This post is all about 25 whodunnits must-read fictional true crime mystery books!
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Hey Y’all, thanks for stopping by Booked and Bewitched! This week we are talking about all things True Crime and Murder Mystery Books related.
For those of you who don’t normally read this genre, a little information. Mystery fiction is a broad range term used to describe a genre of fiction that entails, murders, crimes, whodunit, detectives, paranormal, suspense, thriller, psychology, and or amateur sleuths.
So without further ado, let’s get into these True Crime Mystery Books! Oh, and if you’re looking for more fun reads, head on over to 9 Must-Have Secret Society Books You Need To Read Today, for more good reads!
Whodunnit True Crime Mystery Books
1. Amazing Long Running True Crime Series
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When she was twelve years old, Kirra Mandarian’s parents were murdered and she barely escaped with her life. Fourteen years later Kirra is a commonwealth attorney back home in Porte Franklin, Virginia, and her goal is to find out who killed her parents and why. She assumes the identity of E.N.—Eliot Ness—and gathers proof to bring down the man she believes was behind her parents’ deaths.
She quickly learns that big-time criminals are very dangerous indeed and realizes she needs Dillon Savich’s help. Savich brings in Special Agent Griffin Hammersmith to work with Lieutenant Jeter Thorpe, the young detective who’d saved Kirra years before.
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- So if you love true crime mystery books or a long-running FBI thriller series, this is a great one to add to your TBR. There are currently 26 books in this series, so more than plenty to keep you occupied. Not to mention one of the MCs is named Sherlock, c’mon now.
2. Serial Killer Thriller That is Unputdownable!
Something dark is lurking in the Louisiana bayou: a methodical killer with a penchant for medical experimentation is hard at work completing his most harrowing crime yet, taunting the authorities who desperately try to catch up.
But forensic pathologist Dr. Wren Muller is the best there is. Armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of historical crimes, and years of experience working in the Medical Examiner’s office, she’s never encountered a case she couldn’t solve.
Until now. Case after case is piling up on Wren’s examination table, and soon she is sucked into an all-consuming cat-and-mouse chase with a brutal murderer getting more brazen by the day.
Booked & Bewitched Babbles: So I read this one quite a while ago, and this is probably one of the best psychological thriller books I’ve read in quite some time. Full of twists and turns, it’s a wonderful read all around! A must-have for true crime mystery book lovers!
3. Unputdownable Mystery & Crime Book
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The tranquility is shattered by a woman’s terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who’d happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation, and friendships are struck.
Each has his or her reasons for being in the reading room that morning―it just happens that one is a murderer.
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- This is hands down one of the best mystery, thriller, and suspense books to come out in 2022, and a huge fan favorite. If you have a love of libraries, women of questionable backgrounds, true crime mystery books, and murder, you’ve come to the right place.
4. Epic Must-Read Popular Mystery Book
When a Halloween Party turns deadly, it falls to Hercule Poirot to unmask a murderer.
In this exclusive authorized edition from the Queen of Mystery, a Halloween Party turns deadly, and it falls to Hercule Poirot to unmask a murderer.
At a Halloween party, Joyce–a hostile thirteen-year-old–boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no one believes her, she storms off home. But within hours her body is found, still in the house, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub.
That night, Hercule Poirot is called in to find the `evil presence’. But first, he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double-murderer…
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- I’ve had a soft spot for Agatha Christie since I was a child, then I find this Halloween-themed work of hers in my recommended reading list. Two faves wrapped up in one, I’ll be up all night with this popular true crime mystery book!
5. Cult Classic Must-Read Crime Book
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Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Without a shred of doubt, one of his fellow passengers is the murderer.
Isolated by the storm, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man’s enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again.
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- Once again it’s no secret that I have a deep love of Agatha Christie and her works, and this true crime mystery book lands at the top of my re-read list. If you loved the movie you should most definitely pick up this whodunnit classic.
6. Must Read Amateur Sleuth Murder Mystery Book.
by S. K. Golden
It’s 1958 and Evelyn Elizabeth Grace Murphy has not left the Pinnacle Hotel in fourteen months. She suffers from agoraphobia, and what’s more, it’s her father’s hotel, and everything she needs is there.
Evelyn’s always been good at finding things, she discovered her mother dead in a Manhattan alleyway fifteen years earlier. Now she’s finding trouble inside her sanctuary. At a party for artist Billie Bell, his newest work is stolen, and Evelyn’s fake boyfriend (and real best friend), movie star Henry Fox, is accused of the theft. But just as Evelyn sets out to prove Henry’s innocence, she finds Billie Bell dead.
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- So our main character has agoraphobia. Done deal, I’ve always found this aliment fascinating and now she has to solve a murder while not leaving the hotel she calls home? I can’t wait to sink into a comfy chair and dive into this amateur sleuth murder mystery book.
7. Stand-Alone Murder Mystery Book
By: W C Ryan
Winter 1920. Though the war has been over for two years, many are still struggling to pick up their lives again when so much has been lost.
In Ireland, too, other terrible troubles are taking hold. Then Tom Harkin, a former officer, arrives at a deserted railway platform in the dead of night. He has been summoned to Kilcolgan House, a grand old estate, to work as a tutor.
As Tom reaches the house it gradually becomes clear that this is not the imposing residence it once was. Half abandoned and filled with ghosts – both real and imagined – the noble family within co-exists only as the balance of their secrets is kept. For there are mysteries at the heart of this family.
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- So, Ireland, Roaring 20’s, ghosts, and murder. I think this stand-alone murder mystery book will do just nicely.
8. Small Town & Rural True Crime Mystery Book
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True crime writer Wylie Lark doesn’t mind being snowed in at the isolated farmhouse where she’s retreated to write her new book. A cozy fire, complete silence. It would be perfect, if not for the fact that decades earlier, at this very house, two people were murdered in cold blood and a girl disappeared without a trace.
As the storm worsens, Wylie finds herself trapped inside the house, haunted by the secrets contained within its walls—haunted by secrets of her own. Then she discovers a small child in the snow just outside. After bringing the child inside for warmth and safety, she begins to search for answers. But soon it becomes clear that the farmhouse isn’t as isolated as she thought, and someone is willing to do anything to find them.
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- So this may be one of the best books of 2022, hands down. I can’t wait to read this one, as it not only hits close to home with our MC’s chosen line of work but throws in dark secrets and possible ghosts. Yes, please!
9. One Of The Best Mystery Thriller Books
Isla Larsen Sanchez’s life begins to unravel when her father passes away. Instead of being comforted at home in New Jersey, her mother starts leaving her in Puerto Rico with her grandmother and great-aunt each summer like a piece of forgotten luggage.
When Isla turns eighteen, her grandmother, a great storyteller, dies. It is then that Isla discovers she has a gift passed down through her family’s scientists. The tales of dead family storytellers are brought back to life, replaying themselves over and over in front of her.
At first, Isla is enchanted by this connection to the Sanchez scientists. But when Isla has a vision of an old murder mystery, she realizes that if she can’t solve it to make the loop end, these seemingly harmless stories could cost Isla her life.
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- So this just might be one of the best mystery thriller books I’ve ever read! Anything with generational gifts gets me all excited!
10. Edge Of Your Seat Kidnap Crime Book
By: Natasha Preston
For months, Summer is trapped in a cellar with the man who took her and three other girls: Rose, Poppy, and Violet. His perfect, pure flowers.
His family. But flowers can’t survive long cut-off from the sun, and time is running out.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- So this is just straight-up creepy, which is how it landed on our list today. Throw in our author is a Wattpad native who crossed over to the mainstream and it just adds that much more reason to pick this up today!
11. One Of The Best Crime Mystery Books
by Alicia Beckman (Author)
For decades, the unsolved murder of Father Michael Leary has haunted Billings, Montana, the community he served. Who summoned the priest late one autumn night, then left his body in a sandstone gully for the ravens and other wild scavengers?
And it’s haunted no one more than Lindsay Keller, who admired and confided in him as a teenager. Compelled by his example to work for justice, she became a prosecutor. But after a devastating case left her shattered, she fled the rough-and-tumble for the safety of a desk, handling real estate deals and historic preservation projects. Good work, but not what she’d dreamed of.
Now Lindsay finds herself in possession of the priest’s wallet, the photo of a young girl tucked inside. She’s sure she knows the girl, and that it’s tied to his death. But how?
Detective Brian Donovan, a hot-shot Boston transplant, would like nothing more than to solve the county’s coldest case. Probing the life and death of Father Leary takes Lindsay and Donovan deep into long-simmering tensions in this seemingly-peaceful place.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- So this has the makings to be one of the best true crime mystery books I’ve read this year. Montana, dead Father, and a little cop, attorney tension. Yes Please!
12. Must Read Psychological True Crime Mystery Book
When you’re a kid, you imagine monsters to have horns and fangs. That they hide under the bed or in the wardrobe. And you believe they can only come after you when it’s dark.
You don’t expect them to look like everyday people or that they may be someone you already know…
The summer in question started with hot, fun-filled days and new friendships. We had just turned thirteen and had our whole lives ahead of us.
But that was before her…
Before we became known as the Hixton Five and our lives become defined by one night. It’s hard to believe twenty years have passed since she was locked away.
But now she’s free and strange things have started to happen.
When I close my eyes, the creeping anxiety and fear are overwhelming and all too real. Because the monster is back, and I know she has a score to settle with us.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- If you’ve been looking for an unputdownable page-turner that will keep you up all night long, here is your winner. This crime fiction will have you guessing until the end with twists and turns.
13. Must Read Hard Boiled Female Detective Mystery!
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Detective Harriet Foster is on the case, even though she’s still grieving the sudden death of her partner. As a Black woman in a male-dominated department, Foster anticipates a rocky road ahead in acclimating to a new team—and building trust with her new partner isn’t coming easily.
After another victim turns up with the same lipstick markings, Foster suspects she’s looking for a serial killer. Through a tip from a psychiatrist, Foster learns about Bodie Morgan: a troubled man with a twisted past and a penchant for pretty young redheads with the bluest eyes. As Foster wades into Morgan’s sinister history, the killer continues their gruesome assault on Chicago’s streets.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- So this Women’s Sleuths Book has gone straight to the top of my TBR!
14. Mystery & Detective Whodunnit Must Read
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Evidence never lies… But people do.
CSI Ally Dymond’s commitment to justice has cost her a place on the major investigations team. After exposing corruption in the ranks, she’s stuck working petty crimes on the sleepy North Devon coast. Then the body of nineteen-year-old Janie Warren turns up in the seaside town of Bidecombe, and Ally’s expert skills are suddenly back in demand.
But when the evidence she discovers contradicts the lead detective’s theory, nobody wants to listen to the CSI who landed their colleagues in prison. Time is running out to catch a killer no one is looking for – no one except Ally. What she doesn’t know is that he’s watching, from her side of the crime scene tape, waiting for the moment to strike.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- I love a good wolf in sheep’s clothing story, and this one has all the makings of a goodie. Throw in it’s set around the CSI of a crime scene and I’m game to lose myself in this over the weekend.
15. Must-Read Murder True Crime Mystery Book
by Sarah Bailey
The lead homicide investigator in a rural town, Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock is deeply unnerved when a high school classmate is found strangled, her body floating in a lake. And not just any classmate, but Rosalind Ryan, whose beauty and inscrutability exerted a magnetic pull on Smithson High School, first during Rosalind’s student years and then again when she returned to teach drama.
As much as Rosalind’s life was a mystery to Gemma when they were students together, her death presents even more of a puzzle. What made Rosalind quit her teaching job in Sydney and return to her hometown? Why did she live in a small, run-down apartment when her father was one of the town’s richest men? And despite her many admirers, did anyone in the town truly know her?
Rosalind’s enigmas frustrate and obsess Gemma, who has her dangerous secrets—an affair with her colleague and past tragedies that may not stay in the past. Brilliantly rendered, The Dark Lake has characters as compelling and mysteries as layered as the best thrillers from Gillian Flynn and Sophie Hannah.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- So I haven’t gotten to read this murder mystery book series yet, but I can’t wait to dig into it!
16. Must-Read Horror Crime Thriller Book
By; Jack Heath
A boy vanishes on his way home from school. His frantic mother receives a ransom call: pay or else. It’s only hours before the deadline, and the police have no leads.
Enter Timothy Blake, an FBI consultant with a knack for solving impossible cases but whose expertise comes at a price. Every time he saves a life, he takes one, trying to satisfy an urge he fears he can only control for so long. And this time Blake may have met his match.
The kidnapper is more cunning and ruthless than any he’s faced before. And he’s been assigned a new partner within the Bureau: a woman linked to the past he’s so desperate to forget. Because he has a secret, one so dark he will do anything to keep it hidden.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- So if you loved Dexter, I think this horror crime thriller is a must-have for you. This work and many of Jack’s others have been added to my TBR list for sure.
17. Epic Crime Thriller Book
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Four people walked into the dining room that night. One would never leave.
Matthew: the perfect husband.
Titus: the perfect son.
Charlie: the perfect illusion.
Rachel: the perfect stranger.
Charlie didn’t want her at the book club. Matthew wouldn’t listen.
And that’s how Charlie finds himself slumped beside his husband’s body, their son sitting silently at the dinner table, while Rachel calls 999, the bloody knife still gripped in her hand.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- So I can’t wait to read this true crime murder mystery book. It will be going to the top of my TBR list most definitely.
18. Spine Tingling Suspense True Crime Mystery Thriller
by Mary Burton
An aspiring artist. A high-school senior. A stripper. Three missing women with only one thing in common—wealthy Craig Thornton knew them all. For that, they paid the ultimate price.
When Craig’s widow, Adrianna, begins to receive cards and flowers from her late husband, she assumes it’s someone’s cruel joke. Then grisly remains are found on the Thornton estate. Detective Gage Hudson believes the bodies are linked to Craig. But the biggest shocks are yet to come. A psychopath has resumed his work, each death a prelude to his most cherished target. The only way to stop him is to uncover a family’s dark past—and a twisted love someone will kill for, again and again…
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- So if you’ve been searching for a good serial killer thriller lately, you can’t go wrong with this.
19. Heart Pounding Crime Thriller Book
Serial Crimes Unit DI Anjelica Henley races to stop a copycat killer and prevent her death before the ruthless murderer who is being imitated takes matters into his own hands.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- Show of hands who grew up with the movie Copy Cat? Just me, showing my age again, okay? Anyways, this is another great true crime thriller to add to your list.
20. Best Thriller & Suspense True Crime Mystery Book
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In the summer of 1988, the mutilated bodies of several missing girls begin to turn up in a small Maryland town. The grisly evidence leads police to the terrifying assumption that a serial killer is on the loose in the quiet suburb. But soon a rumor begins to spread that the evil stalking local teens is not entirely human. Law enforcement, as well as members of the FBI, are certain that the killer is a living, breathing madman—and he’s playing games with them. For a once peaceful community trapped in the depths of paranoia and suspicion, it feels like a nightmare that will never end.
Recent college graduate Richard Chizmar returns to his hometown just as a curfew is enacted and a neighborhood watch is formed. Amid preparing for his wedding and embarking on a writing career, he soon finds himself thrust into a real-life horror story. Inspired by the terrifying events, Richard writes a personal account of the serial killer’s reign of terror, unaware that these events will continue to haunt him for years to come.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- If you love a small-town serial killer crime thriller this one is a doozie and a must-read!
21. Goosebump Raising Serial Killer Crime Thriller
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Can a 23-year-old rookie with two PhDs stop him?
Christian Windsor is a certified genius. He’s also autistic. He’s just joined a special unit at the FBI whose current mission is to stop the murderer known as “The Surgeon.”
There’s just one problem…
This killer doesn’t make mistakes.
The most challenging case in years is taking its toll on the unit, and a second killer is lurking in the shadows. The bodies are piling up and the public is terrified they could be next, adding to the pressure.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- This one rings of so many popular crime and medical drama shows that I had to add it to my TBR list!
22. Creepy As Hell Two-Hour Mystery Short Read
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Going against her instincts, K decides to follow Lisa to the police, where she introduces her to Jerry, a cop that seems to distance himself from the corruption of the system.
What surprises K more is that the task force has been expecting her arrival, addressing her as ‘special agent’ Rose. Is this another unexpected twist her anonymous boss has thrown her way, or could it be an elaborate scheme to trap her?
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- So creepy dolls and serial killers, what more could you want?
23. Epic Serial Killer Murder Crime Book
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Dead bodies begin reappearing again, but Christian knows them this time. The killer doesn’t want other people: he wants Christian.
A delusional psychopath thinks a Christian can bring God’s return… Which gives Luke Titan the perfect opportunity to continue his sick purpose.
The Priest has arrived – Can a Christian save those he loves before they end up as sacrificial lambs? Can he do it before Titan’s psychological games destroy his humanity?
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- So this is book two in this serial killer series and having just finished up the first book, I can’t wait to start this one.
24. Chilling Serial Killer Thriller Series
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Brooklyn Sloane has left her job as a consultant for the FBI to take on her first cold case in the private sector. Doing so allows her the freedom to work the one case she’s never professionally been allowed to touch – a ruthless serial killer, who just so happens to be her brother.
Privately, she’s hunting her only sibling, but alongside her team, she’s seeking justice for those without a voice. But there is always the anomaly…
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- Talk about opposites in terms of siblings. If. If you love a good female sleuth book, this is a good choice.
25. Must-Read Noir True Crime Mystery Book
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Til death we do part…
The Heinous Crimes Unit stopped Lucy Speckle’s murder spree. Brilliant FBI agent Christian Windsor was there. He watched as she cut her own throat.
Pushing Lucy to suicide has changed Christian. He’s becoming darker, harsher, and crueler, and those around him are starting to notice.
Luke Titan couldn’t be happier because he engineered the whole thing. Too bad his genius keeps him hidden in the shadows.
If anyone knew Titan’s true intentions, he’d spend the remainder of his life locked up before getting sent to the electric chair.
However, his diabolical plans are almost complete.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- So I can’t wait to read this true crime murder mystery book. It will be going to the top of my TBR list most definitely.
This post was all about 25 true crime mystery books you need to read right now! Seriously, what are you doing, go? Read something!
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