The 25 best mysteries and thrillers
The 25 highest-ranked mysteries and thrillers in our ranking of 2,816, scored on how much readers love them, their prize, best-list and bestseller record, and current buzz. We rank 555 mysteries and thrillers in all. How we rank
- 1
The Correspondent94.9Must-Read ScoreThe Correspondent
Sybil Van Antwerp is a sharp, private woman in her seventies who has written letters nearly every day of her life: to her brother, to old friends, to her children, to authors she admires and to people who have annoyed her.
Why it made the listWomen's Prize for Fiction winner (2026)#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1)50 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2025Goodreads Choice (fiction) finalist (2025) - 2
The Housemaid89.3Must-Read ScoreThe Housemaid
Millie is out of prison, out of options and living in her car when she's offered a live-in job as a housemaid for the wealthy Winchester family.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (3 weeks at #1)One of the ten best-selling books of 2024 and 2025 (Publishers Weekly)Goodreads Choice (mystery thriller) finalist (2022) - 3
Verity88.1Must-Read ScoreVerity
Struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh is offered the job of a lifetime: finishing the bestselling series of Verity Crawford, a famous author left unable to work after a car accident.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1)One of the ten best-selling books of 2022 and 2023 (Publishers Weekly) - 4
Gone Girl87.6Must-Read ScoreGone Girl
On the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary, Amy Dunne disappears from her home in a small Missouri town, leaving signs of a struggle.
Why it made the listOne of the best-selling books ever (about 20 million copies)#1 New York Times bestseller (8 weeks at #1)Edgar Award finalist (2013)Guardian 100 Best Books of the 21st Century - 5
Remarkably Bright Creatures87.4Must-Read ScoreRemarkably Bright Creatures
Since her husband died, seventy-year-old Tova Sullivan has worked the night shift cleaning the Sowell Bay Aquarium, and she's been grieving for much longer: her eighteen-year-old son vanished on a boat in Puget Sound more than thirty years ago.
Why it made the list133 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2022Goodreads Choice (fiction) finalist (2022) - 6
266687.2Must-Read Score2666
Roberto Bolaño's last novel, published after his death, is made of five connected parts.
Why it made the listNBCC Award (Fiction) winner (2008)NYT 100 Best Books of the 21st Century - 7
The Godfather86.7Must-Read ScoreThe Godfather
Don Vito Corleone is the most powerful Mafia boss in New York: a man who grants favors, demands loyalty and settles disputes with offers no one can refuse.
Why it made the listOne of the best-selling books ever (about 21 million copies)#1 New York Times bestseller (21 weeks at #1)PBS Great American ReadBBC's The Big Read - 8
The Tainted Cup86.2Must-Read ScoreThe Tainted Cup
In an empire walled off from monstrous sea leviathans, a high officer is found dead with a tree erupting from his body.
Why it made the listHugo Award winner (2025)Edgar Award finalist (2025)Goodreads Choice (fantasy) finalist (2024) - 9
Piranesi85.3Must-Read ScorePiranesi
Piranesi lives in the House, an endless series of halls filled with thousands of marble statues, where tides surge through the lower floors and clouds drift through the upper ones.
Why it made the listWomen's Prize for Fiction winner (2021)Hugo Award finalist (2021)Nebula Award finalist (2020) - 10
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo85.2Must-Read ScoreThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger, a young member of one of Sweden's wealthiest families, disappeared, and her elderly uncle is sure she was murdered.
Why it made the listOne of the best-selling books ever (about 30 million copies)184 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2008Guardian 100 Best Books of the 21st Century - 11
The Day of the Jackal85.0Must-Read ScoreThe Day of the Jackal
France, 1963.
Why it made the listEdgar Award winner (1972)#1 New York Times bestseller (7 weeks at #1)One of the ten best-selling books of 1971 and 1972 (Publishers Weekly)BBC's The Big Read - 12
Rebecca84.1Must-Read ScoreRebecca
A shy, unnamed young woman working as a paid companion in Monte Carlo meets Maxim de Winter, a wealthy, brooding widower, and within weeks she's his wife and the mistress of Manderley, his grand estate in Cornwall.
Why it made the listOne of the best-selling books ever (about 30 million copies)#1 New York Times bestseller (9 weeks at #1)PBS Great American ReadBBC's The Big Read - 13
Big Little Lies83.9Must-Read ScoreBig Little Lies
On a beautiful Australian peninsula, a school trivia night ends with someone dead.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1)73 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2014 - 14
Crime and Punishment83.5Must-Read ScoreCrime and Punishment
Rodion Raskolnikov is a poor former student in St.
Why it made the listBokklubben World Library (100 greatest books)PBS Great American Read - 15
The Frozen River83.3Must-Read ScoreThe Frozen River
Maine, 1789.
Why it made the list31 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024Goodreads Choice (historical fiction) finalist (2024) - 16
A Drop of Corruption82.8Must-Read ScoreA Drop of Corruption
In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the edge of the Empire, a Treasury officer vanishes from a room locked from the inside, in a building whose every entrance is guarded.
Why it made the listHugo Award finalist (2026)Goodreads Choice (fantasy) finalist (2025) - 17
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold82.7Must-Read ScoreThe Spy Who Came in From the Cold
Alec Leamas is tired.
Why it made the listEdgar Award winner (1965)#1 New York Times bestseller (34 weeks at #1)One of the ten best-selling books of 1964 (Publishers Weekly)TIME All-TIME 100 Novels - 18
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest82.4Must-Read ScoreThe Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Lisbeth Salander lies in intensive care with a bullet wound to the head.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (9 weeks at #1)One of the ten best-selling books of 2010 (Publishers Weekly) - 19
The Silent Patient82.2Must-Read ScoreThe Silent Patient
Alicia Berenson is a famous painter whose life seems perfect, until one evening her husband Gabriel comes home and she shoots him five times in the face.
Why it made the list242 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2019 - 20
Where the Crawdads Sing82.2Must-Read ScoreWhere the Crawdads Sing
For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (44 weeks at #1)One of the ten best-selling books of 2019, 2020 and 2022 (Publishers Weekly) - 21
And Then There Were None82.0Must-Read ScoreAnd Then There Were None
Ten strangers are invited to a mansion on an isolated island off the coast of Devon by a host none of them has met.
Why it made the listOne of the best-selling books ever (about 100 million copies)PBS Great American Read - 22
The Lincoln Lawyer81.6Must-Read ScoreThe Lincoln Lawyer
Mickey Haller is a Los Angeles defense attorney who works out of the back of his Lincoln Town Car, representing the city's least savory clients.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1)17 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2011Edgar Award finalist (2006) - 23
The Raven Scholar81.6Must-Read ScoreThe Raven Scholar
In the empire of Orrun, the next emperor is chosen through a deadly contest between candidates from each of the empire's orders.
Why it made the listHugo Award finalist (2026)Goodreads Choice (fantasy) finalist (2025) - 24
The Housemaid's Secret81.5Must-Read ScoreThe Housemaid's Secret
"Don't go in the guest bedroom," Douglas Garrick warns as he shows Millie around his luxurious penthouse.
Why it made the listGoodreads Choice (mystery thriller) winner (2023)82 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024 - 25
Anxious People81.2Must-Read ScoreAnxious People
An apartment open house turns into a life-or-death situation when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage, among them a retired couple who can't fix their own marriage, a wealthy bank director, a young couple about to have their first child, and an eighty-seven-year-old woman.
Why it made the list44 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2020
