Mysteries are popular genres for books, television shows and feature films. In honor of Mystery Month in This Awful Awesome Life, we’re including some of the best classic mysteries and the latest bestsellers to help you celebrate with us.
Classic Mysteries:
“The Murders in the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allen Poe - This short story by Poe was published in 1841 and is considered the first detective story. C. Auguste Dupin is a fictional character created by Edgar Allan Poe. Dupin made his first appearance in Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." He reappears in "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" in 1842 and “The Purloined Letter" in 1844. However, Dupin is an amateur sleuth and not a professional detective because that term had not yet been created. Read these three short stories and compare them to a modern detective novel.
The Woman in White (1860) and The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White is considered one of the finest mystery novels ever written. A mysterious woman in white who is later identified as a mental patient named Ann from an asylum resembles an heiress named Laura who is about to be married. Who is this woman? How does Laura end up at the asylum while Ann’s body is buried as Laura? The Moonstone is considered one of the first detective novels ever written. In The Moonstone, Collins utilizes the talents of two investigators, Franklin Blake, a gifted amateur sleuth and gentleman detective and Sergeant Cuff, the celebrated London policeman called in from Scotland Yard to act as a professional investigator. Collins established many of the ground rules of the modern detective novel. Though it was written after Poe’s detective stories, many consider Collins the creator of detective fiction because The Moonstone is a full length novel and has a professional detective as a main character. Read and decide for yourself.
The Complete Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Holmes character debuted in 1887 in “A Study in Scarlet.” Additional tales appeared until 1927. Conan Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories about Sherlock Holmes. I recommend you read them in order. If you’ve watched the movies and television shows you really need to read the original stories to appreciate Holmes and Watson.
Agatha Christie Novels – In all, Christie wrote 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, many of which included one of her fictional detectives, Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple. Miss Marple is a nosy spinster with a knack for uncovering a mystery and the elegant Inspector Hercule Poirot is a police detective from Belgium forced to relocate to England after the German invasion of his country during the First World War. According to The Guinness Book of World Records, Christie is one of the most widely read authors in the world. Start with The Mysterious Affair at Styles or Murder on the Orient Express to get acquainted with Poirot then skip over to Miss Marple’s village, St. Mary Mead and enjoy The Murder at the Vicarage which marks Miss Marple’s first appearance in a full length novel. Marple is gossipy and not very nice in her debut, but Christie refines Marple’s character to make her more likable in latter works such as A Murder is Announced or A Caribbean Mystery.
Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective featured in 53 short stories written by English novelist G. K. Chesterton and published between 1910 and 1936. The first Father Brown short story, was published as "Valentin Follows a Curious Trail" in The Saturday Evening Post in July 1910. It was retitled "The Blue Cross" and published in The Story-Teller in London in September 1910. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuition and keen understanding of human nature. The character is loosely based on a parish priest who was instrumental in Chesterton’s conversion to Catholicism. Five compilation books of Father Brown stories (10 stories each) were published during Chesterton’s lifetime. Three additional Father Brown stories “The Donnington Affair,” “The Vampire of the Village” and “Mask of Midas” were left out of these compilations. After Chesterton’s death, authors from around the world began writing additional Father Brown stories and there have been several successful TV series based on the Father Brown character.
Hard boiled Detectives:
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler features Philip Marlowe, a gritty and cynical private investigator with a nose for trouble and a weakness for beautiful women. Chandler wrote short stories for The Black Mask, a popular pulp magazine featuring detective fiction and completed seven novels before his death. Robert B. Parker completed Chandler’s eighth novel, Poodle Springs and he was allowed to revive the Philip Marlowe character in Perchance to Dream, a sequel to The Big Sleep. Also enjoy Farewell my Lovely, The Lady in the Lake, The Log Goodbye, The Little Sister, The High Window, Playback or one of Chandler’s short story collections, The Simple Art of Murder or Trouble is my Business. Chandler wrote in a time before political correctness or acceptance of diversity. Some parts of his books will be offensive, but please try to focus on his storytelling abilities.
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - Hammett’s detective, Sam Spade appears in this book and four short stories. You’ve probably seen Humphrey Bogart in the movie, but it can be fun to look for the subtle and not so subtle differences between the book and the movie.
I, the Jury by Mickey Spillane - Spillane’s character, Mike Hammer must solve the murder of his best friend in his debut as a tough New York City private investigator. Spillane completed 13 novels and several short stories featuring Mike Hammer in addition to his other works. After his death, his friend and literary executor, Max Allan Collins, accepted the task of editing and completing Spillane's unpublished typescripts.
The V.I. Warshawski series by Sara Paretsky - V.I. Warshawski is a private investigator in Chicago specializing in white collar crime investigations. She’s tough, fiercely independent, passionate about her work and not afraid of physical confrontations. Paretsky created Warshawski to be the female version of Philip Marlowe or Mike Hammer. V.I. Warshawski appears in 19 novels and several short stories. Look for these titles to start reading the series: Indemnity Only, Deadlock, or Killing Orders.
Evolving Detectives:
The Kinsey Millhone Mystery series by Sue Grafton - Kinsey Millhone was created by Grafton in the image of the hard boiled female private investigator, but she is more compassionate and capable of personal growth than Marlowe, Hammer or Warshawski. The series starts with A is for Alibi and concludes with Y is for Yesterday.
The Spenser series by Robert B. Parker - Spenser is a private detective in Boston. He is the next evolution of detective. Spenser is in a committed relationship and has loyal friends who are racially and ethnically diverse, from different socio-economic backgrounds, religions and sexual orientations. Parker manages all this diversity without it looking contrived or being forced into the story. Titles include: The Godwulf Manuscript, Promised Land and Pale Kings and Princes. Parker also penned the popular Jesse Stone series, the Sunny Randall series and the Cole and Hitch series; each of these series has continued with his family’s permission after Parker’s sudden death in 2010. Each series has been continued by writers who were friends and trusted associates of Parker.
Recently Released Mysteries:
The Wolf and the Watchman: A Novel by Niklas Natt och Dag (U.S. release date - March 5, 2019). Named the Best Debut Novel of 2017 by the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers - A watchman finds the body of a young woman floating in a bog. Solving her murder will lead him and the village solicitor through the thieves and beggars who make up the underbelly of Stockholm society to the wealthy nobility and a deadly web of lies.
The Good Detective by John McMahon (released March 19, 2019) is his debut novel and the first book in the P.T. Marsh detective series based in Mason Falls, Georgia. Marsh is a rising star in the Mason Falls Police Department until his wife and son are killed in an accident. Marsh makes a series of bad decisions starting with agreeing to help a young wife “confront” her abusive husband. Marsh fears his career and his freedom are in danger when the husband turns up dead the next morning. He was pretty roughed up, but alive when Marsh left, but could his injuries have been fatal? When the body of a murdered Black teen leads back to the deceased husband, Marsh fears he may have accidentally killed the man The Zoe Chambers Mystery Series by Annette Dashofy – the 10th book in the series, Til Death is due for release in June 2020. The Zoe Chambers Mystery series started in March 2014 and is set in Pennsylvania. Zoe is a paramedic and deputy coroner in rural Pennsylvania’s tight-knit Vance Township. She is dating Pete Adams the chief of police. In the course of her work, she becomes involved in helping Pete solve crimes while managing to keep a few secrets of her own.
Books in the Zoe Chambers Mystery series include:
Circle of Influence (2014) Uneasy Prey (2018)
Lost Legacy (2014) Cry Wolf (2018)
Bridges Burned (2014) Fair Game (2019)
With a Vengeance (2016) Under the Radar (2020)
No Way Home (2017) Til Death (June 2020)
Karluk Bones (2019) is Robin Barefield’s fourth Alaska wilderness mystery.
Two men recently discharged from the air force set out for a hunting trip on Kodiak Island in Alaska. Instead of the adventure of a lifetime, they find themselves embroiled in a never-ending nightmare.
Over forty years later, biologist Jane Marcus and her friends discover human remains near Karluk Lake in the middle of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge.
What happened? Was the gunshot wound to the skull suicide, or a homicide? Who died in the middle of the wilderness, and when did he die? Jane has questions and she turns to Alaska State Trooper Sergeant Dan Patterson for answers, but Sergeant Patterson is busy investigating the recent murder of a floatplane pilot on the island. Was the pilot shot by one of his passengers, another pilot or campers in the area where his body was found or did his wife hire someone to kill him? The number of suspects in the case overwhelms Patterson, but a notebook in the dead pilot’s pocket provides clues to the last weeks of his life.
With no time to spare for old bones, Patterson gives Jane permission to research the remains she found near Karluk Lake. Jane’s investigation seems harmless to Patterson, but it awakens a decades-old crime someone believes they buried long ago.
Can Patterson find the pilot’s killer before they leave the island? Will Jane’s curiosity put her life in danger? What evil really lurks at Karluk Lake?
Other Books by Robin Barefield:
Big Game (2012)
Murder Over Kodiak (2016)
The Fisherman’s Daughter (2017)
Forgiveness Dies (2019) is the third release in the Trevor Galloway Mystery series by J.J. Hensley.
Trevor Galloway has just been released from a psychiatric facility. The former narcotics detective and unlicensed PI has no idea how to begin the next chapter of his life. After losing the love of his life and exacting revenge upon those responsible, he is now irreparably broken, heavily medicated, and unemployable.
When former Secret Service agent Nick Van Metre contacts him with a job offer, Galloway sees a glimmer of hope, but when the head of Metal Security hands him a stack of photos and solicits his help investigating a series of threats against a controversial presidential candidate, Dennis Hackney, the former detective is stunned.
Galloway initially takes the case, but after he reports an encounter with intruders who seem to have left no trace in his home he begins to question his own sanity. After Nick Van Metre turns up dead and Hackney is attacked, Galloway’s history of extreme violence makes him the focal point of multiple investigations.
Galloway must pull clues from the stack of photos and search for answers while dodging bullets in Pittsburgh and Savannah.
Can Galloway solve the case before someone else dies?
Each chapter in the book is linked to a photograph from a roll of film and you’ll be hooked until the last photo is revealed.
Other books by J.J. Hensley:
Resolve (2013)
Measure Twice (2014)
Chalk’s Outline (2017)
Trevor Galloway Mysteries:
Bolt Action Remedy (2017)
Record Scratch (2018)
Forgiveness Dies (2019)
Anthologies with contributions from J.J. Hensley:
The Night of the Flood: A Novel in Stories (2018) edited by E.A. Aymar and Sarah M. Chen
Legacy: An Anthology (2019)
The Swamp Killers (2020) edited by Sarah M. Chen