I love mysteries and thrillers. I enjoy all genres, but mysteries and thrillers are some of my all-time favorite reads, and I often return to listen to the best ones again and again. Below are a few of my favorites and the best mysteries and thrillers I have read.
The Tom Ripley Mystery Thriller Novels by Patricia Highsmith
I love the Ripley novels by the talented and endlessly fascinating Patricia Highsmith. Highsmith had a difficult, alienated childhood in Texas. She moved to New York, where she lived it up before finding success with her first novel, Strangers on the Train, which Alfred Hitchcock made into a film.
Her life was filled with lovers, drama, and betrayals, but what strikes me most about Highsmith is her loneliness and alienation. It’s gut-wrenching to me because I really love her as a writer, though I’m not surprised. She had a complex personality that oddly reminds me of Raymond Chandler’s prickliness and stubborn self-respect, which are best revealed in The Raymond Chandler Papers: Selected Letters and Nonfiction, 1909–1959. Of course, Highsmith was a wild child, while Chandler was more of a curmudgeon.
To learn more about Highsmith, you might check out the recently published Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks, 1941–1995, and the 2022 documentary Loving Highsmith.
Now to the Ripley books. There are five of them: The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley Under Ground, Ripley’s Game, The Boy Who Followed Ripley, and Ripley Under Water.
The Talented Mr. Ripley is the best known, thanks to the excellent, star-studded film. All the Ripley books are gripping page-turners. What makes them so captivating is, of course, the protagonist, Tom Ripley, my favorite sociopath in literature. Ripley is a unique character, and Highsmith’s plots are just as compelling. One thing we always know: Tom Ripley did it.
Except for Ripley’s first victim, the people he kills aren’t all that lovable, and he has a good reason for knocking them off: if he doesn’t kill them, he’s going to prison.
Ripley’s razor-sharp mind and ability to win friends make readers want to root for him.
The backstory of Ripley’s troubled young life, his latent homosexuality, and his curious marriage add depth to Highsmith’s compelling storylines, which add up to some of the best mystery thrillers I have ever had the pleasure to read.
See on AudioBooks (3 free books), Audible/Amazon, or BN.com.
Ashenden by W. Somerset Maugham
What strikes me most about Ashenden is its authenticity. Maugham’s experience as a spy in World War I gives these stories the ring of first-hand knowledge of wartime espionage. He even said there was a lot of truth in these tales.
Ashenden, published in 1928, is named for its protagonist, an intelligence officer based in Switzerland. He is insightful and quick-thinking, but he is no James Bond.
This collection of stories is grounded in reality, including the foibles, incompetence, and mix-ups of espionage. The cast of characters is unforgettable: absurd, frightening, and inspiring.
Maugham was one of the first “realistic” spy novelists.
George Orwell was a huge fan of Maugham. Ashenden is as good as spy fiction gets.
See on AudioBooks (3 free books), Audible/Amazon, or BN.com.
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
You might have seen the film directed by John Huston, with its amazing cast of Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, and more.
The plot of the film is basically the same as the book’s. Huston asked his secretary to type Hammett’s novel into screenplay format, and when he read it, he didn’t change a thing and presented it to the studio.
I forgot about the film while reading this page-turner, filled with sharp dialogue and anchored by the hard-boiled detective Sam Spade.
Once you start reading, you won’t want to put it down. It’s filled with original and colorful characters, biting dialogue, and a whodunit that keeps you guessing until the end. What makes this one of the best mystery thrillers is that it has real meaning. As Bogart’s Spade puts it in the film, it’s “the stuff that dreams are made of.”See on AudioBooks (3 free books), Audible/Amazon, or BN.com.
Dr. No (James Bond, #6) by Ian Fleming
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading Dr. No by Ian Fleming.
James Bond comes alive in a stripped-down way when you read the source material. Ian Fleming’s Bond is not as dashing as Sean Connery’s and bears little resemblance to Roger Moore’s or Pierce Brosnan’s. Connery is a great Bond, but I think Daniel Craig captures the spirit of Fleming’s Bond best, although the Connery films are the most faithful to Fleming’s books.
The fast-moving action weaves in important themes such as power, friendship, and loyalty. Also, Honeychile Rider is one of several Bond girls who have been scarred by rape. These powerful issues, combined with larger-than-life characters, make Dr. No timeless and a perfect summer read!
Ian Fleming’s Dr. No is one of the best thrillers of all time.
See on AudioBooks (3 free books), Audible/Amazon, or BN.com.
Angels Flight (Harry Bosch) by Michael Connelly
I discovered Angels Flight through my mother, who was watching the Bosch series on Prime Video. Watching the series led me to the books, and I’ve now read the entire Bosch series.
I lived in Los Angeles for 14 years, so I love that the books are set in the City of Angels. I’ve visited many of the locations.
When I think of Bosch or read the books, I can’t help but envision Titus Welliver, who plays Bosch in the Prime Video series. The two are inseparable for me. That’s how good Welliver’s portrayal is.
Bosch is a Vietnam veteran who was a tunnel rat during the war, a theme that returns many times in the books. What really drives Bosch, and burns inside him, is that his mother, a prostitute, was murdered when he was a boy. Bosch has demons, to say the least.
In a stroke of genius, Michael Connelly named him Hieronymus Bosch, a name fitting someone as complex as Bosch.
Bosch lives in a precarious house perched on the edge of a hillside. He, of course, loves to break the rules. He’s a rogue cop who knows how to solve murders, thanks to his experience and his willingness to risk his own life to find the culprit. Being in trouble with the higher-ups is part of his charm.
Michael Connelly, a former Los Angeles Times crime reporter, brings that experience to the Bosch stories. I could have picked three or four of Connelly’s books as among the best mysteries or thrillers of all time. You hear echoes of Raymond Chandler and Philip Marlowe’s Los Angeles in his books.
Angels Flight opens with the murder of a famed anti-police attorney, Howard Elias, on the funicular railway known as Angels Flight, which takes you from Grand Central Market up to Bunker Hill and MOCA in downtown LA.
Suspicion immediately falls on someone in the LAPD. Elias was universally hated by the police, and it is Bosch who is assigned to uncover the murderer and potential corruption in the department.
There’s a lot to unpack in this suspenseful, top-notch thriller.
See on AudioBooks (3 free books), Audible/Amazon, or BN.com.
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (George Smiley, #3) by John Le Carré
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is the Cold War thriller that set the standard for spy novels. Its grey exterior fits the secrets, subterfuge, and goals that everyone is maneuvering to protect or accomplish. A poverty of outward spirit is omnipresent. No one trusts anyone. The plot is rich with espionage expertise, betrayal, and double betrayal.
Le Carré worked in British intelligence. According to The Guardian, he served in both MI5 (Britain’s domestic-focused Security Service) and MI6 (foreign intelligence). He changed spy literature forever. He was prolific, and I could easily have chosen several of his other books for this list, especially Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
I’ve read The Spy Who Came in from the Cold four or five times to remind myself of what a great spy novel should be.
Although the story sprang entirely from le Carré’s imagination, real-life spies and intelligence officers felt it rang true to their experiences.
It’s certainly one of the top cold war mysteries ever written. Read more about rereading The Spy Who Came in from the Cold on The Guardian.
See on AudioBooks (3 free books), Audible/Amazon, or BN.com.
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
As good as the 1974 film was, with an all-star cast that included Albert Finney, Ingrid Bergman, Lauren Bacall, Sean Connery, and more, the book is better. The book’s intricate plot forces the films to mirror it closely.
Hercule Poirot, with his little grey cells, is a compelling literary figure as he sizes up the colorful mix of nationalities and personalities he must investigate.
I’m not sure whether Christie was the first to write about a murder on a train, but this book was inspired by the real-life kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby as well as Christie’s own travels on the Orient Express. She wrote the first draft in Istanbul.
I’ve read or listened to most of Christie’s books. This one is a fantastic listen on Audible, with Kenneth Branagh as the narrator.
Murder on the Orient Express is a perfect listen on a long drive or when lying on the couch on a rainy day. It’s a mystery I’ve listened to multiple times. You’ve probably seen or read it, as it continues to reinvent itself for new generations, like The Great Gatsby.
See on AudioBooks (3 free books), Audible/Amazon, or BN.com.
The Voyeur by Alain Robbie-Grillet
Alain Robbe-Grillet is associated with the nouveau roman (new novel) of the 1950s and ’60s, a style that is nonlinear, avant-garde, and disregards the traditional elements of storytelling.
This might be the most literary and disturbing book on the list. You are inside the mind of an awkward traveling salesman named Mathias. He’s not a charming criminal like Tom Ripley; he has a more twisted mind, one that suggests or sees the murder of a 13-year-old girl around him.
Why the figure-eight symbols throughout the book? Who is this solitary salesman? The undercurrent of evil lies just below the surface throughout.
I read this in college, and the power of the style is how closely it resembles the way someone’s mind actually perceives life and the people around him.
It’s not the easiest read on this list, but like the work of his fellow Frenchman Marcel Proust, Robbe-Grillet’s The Voyeurresonates long after you’ve read it. Read more about Alain Robbe-Grillet in The Paris Review.
See on AudioBooks (3 free books), Audible/Amazon, or BN.com.
The Pyramid: And Four Other Kurt Wallander Mysteries by Henning Mankell
The Pyramid offers a peek into the early cases of Swedish detective Kurt Wallander.
A gripping quality pervades the Wallander mysteries, and I think it comes from the humanness of Wallander himself. We’re inside his head. He’s depressed. He’s troubled. He’s angry. He’s broken. He returns. He’s sensitive. He solves an impossible case. He navigates the complexity of life with tenacity.
Like Bosch, he cares deeply about justice. He’s no Superman or Hercule Poirot. He’s a grinder who keeps working cases and finding clues because he never lets up, thinking through and exploring every aspect of each case over and over. He is a smart, good detective and easy to admire despite his faults.
Wallander is estranged from his father and daughter, but love is there too. He seems estranged from himself as well. For the most part, these aren’t crimes of the super-rich, although a few are a bit fantastical. Like Bosch, Wallander often goes it alone. I find it annoying when a detective won’t wait for backup, but Wallander and Bosch do this often.
The Wallander books are the opposite of Agatha Christie’s books, which focus on the wealthy and “upper classes.” Wallander’s world includes people from all walks of life.
The Pyramid by Henning Mankell is a smart thriller that will pull you in and never let go.
See on AudioBooks (3 free books), Audible/Amazon, or BN.com.
You might also want to read Quicksand, Henning Mankell’s wonderful and profound collection of essays.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
A journalist and activist, Stieg Larsson reportedly witnessed a gang rape when he was 15. The girl’s name was Lisbeth. Sexual violence is a theme in Larsson’s work.
That traumatic experience fueled Larsson’s compelling and remarkable series of books featuring the victimized, fearless, and hardened Lisbeth Salander and the brave activist journalist Mikael Blomkvist.
If you haven’t read or watched these stories, you’re missing out on some of the best thrillers of all time.
See on AudioBooks (3 free books), Audible/Amazon, or BN.com.
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Dracula by Bram Stoker stands the test of time and seems to get better and scarier every time I read it. This tale of a vampire is a masterpiece of horror that feels contemporary. The Audible version is as bone-chilling as the written version.
Even if you’ve seen the movies (Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre is my favorite Dracula film), the written Draculais still the best version and one of the best thrillers of all time.
See on AudioBooks (3 free books), Audible/Amazon, or BN.com.
Six Days of the Condor by James Grady
James Grady’s novel Six Days of the Condor is the basis for the movie Three Days of the Condor, starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway.
I read this because I enjoyed the film so much. It’s always fun to read the source material, and I was not disappointed. It’s a plot-driven thriller that keeps you interested with more than a few surprises and clever twists and turns, and it stays believable throughout.
It’s no surprise that this was made into a film with some of the biggest stars of the time.
See on AudioBooks (3 free books), Audible/Amazon, or BN.com.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier’s gothic masterpiece, is a masterclass in creeping dread and obsessive jealousy. A young, naive woman marries the wealthy widower Maxim de Winter and arrives at the imposing Manderley estate, only to be haunted by the shadow of his glamorous first wife, Rebecca. With its brooding atmosphere, the unforgettable Mrs. Danvers, and shocking twists, it’s the gold standard of psychological suspense. The Audible narration by Anna Massey is chillingly perfect; her refined, intimate voice draws you deep into the unnamed narrator’s growing paranoia and unease.
See on AudioBooks (3 free books), Audible/Amazon, or BN.com.
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
Set in Stalin’s Soviet Union, Tom Rob Smith’s Child 44 is a relentless, paranoid thriller that follows MGB officer Leo Demidov as he investigates a series of child murders the state refuses to acknowledge. Part historical fiction, part cat-and-mouse chase, it captures the suffocating terror of a totalitarian regime while delivering pure suspense. Smith’s debut is brutal, intelligent, and impossible to pause. Dennis Boutsikaris’s narration on Audible is outstanding, bringing cold intensity and authentic tension to the story’s oppressive world.
See on AudioBooks (3 free books), Audible/Amazon, or BN.com.
The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier
Don’t be fooled by the title. What begins as an ordinary gathering (a surprise 40th birthday party in a quiet French hamlet) slowly unravels into a gripping exploration of buried trauma, masculine fragility, and sudden violence. Laurent Mauvignier’s novel is a masterful slow-burn thriller that builds unbearable tension through its long, winding sentences and deep psychological insight. Lydia Leonard’s narration goes a long way toward amplifying the claustrophobic atmosphere, making the domestic and mundane feel downright menacing. If you or someone you know is turning 40 (and has a dark sense of humor and loves literary thrillers), give this a go!
See on AudioBooks (3 free books), Audible/Amazon, or BN.com.
The Third Man by Graham Greene
Greene’s novella The Third Man follows pulp novelist Holly Martins in divided, postwar Vienna as he investigates the suspicious death of his old friend Harry Lime. It’s a sharp, atmospheric tale of betrayal, black-market corruption, and moral ambiguity. And yes, it’s also a classic film; Greene actually wrote the novella as groundwork for the screenplay. If you’re looking for the perfect noir thriller, call off the search. On Audible, you can’t go wrong with either the dramatized version or Martin Jarvis’s narration, which captures the shadowy intrigue and Greene’s dry wit.
Find the best mysteries and thrillers on Audiobooks, Amazon/Audible, and Bookstores who are not Amazon.
You might also be interested in Brilliant Books That Make Great Gifts and Some of the Best Diaries and Journals.
That’s it for now. Noovella will keep adding some of the best mysteries and thrillers as we discover them.
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