishop knows the rules. Evelyn Hardcastle will die every day until he can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest at Blackheath Manor. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others.
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a breathlessly addictive locked-room mystery that follows one man’s race against time to find a killer, with an astonishing time-turning twist that means nothing and no one are quite what they seem.
From the author of The Devil and the Dark Water, Stuart Turton delivers inventive twists in a thriller of such unexpected creativity it will leave readers guessing until the very last page…
From TRBS: Get ready for a mind-bending, riveting whodunit unlike anything else on store shelves right now. Aiden Bishop must solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle, living the event over and over again until he can identify the killer. What’s the catch? Each day he wakes up and the day resets, he’s inside the body of another guest who was a witness to the crime. Booklist called this one “ingenious,” and I couldn’t agree more. This one is Agatha Christie on steroids.
“A breathless page-turner, driven by the many revelations Ms. Harper dreams up…You’ll love [her] sleight of hand…A secret on every page.” ―The New York Times
“One of the most stunning debuts I’ve ever read… Every word is near perfect.” ―David Baldacci
A small town hides big secrets in The Dry, an atmospheric, page-turning debut mystery by award-winning author Jane Harper.
After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his best friend, Luke. Twenty years ago when Falk was accused of murder, Luke was his alibi. Falk and his father fled under a cloud of suspicion, saved from prosecution only because of Luke’s steadfast claim that the boys had been together at the time of the crime. But now more than one person knows they didn’t tell the truth back then, and Luke is dead.
Amid the worst drought in a century, Falk and the local detective question what really happened to Luke. As Falk reluctantly investigates to see if there’s more to Luke’s death than there seems to be, long-buried mysteries resurface, as do the lies that have haunted them. And Falk will find that small towns have always hidden big secrets.
From TRBS: If you prefer more intricate, slow-burn mysteries, this one’s for you. Harper specializes in setting and character, and she manages to transport readers, placing them shoulder-to-shoulder with Aaron Falk, who comes to life on the page in a way few writers can make happen. The Dry is intense and harrowing, with Harper choosing every word deliberately, delivering every twist with precision. It’s not a whodunit, but it’ll still leave you desperate to see how things play out.
The Legacy by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
The first in a stunning new series from the author of The Silence of the Sea, winner of the 2015 Petrona Award for best Scandinavian Crime Novel.
The Legacy is the first installment in a fantastic new series featuring the psychologist Freyja and the police officer Huldar.
The only person who might have the answers to a baffling murder case is the victim’s seven-year-old daughter, found hiding in the room where her mother died. And she’s not talking.
Newly-promoted, out of his depth, detective Huldar turns to Freyja for her expertise with traumatized young people. Freyja, who distrusts the police in general and Huldar in particular, isn’t best pleased. But she’s determined to keep little Margret safe.
It may prove tricky. The killer is leaving them strange clues, but can they crack the code? And if they do, will they be next?
From TRBS: Nordic noir might not scream whodunit, but Yrsa Sigurdardottir has been called “Iceland’s Queen of Crime,” drawing comparisons to Christie. The first in her Children’s House series, Legacy, introduces readers to psychologist Freyja and police officer Huldar, who must work together to get Margaret, a young seven-year-old girl who may hold the key to solving a head-scratching murder, to open up. Well-written, with some unexpected turns along the way, Sigurdardottir proves she can deliver a high-concept mystery that can compete with anything else in bookstores.
How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristin Perrin
Named most aniticpated by: Goodreads, BookRiot, The Nerd Daily, Shelf Reflection, Novel Suspects, Borrow Read Repeat, The Everygirl
A Publishers Marketplace 2024 BuzzBook
For fans of Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club, an enormously fun mystery about a woman who spends her entire life trying to prevent her foretold murder only to be proven right sixty years later, when she is found dead in her sprawling country estate…. Now it’s up to her great-niece to catch the killer.
It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances’s night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet, compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously, until nearly sixty years later, when Frances is found murdered, like she always said she would be.
In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder. Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer?
As Annie gets closer to the truth, and closer to the danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her aunt’s fate instead of her fortune.
From TRBS: The only book not available at the time this article was written (it pubs on March 26, 2024), Perrin’s adult fiction debut features a stunning and fascinating mystery. Frances Adams knew she was going to die. She always did. She just never knew who was going to kill her. Now that the deed has been done, it’s up to her great-niece, an aspiring mystery writer, to solve the case and unmask the murderer, but she only has a week to do it. A classic whodunit with a modern spin, this book is a must-read for fans of Agatha Christie and Margery Allingham.
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor and is building a growing community on Twitch. His debut thriller, FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” is now available. His second novel, LETHAL RANGE, is also in bookstores, and his third book, OUT FOR BLOOD, comes out on June 4th. For more information, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Facebook. To interact with other readers and talk about your favorite books and authors, join The Real Book Spy’s Discord server.