The most recommended books about criminal investigations

Who picked these books? Meet our 608 experts.

608 authors created a book list connected to criminal investigations, and here are their favorite criminal investigation books.
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Book cover of Don't Let Go

Angelo Marcos Author Of Whoever Fights Monsters

From Angelo's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Psychological thriller writer

Angelo's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Angelo Marcos Why did Angelo love this book?

I've read all of Harlan Coben's books, but I realised I'd left this one out. As soon as I started reading it, I felt like I was having a chat with an old friend. 

The story revolves around Nap, who revisits his brother's death from years ago. Like with a lot of Harlan Coben's books, the "'official" version of events very quickly unravels.

I loved the questions posed by this book, especially around how far you would go to avenge – or even just find the truth about – a family member's death. Nap is constantly told to leave things alone but pushes forward - which is what I think we would all do in that situation - even at huge personal cost.

By Harlan Coben,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Don't Let Go as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

***THE GLOBAL #1 BESTSELLER***

The brilliant new thriller from the international bestselling author of Home and Fool Me Once, and the creator of the Netflix hit Safe.

Mistaken identities. Dark family secrets. And a murderous conspiracy...
__________________________

'The modern master of the hook and twist, luring you in on the first page only to shock you on the last' - Dan Brown

'Coben is a phenomenon - the most reliable of American thriller-writers, the least likely to disappoint ... the true mystery is Coben's extraordinary capacity to keep writing such wonderful thrillers' - The Times

'As moreish as ever' -…


Book cover of Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer

Dean Calbreath Author Of The Sergeant: The Incredible Life of Nicholas Said: Son of an African General, Slave of the Ottomans, Free Man Under the Tsars, Hero of the Union Army

From my list on a fresh takes on the Civil War.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by the Civil War ever since I was a kid, traipsing through battlefields and digging up old Minie balls and bullets from the backyard where my dad played when he was younger. The war was America’s defining moment, in many ways more important than the Revolution itself, setting the stage for our continuing evolution as a nation. But often, the history we’re taught is incomplete and imperfect. As a journalist who’s done some prize-winning investigative work, I like to use those skills to peel away the cobwebs of history to find the untold stories that are too often hidden from view.

Dean's book list on a fresh takes on the Civil War

Dean Calbreath Why did Dean love this book?

I always thought I had a pretty good grasp of the story of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Still, this book is so well-crafted that it managed to keep me on the edge of my seat, full of suspense about John Wilkes Booth and his conspirators' getaway and the government’s attempts to track them down.

I loved the way the author pinned the action-packed story to a backdrop of a nation laid low by the Civil War, with civil liberties temporarily shunted aside under the threat of terror, with some parallels to life after 9/11. A great true crime story.

By James L Swanson,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Manhunt as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

An enthralling hour-by-hour account of the twelve days in 1865 between President Abraham Lincoln's assassination and the capture and death of his murderer, John Wilkes Booth. From 14th to 26th of April 1865, the hunt for Booth and his accomplices transfixed, thrilled and horrified a nation of mourners as Booth led the army on a wild chase through the swamps of Maryland and into the forests of Virginia. At the centre of the story is the ultimate anti-hero: John Wilkes Booth. A handsome stage actor, Booth was as famous in his day as any big Hollywood star today, but threw…


Book cover of An Unwanted Guest

Greta Boris Author Of The Cliff House

From my list on thrillers featuring tropes you know and love.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in New York City, the only child of a busy editor/publisher and a classical musician. We lived in a two-hundred-year-old brownstone that was full of history and books. Often, my fictional and real worlds overlapped. I explored the dark spaces in our old house and imagined the ghosts that might still dwell there. I sat in eight-foot-high windows in the summer and near fireplaces with Victorian marble mantels in winter and read Nancy Drew, Alice in Wonderland, Tolkien, Poe, Shakespeare, and more. Those stories dropped like seeds into my psyche and eventually bloomed into the thrillers and mysteries I write today.

Greta's book list on thrillers featuring tropes you know and love

Greta Boris Why did Greta love this book?

The Trope: The Locked Room Mystery

The first locked room mystery I ever read was Agatha Christy’s, And Then There Were None. I fell in love with the trope. I’m a complete patsy for any story that holds a group of unsuspecting characters captive and starts killing them off individually.

Shari Lapena uses a ski resort and a snowstorm to do just that. This book is a fabulously creepy and claustrophobic read for a winter night. 

By Shari Lapena,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked An Unwanted Guest as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

AS FEATURED ON BBC RADIO 2: 'Properly gripping' Romesh Ranganathan

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER from the number one bestselling author of THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR.

'Crafted like a vintage Christie and just as tense, this will be a smash hit.' Heat
'Tense. Unpredictable. Unputdownable. Shari Lapena's novels are domestic noir at its finest.' Simon Kernick

____________________

We can't choose the strangers we meet.

As the guests arrive at beautiful, remote Mitchell's Inn, they're all looking forward to a relaxing weekend deep in the forest, miles from anywhere. They watch their fellow guests with interest, from a polite distance.

Usually we…


The Widow Maker

By Janet Fix, Cheryl Bradshaw,

Book cover of The Widow Maker

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Janet Fix Author Of The Broken Soul

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Writer, reader, editor, reviewer, publisher… those are all parts of me. With a lifetime of experience in the “words” industry, I have a pretty good handle on what makes a book not just good, but hot. I say this with the understanding that each reader brings their own histories to the reading experience, and what one person may like, another may not. Nonetheless, I offer you my professional and personal favorites in the mystery/thriller/suspense categories. It is my sincere hope that you find these books as addictive as I’d found them. Superb and clever writing, engaging characters, unpredictable plots—yes, please! Though I occasionally step outside my comfort zone, I'm consistently drawn back to these categories. 

Janet's book list on intriguing whodunits

What is my book about?

Liza O’Connell was a horror buff in every sense of the word. But there was one deadly nightmare she would never be able to talk about … her own. A friend murdered. A business in trouble. A marriage struggling to survive. And that’s just the beginning. 

When salon owner Carrie King discovers Liza dead in the back room of her shop, everyone becomes a suspect, even her. As tensions in the community rise, so does the death toll, and now the local cops believe there’s a serial killer on the loose. The question is … are the two investigations connected?…

The Widow Maker

By Janet Fix, Cheryl Bradshaw,

What is this book about?

Liza O’Connell was a horror buff in every sense of the word. But there was one deadly nightmare she would never be able to talk about … her own.

A friend murdered.

A business in trouble.

A marriage struggling to survive.

And that’s just the beginning.

When salon owner Carrie King discovers Liza dead in the back room of her shop, everyone becomes a suspect, even her. As tensions in the community rise, so does the death toll, and now the local cops believe there’s a serial killer on the loose.
The question is … are the two investigations connected?…


Book cover of Murder and the Making of English CSI

Katherine D. Watson Author Of Medicine and Justice: Medico-Legal Practice in England and Wales, 1700-1914

From my list on the history of forensic medicine.

Why am I passionate about this?

I work on topics where medicine, crime, and the law intersect, aided by an undergraduate degree in chemistry and stimulated by my fascination with how criminal justice systems work. I have published on the history of poisoning, vitriol attacks, assault, child murder, and the role of scientific expertise in criminal investigations and trials, focusing on Britain since the seventeenth century. I’ve contributed to many TV documentaries over the years, and enjoy the opportunity to explain just why the history of crime is about so much more than individual criminals: it shows us how people in the past lived their lives and helps explain how we got where we are today.  


Katherine's book list on the history of forensic medicine

Katherine D. Watson Why did Katherine love this book?

This is an important resource for anyone interested in the history of twentieth-century forensic practice, because it explains the rise of forensic science as a discipline separate from forensic medicine. Forensic scientists, based in laboratories, analyse trace evidence found at crime scenes, while forensic pathologists focus on the dead body in the mortuary. An analysis of the 1953 serial murders committed by John Christie at his infamous London address, 10 Rillington Place, shows how murder investigations had by then become team efforts centred on the crime scene itself. 

By Ian Burney, Neil Pemberton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Murder and the Making of English CSI as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Crime scene investigation-or CSI-has captured the modern imagination. On television screens and in newspapers, we follow the exploits of forensic officers wearing protective suits and working behind police tape to identify and secure physical evidence for laboratory analysis. But where did this ensemble of investigative specialists and scientific techniques come from? In Murder and the Making of English CSI, Ian Burney and Neil Pemberton tell the engrossing history of how, in the first half of the twentieth century, novel routines, regulations, and techniques-from chain-of-custody procedures to the analysis of hair, blood, and fiber-fundamentally transformed the processing of murder scenes. Focusing…


Book cover of When

Stacy Stokes Author Of The Darkness Rises

From my list on thrillers with a dash of magic.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was in fifth grade when I brought home my first paranormal thriller from the library. It was love at first read. Since then, I’ve broadened my reading horizons to many fiction genres, but fast-paced stories grounded in our world with a dash of magic continue to be my favorite. The same can be said of my viewing habits—give me shows like Severance or Black Mirror, and I’ll be glued to the screen all day long. It probably doesn’t surprise anyone that it is my favorite entertainment genre and writing genre. Many of the books on this list have served as inspiration—I hope you love them too!

Stacy's book list on thrillers with a dash of magic

Stacy Stokes Why did Stacy love this book?

This book has one of my favorite paranormal tropes—a girl with an ability she doesn’t want but must use to find the bad guy. But the execution felt truly unique, and despite all my best efforts to figure out who the killer was, the twist at the end caught me completely off guard. Brava. 

By Victoria Laurie,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked When as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Maddie Fynn is a shy high school junior cursed with an eerie intuitive ability that's out of her control—one that entangles her in a homicide investigation   For as long as she can remember, Maddie has seen a series of unique digits hovering above the foreheads of each person she encounters. Her earliest memories are marked by these numbers, but it takes her father's premature death for Maddie and her family to realize that these mysterious digits are actually deathdates, and just like birthdays, everyone has one.   Forced by her alcoholic mother to use her ability to make extra money, Maddie…


Book cover of The Redbreast

David Wickenden Author Of The Home Front

From my list on Nazis and the threat they posed in the past and today.

Why am I passionate about this?

I can recommend this topic because of my interest in anything about WWII and the Nazi horror. It also comes from the recent revival of the ideology, even though the entire world fought to defeat them seventy years ago. I have been haunted by PTSD because of my experiences as a first responder and can speak to that personally. As a former reservist with the Canadian Armed Forces, I also have experience in firearms and munitions. I have recently written my own story, The Home Front, which deals with the rise of the neo-Nazis in the United States through the eyes of a WWII veteran.

David's book list on Nazis and the threat they posed in the past and today

David Wickenden Why did David love this book?

Another cautionary story. This story shows that the Nazi movement is growing worldwide and that governments need to keep these organizations under wraps before allowing them to carry out their own agendas. 

When a mistake causes an international incident during a US Presidential visit to Norway, Detective Harry Hole is placed out of sight in the Federal Police Department, until matters settle. Unable to sit still, Harry investigates a neo-Nazi group and comes across someone practicing with an exotic rifle that would only be used to assassinate someone. Now he must identify both the target and the killer.

By Jo Nesbo, Don Bartlett (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Redbreast as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Harry Hole faces a new rising enemy.

'A page-turner you won't want to put down' Time Out

Harry knows he shouldn't get involved.

A report of a rare and unusual gun - a type favoured by assassins - being smuggled into the country sparks Detective Harry Hole's interest.

Evil is closer to home than he knows.

Then a former WW2 Nazi sympathizer is found with his throat cut. Next, someone close to Harry is murdered. Why had she been trying to reach Harry on the night she was killed?

As Harry's investigation unfolds, it becomes clear that the killer is…


Book cover of Eight Faces at Three: A John J. Malone Mystery

Angela M. Sanders Author Of Witch upon a Star

From my list on screwball mysteries from the golden age of detection.

Why am I passionate about this?

Between humor and pathos, I lean humor. Even the saddest, most shocking events—murder, for instance—can be wrapped in kookiness. Combine this outlook with my love of old things (I’m sitting on a 1920s Chinese wedding bed and drinking from an etched Victorian tumbler at this very moment), and you’ll understand why I’m drawn to vintage screwball detective fiction. Although my mystery novels are cozies, I can’t help but infuse them with some of this screwball wackiness. I want readers to laugh, of course, but also to use my stories as springboards to see the hilarity and wonder in their own lives. 

Angela's book list on screwball mysteries from the golden age of detection

Angela M. Sanders Why did Angela love this book?

If screwball detective fiction intrigues you, you must read Craig Rice. Why not start with Eight Faces of Three, the mystery introducing the wacky, rye-soaked team of Jake Justus, Helene Brand, and John Joseph Malone?

Justus is a good-looking press agent and the book’s moral center; Brand is a gorgeous heiress and non-stop partier; and Malone is a stumpy lawyer-slash-PI with good instincts and better luck. Imagine Philip Marlowe meets the Marx Brothers.

In Eight Faces of Three, a young woman awakes to find her aunt murdered, all the house’s clocks set to 3 am, and herself the prime suspect.

Craig Rice was the first mystery writer to grace the cover of Time magazine. Her private life was strewn with ex-husbands and empty booze bottles, and she died way too young at 49.

However, her literary legacy—one critic dubbed her the “Dorothy Parker of detective fiction”—will keep her…

By Craig Rice,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Eight Faces at Three as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Pioneering woman crime writer Craig Rice introduces her series sleuth, gin-soaked Chicago lawyer John J. Malone

John J. Malone, defender of the guilty, is notorious for getting his culpable clients off. It’s the innocent ones who are problems. Like Holly Inglehart, accused of piercing the black heart of her well-heeled and tyrannical aunt Alexandria with a lovely Florentine paper cutter. No one who knew the old battle-ax liked her, but Holly’s prints were found on the murder weapon. Plus, she had a motive: She was about to be disinherited for marrying a common bandleader.

With each new lurid headline, Holly’s…


Book cover of The Cutting Season

Rashad Harrison Author Of Our Man in the Dark

From my list on thrillers and mysteries inhabited by history.

Why am I passionate about this?

I read history to better understand myself, others, and the world around me; I write historical fiction to share what I have learned. At New York University, I was the Jacob K. Javits Fellow in fiction. In addition to Our Man in the Dark, I am the author of The Abduction of Smith and Smith, one of Huffington Post's 25 Necessary Books By Black Authors (2015), and Huffington Post's 50 Amazing Books By Black Authors from the Past Five Years (2019).

Rashad's book list on thrillers and mysteries inhabited by history

Rashad Harrison Why did Rashad love this book?

Caren Gray, the manager of a historic plantation, learns the body of a migrant worker has been discovered on the grounds. Searching for answers, she stumbles upon another crime that occurred over a century ago in the era of slavery and may hold the key to unlocking revelations in the present. Locke does a fantastic job of balancing the two timelines for great effect. History can haunt us, but this book leaves you with the eerie feeling of being surveilled by the past.

By Attica Locke,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Cutting Season as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

By the prize-winning author of Heaven My Home, a taut crime novel perfect for reading groups.

Bury your bodies deep and your secrets deeper.

Just after dawn, Caren inspects the grounds of Belle Vie, the historic plantation house she manages. Back at her office, the gardener calls to tell her she missed something. Something terrible. At a distance, she didn't see. A young woman lying face down in a shallow grave, her throat cut clean.

So there will be police, asking questions. The family who own Belle Vie will have to be told. There's a school group on the way…


Book cover of Hollywood Homicide: The First Detective by Day Humorous Mystery

Rob Osler Author Of Devil's Chew Toy

From my list on whodunits with highly entertaining amateur sleuths.

Why am I passionate about this?

My first book love was Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. The game between author and reader that centers a whodunit has always delighted me. The breadcrumb trail of clues, the misdirection, the inevitable I should have seen it! are my jam. Now an author of whodunits—I have one series published and a second on the way, along with several short stories – I read mysteries with greater scrutiny—in admiration and with a selfish desire to learn from other authors’ envious talents. Each of the books on my list excited me for their excellent storytelling. In the end, I found them just plain entertaining. I hope you do too!

Rob's book list on whodunits with highly entertaining amateur sleuths

Rob Osler Why did Rob love this book?

As much as I love this book’s hero, former television commercial star Dayna Anderson, her tight circle of got-your-back friends is what made this mystery really shine.

To say the cast has big personalities is like calling Hollywood’s Dolby Theater a quaint venue. I laughed out loud throughout and wished I could ride along with these ladies (there are some guys involved, a love interest in particular) as they doggedly unravel the deftly plotted mystery.

I am grateful to Garrett that there is a sequel to this first in the series, Hollywood Ending.

By Kellye Garrett,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Hollywood Homicide as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Dayna Anderson doesn t set out to solve a murder. All the semi-famous, mega-broke black actress wants is to help her parents keep their house. After witnessing a deadly hit-and-run, she figures pursuing the fifteen-grand reward isn t the craziest thing a Hollywood actress has done for some cash. But what starts as simply trying to remember a speeding car soon blossoms into a full-on investigation. As Dayna digs deeper into the victim s life, she wants more than just reward money. She s determined to find the poor woman's killer too. When she connects the accident to a notorious…


Book cover of In a Dark, Dark Wood

Regina Buttner Author Of Down a Bad Road

From Regina's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Plotter Explorer Kayaker Dog mom Northern girl

Regina's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Regina Buttner Why did Regina love this book?

I try to avoid books about cozy girls’ weekends because they always seem to descend into goopy sentimentalism and cutesy dialogue, but this novel (thank goodness!) turned that tired old trope on its head.

Psychological thrillers with twisty plotlines and complicated characters are my absolute favorite reads, and this one piles on the suspense as the questions and misunderstandings—and the danger––grow more sinister with each passing day.

My takeaway: attending a getaway in the forest with a bunch of people you haven’t seen in a decade is NOT A GOOD IDEA. Politely decline the invitation, then stay the hell away!

By Ruth Ware,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked In a Dark, Dark Wood as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*AUTHOR OF THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 and THE LYING GAME
*INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, AND LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER
*SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

An NPR Best Book of the Year * An Entertainment Weekly Summer Books Pick * A Buzzfeed “31 Books to Get Excited About this Summer” Pick * A Publishers Weekly “Top Ten Mysteries and Thrillers” Pick * A Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year * A BookReporter Summer Reading Pick * A New York Post “Best Novels to Read this Summer” Pick * A Shelf Awareness “Book Expo America 2015…


Book cover of Don't Let Go
Book cover of Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer
Book cover of An Unwanted Guest

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