Historical mysteries and thrillers are listed on separate pages. Contemporary mysteries are set in the time they were written, so some of these are very old. Although most Golden Age mysteries are contemporary for their own time, I have separated them out into their own heading. After the Golden Age mysteries, Contemporary Mysteries are listed by the country in which they are set.
Older and Golden Age Mysteries
The Golden Age of Detective fiction was in the 1920’s to 1930’s, but some writers from the Golden Age wrote well beyond that time. I have included all of their books, whether written in that time period or not and also those from before the Golden Age. These mysteries are contemporary for their time. I have stretched a point with Hughes, whose mysteries were written in the 1940’s.
- Allingham, Margery, The Tiger in the Smoke
- Allingham, Margery, Traitor’s Purse
- Allingham, Margery, The White Cottage Mystery
- Bude, John, The Cornish Coast Murder
- Bude, John, Death on the Riviera
- Bude, John, The Lake District Murder
- Bude, John, The Sussex Downs Murder
- Christie, Agatha, 4:50 from Paddington
- Christie, Agatha, At Bertram’s Hotel
- Christie, Agatha, By the Pricking of My Thumbs
- Christie, Agatha, A Caribbean Mystery
- Christie, Agatha, Death on the Nile
- Christie, Agatha, Murder on the Orient Express
- Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone
- Crispin, Edmund, The Moving Toyshop
- Crofts, Freeman Wills, Antidote to Venom
- Crofts, Freeman Wills, The Hog’s Back Mystery
- Edwards, Martin (ed.), Murder at the Manor
- Edwards, Martin (ed.), Silent Nights
- Farjeon, J. Jefferson, Mystery in White
- Farjeon, J. Jefferson, Thirteen Guests
- Farjeon, J. Jefferson, The Z Murders
- Hay, Mavis Doriel, The Santa Klaus Murder
- Heyer, Georgette, Behold, Here’s Poison
- Heyer, Georgette, A Christmas Party (previously published as Envious Casca)
- Heyer, Georgette, Death in the Stocks
- Heyer, Georgette, They Found Him Dead
- Hughes, Dorothy B., In a Lonely Place
- Sayers, Dorothy L., Busman’s Honeymoon
- Sayers, Dorothy L., The Five Red Herrings
- Sayers, Dorothy L., Unnatural Death
- Sayers, Dorothy L., Whose Body?
- Tey, Josephine, Brat Farrar
- Tey, Josephine, The Singing Sands
- Tilton, Alice, The Iron Clew
- Watson, Colin, Coffin, Scarcely Used
- White, Ethel Lina, Some Must Watch
- Wynne, Anthony, Murder of a Lady
Contemporary Mysteries
They are arranged by the country of primary setting. A few of the countries previously listed have disappeared, because I moved the books into the Golden Age section.
Argentina
- Sacheri, Eduardo, The Secret in Their Eyes
Australia
- Moriarty, Liane, What Alice Forgot
Canada
- Norman, Howard, My Darling Detective
- Penny, Louise, The Beautiful Mystery
- Penny, Louise, The Brutal Telling
- Penny, Louise, Bury Your Dead
- Penny, Louise, The Cruelest Month
- Penny, Louise, A Fatal Grace
- Penny, Louise, A Great Reckoning
- Penny, Louise, How the Light Gets In
- Penny, Louise, The Long Way Home
- Penny, Louise, The Nature of the Beast
- Penny, Louise, A Rule Against Murder
- Penny, Louise, Still Life
- Penny, Louise, A Trick of the Light
- Reichs, Kathy, 206 Bones
England
- Atkinson, Kate, Started Early, Took My Dog
- Barnard, Robert, The Killings on Jubilee Terrace
- Bauer, Belinda, The Shut Eye
- Berry, Hannah, Britten and Brűlightly
- Cadell, Elizabeth, Consider the Lilies
- Cadell, Elizabeth, Death Among Friends
- Carrell, Jennifer, Interred with Their Bones
- Dibdin, Michael, The Dying of the Light
- Felix, C. (Benjamin Disraeli), The Notting Hill Mystery
- French, Nicci, Blue Monday
- French, Nicci, Thursday’s Children
- French, Nicci, Tuesday’s Gone
- French, Nicci, Waiting for Wednesday
- Galbraith, Robert, The Cuckoo’s Calling
- Galbraith, Robert, The Silkworm
- George, Elizabeth, A Banquet of Consequences
- George, Elizabeth, Believing the Lie
- George, Elizabeth, A Great Deliverance
- George, Elizabeth, Just One Evil Act
- Goddard, Robert, Found Wanting
- Hand, Elizabeth, Wylding Hall
- Hannah, Sophie, The Cradle in the Grave
- Hannah, Sophie, The Dead Lie Down
- Hannah, Sophie, Kind of Cruel
- Hannah, Sophie, Little Face
- Hannah, Sophie, The Truth-Teller’s Lie
- Hannah, Sophie, Woman with a Secret
- Hannah, Sophie, The Wrong Mother
- Hawkins, Paula, The Girl on the Train
- Healey, Emma, Elizabeth Is Missing
- Horowitz, Anthony, Magpie Murders
- James, P.D., The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories
- Kelly, Erin, Broadchurch
- Lovesey, Peter, The Last Detective
- Lovett, Charlie, The Bookman’s Tale
- McDermid, Val, A Darker Domain
- McDermid, Val, Fever of the Bone
- McDermid, Val, Trick of the Dark
- McDermid, Val, The Vanishing Point
- McPherson, Catriona, As She Left It
- Rendell, Ruth, The Water’s Lovely
- Robinson, Peter, Before the Poison
- Robinson, Peter, Playing with Fire
- Sampson, Fay, Death on Lindisfarne
France
- Bannalec, Jean-Luc, Death in Brittany
- Black, Cara, Murder in Pigalle
Germany
- Kerr, Philip, March Violets
Iceland
- Indriðason, Arnaldur, Jar City
Ireland
- French, Tana, Broken Harbor
- French, Tana, The Secret Place
- French, Tana, The Trespasser
Italy
- Dibdin, Michael, And Then You Die
- Dibdin, Michael, Back to Bologna
- Dibdin, Michael, Dead Lagoon
- Dibdin, Michael, A Long Finish
- Dibdin, Michael, Medusa
- Dibdin, Michael, Vendetta
- George, Elizabeth, Just One Evil Act
- Leon, Donna, The Jewels of Paradise
Norway
- Fossum, Karin, The Indian Bride
- Fossum, Karin, The Water’s Edge
- Nesbø, Jo, The Redbreast
Scotland
- Beaton, M. C., Death of a Maid
- Carrell, Jennifer, Haunt Me Still
- McPherson, Catriona, The Child Garden
- McPherson, Catriona, Come to Harm
- McPherson, Catriona, The Day She Died
- McPherson, Catriona, Quiet Neighbors
- Mina, Denise, The End of the Wasp Season
- Mina, Denise, Gods and Beasts
- Mina, Denise, The Red Road
- Mina, Denise, Still Midnight
Sweden
- Alvtegen, Karin, Betrayal
- Edwardson, Åke, Death Angels
- Edwardson, Åke, Never End
- Edwardson, Åke, The Shadow Woman
- Edwardson, Åke, Sun and Shadow
- Eriksson, Kjell, The Cruel Stars of the Night
- Eriksson, Kjell, The Demon of Dakar
- Eriksson, Kjell, The Princess of Burundi
- Läckberg, Camilla, The Ice Princess
- Läckberg, Camilla, The Lost Boy
- Läckberg, Camilla, The Preacher
- Larsson, Stieg, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
- Larsson, Stieg, The Girl Who Played with Fire
- Larsson, Stieg, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Jungstedt, Mari, Unspoken
- Mankell, Henning, The Dogs of Riga
- Mankell, Henning, The Man from Beijing
- Nesser, Håkan, Borkmann’s Point
- Nesser, Håkan, Mind’s Eye
- Nesser, Håkan, The Return
- Persson, Leif, G. W., Another Time, Another Life
- Persson, Leif G.W., Between Summer’s Longing and Winter’s End
- Persson, Leif G.W., Free Falling, As If in a Dream
- Sjöwall, Maj and Per Wahlöö, The Man on the Balcony
- Sjöwall, Maj and Per Wahlöö, The Man Who Went Up in Smoke
- Sjöwall, Maj and Per Wahlöö, Roseanna
- Theorin, Johan, The Asylum, The Darkest Room, Echoes from the Dead, The Quarry
- Tursten, Helen, The Torso
Thailand
- Burdett, John, Bangkok 8
- Burdett, John, Bangkok Haunts
Turkey
- Nadel, Barbara, Dance with Death
- Nadel, Barbara, Deadly Web
United States
- Amis, Martin, Night Train
- Beukes, Lauren, The Shining Girls
- Beukes, Lauren, Broken Monsters
- Connelly, Michael, The Drop
- Davidson, Hilary, The Damage Done
- Ebershoff, David, The 19th Wife
- Erdrich, Louise, The Round House
- Harrison, Mette Ivie, The Bishop’s Wife
- Hillerman, Anne, Spider Woman’s Daughter
- Johnson, Craig, Another Man’s Moccasins
- Johnson, Craig, Any Other Name
- Johnson, Craig, As the Crow Flies
- Johnson, Craig, The Cold Dish
- Johnson, Craig, The Dark Horse
- Johnson, Craig, Death Without Company
- Johnson, Craig, Dry Bones
- Johnson, Craig, Hell Is Empty
- Johnson, Craig, Junkyard Dogs
- Johnson, Craig, Kindness Goes Unpunished
- Johnson, Craig, An Obvious Fact
- Johnson, Craig, A Serpent’s Tooth
- LaPlante, Alice, A Circle of Wives
- Leonard, Elmore, Raylan
- Lippman, Laura, Life Sentences
- McDermid, Val, The Vanishing Point
- Pollock, Donald Ray, The Devil All the Time
- Reichs, Kathy, Spider Bones
- Thompson, Jim, The Killer Inside Me
- Tracy, P. J., Shoot to Thrill
- Woodrell, Daniel, The Death of Sweet Mister
- Woodrell, Daniel, Winter’s Bone
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please read Donna Leon, Italy, Venice. Fantastic. Well written. Intelligent.
I began reading her long ago, when she first started. Haven’t picked her books up in awhile.