Best Mystery Novels for Beginners
TL;DR — Start with And Then There Were None, the best-selling mystery of all time, or The Hound of the Baskervilles. For cosy and funny, The Thursday Murder Club. For a clever puzzle box, Magpie Murders. For twisty modern thrillers, Gone Girl or The Silent Patient. For something literary, Tana French's In the Woods. To start a long series, Louise Penny's Still Life.
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Take the quizThe classics
And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie (1939). Ten people with secrets are lured to an island and start dying one by one, matching a nursery rhyme. Short, tense and with an ending that still shocks.
The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle (1902). The most atmospheric Holmes story, with a cursed family, a fog-bound moor and Watson doing much of the legwork.
Cosy and clever
The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman (2020). Four pensioners who meet to discuss cold cases get a real one. Funny and affectionate, with a series to follow and a 2025 Netflix film.
Magpie Murders, Anthony Horowitz (2016). An editor reads the final manuscript of a crime writer's Golden Age-style mystery, then finds the last chapter missing and the author dead. Two mysteries in one.
Still Life, Louise Penny (2005). Chief Inspector Armand Gamache investigates a death in the tiny village of Three Pines. The start of a long, much-loved series.
Modern thrillers
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn (2012). Amy Dunne disappears on her anniversary, and the story alternates between her husband's account and her diary. A famous midpoint twist.
The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides (2019). A psychotherapist becomes obsessed with treating a woman who hasn't spoken since killing her husband. Fast and built for its final reveal.
Literary
In the Woods, Tana French (2007). Detective Rob Ryan investigates a girl's murder near the woods where his two friends vanished when he was a child. Beautifully written; be warned that not everything is resolved.
Our verdict
Read And Then There Were None first. If you love the puzzle, Magpie Murders next; if you love the characters, The Thursday Murder Club.
Frequently asked questions
What's a cosy mystery to start with? The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, or Louise Penny's Still Life if you want a long series to settle into.
Do I need to read Sherlock Holmes in order? No. The stories stand alone. Start with The Hound of the Baskervilles or the short story collection The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
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