ReadersMagnet recommends these five gripping mystery novels for April.
With lockdowns and community quarantine going on, reading mystery novels isn’t such a bad way to spend your time at home. Mystery novels are usually fast-paced and don’t take long to finish. Without further ado, here are five mystery novels that we think are worth your time.
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Before Gone Girl and Dark Places, Gillian Flynn wrote the psycho-thriller Sharp Objects. It was published in 2006. The novel tells the story of a young reporter named Camille Parker. Parker is fresh from her assignment in a psychiatric hospital and has to take on her latest assignment- the murder of two young girls in her hometown. Camille has not spoken with her neurotic mother and to her 13-year old half-sister, she barely knows. Returning to her family’s Victorian mansion, she must piece together the pieces of these mysterious murders while unraveling her own mysterious past. Sharp Object is Gillian Flynn’s debut novel, a truly gripping work of fiction.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Truman Capote is one of the most celebrated writers of his time. His work in Cold Blood earned him both critical and commercial success. First published in 1966, it tells the gruesome details of 1959 murders of four members of the Herbert Clutter family in a small town of Holcomb, Kansas. Capote traveled to Kansas along with his friend and author Harper Lee (To Kill A Mockingbird) to write about the crime while the case is still ongoing. Capote interviewed the residents as well as those assigned to the case. The murderers were arrested six weeks later. The book is regarded as a pioneering work in true crime literature.
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
The 1887 detective novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle marks the debut of two of the most famous characters in crime fiction history- Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson. In this novel, the famous detective must solve two mysteries: a murder that takes place in the shadowy outskirts of London, in a locked room where the haunting word “Rache” is written upon the wall and a crime set in the American West. A Study in Scarlet is the first of the four novels that would later make Arthur Conan Doyle one of the most famous authors of crime mystery.
Something Fishy in Manhattan by JB Clemmens
JB Clemmens has written several mystery novels. One is Something Fishy in Manhattan, a mystery novel about a Japanese fugu chef who is suspected of poisoning and murdering an evil man. Investigating the crime is Lieutenant James. The lieutenant finds other suspects coming out of the woodwork when he investigates to find a killer who may be getting away with more than just murder. Published in 2015, Something Fishy in Manhattan is among JB Clemmens’ early works.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the first book in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series. Published in 2005, it tells the story of a rape survivor and a skilled hacker named Lisbeth Salander. Salander is hired by industrial tycoon Henrik Vanger to investigate on a disgraced Mikael Blomkvist. The two must then work for Vanger to investigate the disappearance of Mr. Vanger’s niece Harriet 40 years ago. In 2009, a film adaptation was released with Noomi Rapace as the introverted hacker. In 2011, another film adaptation was released starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara. The Girl Who Played with Fire (2006) and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (2007) completes Larsson’s Millennium series. Her other works include Mystery at Pima Point, Death in Sequence, and The Numbered Cups Mystery.