Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Mystery thriller books totally surprised me
25
items Thrillers built around a reveal you genuinely don't see coming — not just a twist for the sake of it.
Sections
3
My favourite 5
Top Series
Main List
My favourite 5
My favourite 5: Mystery thriller books totally surprised me
★★★★★ (5/5) — Ages 12+
A wealthy man is found stabbed in his study in a quiet English village, and a retired Hercule Poirot is drawn back into one last puzzle.
The twist that changed crime fiction forever, and it still lands nearly a century later.
A wealthy man is found stabbed in his study in a quiet English village, and a retired Hercule Poirot is drawn back into one last puzzle.
The twist that changed crime fiction forever, and it still lands nearly a century later.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - by Agatha Christie
★★★★★ (5/5) — Ages 12+
When a snowdrift stops a luxury train in the night, a passenger is found stabbed in his locked compartment, and Poirot must work out which of his fellow travellers did it.
The solution is famous for a reason, so read it before anyone spoils it.
When a snowdrift stops a luxury train in the night, a passenger is found stabbed in his locked compartment, and Poirot must work out which of his fellow travellers did it.
The solution is famous for a reason, so read it before anyone spoils it.
Murder on the Orient Express - by Agatha Christie
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 14+
A young drawing master meets a mysterious woman dressed all in white on a moonlit road, and is pulled into a conspiracy against the heiress he loves.
The original page-turning thriller, with a secret Victorian readers couldn't stop talking about.
A young drawing master meets a mysterious woman dressed all in white on a moonlit road, and is pulled into a conspiracy against the heiress he loves.
The original page-turning thriller, with a secret Victorian readers couldn't stop talking about.
The Woman in White - by Wilkie Collins
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 15+
A mother whose daughter has been kidnapped is told the only way to get her back is to kidnap someone else's child, and become the next link in a chain that never ends.
A terrifying hook that keeps tightening right to the last page.
A mother whose daughter has been kidnapped is told the only way to get her back is to kidnap someone else's child, and become the next link in a chain that never ends.
A terrifying hook that keeps tightening right to the last page.
The Chain - by Adrian McKinty
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 14+
Molly, a literal-minded hotel maid who lives by her late gran's rules, finds a wealthy guest dead in his suite, and suddenly she's the prime suspect.
Warm, quirky and cleverly plotted, with a final reveal you won't see coming.
Molly, a literal-minded hotel maid who lives by her late gran's rules, finds a wealthy guest dead in his suite, and suddenly she's the prime suspect.
Warm, quirky and cleverly plotted, with a final reveal you won't see coming.
The Maid - by Nita Prose
Top Series
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 16+
The full series following forensic detective Lincoln Rhyme as he solves increasingly elaborate crimes from his own apartment.
Reliably clever, puzzle-box crime fiction, book after book.
The full series following forensic detective Lincoln Rhyme as he solves increasingly elaborate crimes from his own apartment.
Reliably clever, puzzle-box crime fiction, book after book.
The Lincoln Rhyme series - by Jeffery Deaver
★★★★★ (5/5) — Ages 12+
Across 33 novels, starting with The Mysterious Affair at Styles, the fastidious Belgian detective solves murders from English country houses to the Orient Express.
The gold standard of twist endings, with a reveal worth talking about in almost every book.
Across 33 novels, starting with The Mysterious Affair at Styles, the fastidious Belgian detective solves murders from English country houses to the Orient Express.
The gold standard of twist endings, with a reveal worth talking about in almost every book.
The Hercule Poirot series - by Agatha Christie
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 12+
Four novels and 56 short stories, starting with A Study in Scarlet, follow the brilliant Holmes and his loyal friend Dr Watson through Victorian London's strangest cases.
Where the modern detective story began, and it's still sharp and surprising.
Four novels and 56 short stories, starting with A Study in Scarlet, follow the brilliant Holmes and his loyal friend Dr Watson through Victorian London's strangest cases.
Where the modern detective story began, and it's still sharp and surprising.
The Sherlock Holmes series - by Arthur Conan Doyle
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 14+
Editor Susan Ryeland solves real murders hidden inside the pages of classic-style whodunits, starting with Magpie Murders.
Mysteries within mysteries, with two puzzles to crack in every book.
Editor Susan Ryeland solves real murders hidden inside the pages of classic-style whodunits, starting with Magpie Murders.
Mysteries within mysteries, with two puzzles to crack in every book.
The Susan Ryeland series - by Anthony Horowitz
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 13+
A teenage heiress and four billionaire grandsons race through riddles, secret passages and family secrets across the series, starting with The Inheritance Games.
Addictive, clever and full of reveals, and impossible to read just one.
A teenage heiress and four billionaire grandsons race through riddles, secret passages and family secrets across the series, starting with The Inheritance Games.
Addictive, clever and full of reveals, and impossible to read just one.
The Inheritance Games series - by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Main List
Main List: Mystery thriller books totally surprised me
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 17+
A rookie homicide detective hunts a serial killer who leaves his mutilated victims carefully arranged in the city’s dark alleys.
A fast, twisty serial-killer thriller with surprises right to the end.
A rookie homicide detective hunts a serial killer who leaves his mutilated victims carefully arranged in the city’s dark alleys.
A fast, twisty serial-killer thriller with surprises right to the end.
Lies and Bones - by R.J. Law
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 16+
A quadriplegic ex-forensics detective talks a rookie officer through a city-wide hunt for a meticulous serial kidnapper.
The book that launched the Lincoln Rhyme series — a genre staple for good reason.
A quadriplegic ex-forensics detective talks a rookie officer through a city-wide hunt for a meticulous serial kidnapper.
The book that launched the Lincoln Rhyme series — a genre staple for good reason.
The Bone Collector - by Jeffery Deaver
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 16+
A woman stops speaking entirely after being accused of murdering her husband, and the psychotherapist assigned to her case gets dangerously close to the truth.
One of the most talked-about twist endings of the last decade.
A woman stops speaking entirely after being accused of murdering her husband, and the psychotherapist assigned to her case gets dangerously close to the truth.
One of the most talked-about twist endings of the last decade.
The Silent Patient - by Alex Michaelides
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
A collection of interconnected weird-fiction stories centred on a forbidden, mind-breaking play — deeply influential on cosmic horror since.
A genre classic that still feels unsettling over a century later.
A collection of interconnected weird-fiction stories centred on a forbidden, mind-breaking play — deeply influential on cosmic horror since.
A genre classic that still feels unsettling over a century later.
The King in Yellow - by Robert W. Chambers
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
A home-care aide takes a job with the sole survivor of a decades-old family massacre — and starts to suspect the official story was wrong.
A satisfying slow-burn mystery with a genuinely good twist.
A home-care aide takes a job with the sole survivor of a decades-old family massacre — and starts to suspect the official story was wrong.
A satisfying slow-burn mystery with a genuinely good twist.
The Only One Left - by Riley Sager
★★★½ (3.5/5) — Ages 17+
A woman’s husband keeps coming home with blood on his shirt, and she hires a private investigator just as human remains start turning up in the local river.
Dark, pulpy suspense where nobody’s story quite adds up.
A woman’s husband keeps coming home with blood on his shirt, and she hires a private investigator just as human remains start turning up in the local river.
Dark, pulpy suspense where nobody’s story quite adds up.
The Butcher's Wife - by R.J. Law
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 12+
On a glamorous Nile cruise, a young heiress is followed by the jilted friend whose fiancé she married, and then murder strikes on board.
Christie at her most glamorous, with a solution that's fiendishly simple once you see it.
On a glamorous Nile cruise, a young heiress is followed by the jilted friend whose fiancé she married, and then murder strikes on board.
Christie at her most glamorous, with a solution that's fiendishly simple once you see it.
Death on the Nile - by Agatha Christie
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 12+
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson investigate a baronet's death on the misty moors of Dartmoor, where a family curse about a demonic hound seems to have come true.
Atmospheric, eerie and endlessly clever, and the most famous Holmes case of all.
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson investigate a baronet's death on the misty moors of Dartmoor, where a family curse about a demonic hound seems to have come true.
Atmospheric, eerie and endlessly clever, and the most famous Holmes case of all.
The Hound of the Baskervilles - by Arthur Conan Doyle
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 14+
On the last island left after a deadly fog has wiped out the world, a scientist is murdered, everyone's memory of that night is erased, and the killer must be found before the fog closes in.
A genre-bending whodunit packed with reveals.
On the last island left after a deadly fog has wiped out the world, a scientist is murdered, everyone's memory of that night is erased, and the killer must be found before the fog closes in.
A genre-bending whodunit packed with reveals.
The Last Murder at the End of the World - by Stuart Turton
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 14+
Fresh out of prison, a man records voice notes as he hunts for the teacher who vanished on a school trip forty years ago, after he found a children's book she believed hid a secret code.
Told entirely through transcripts, and the ending will send you straight back to page one.
Fresh out of prison, a man records voice notes as he hunts for the teacher who vanished on a school trip forty years ago, after he found a children's book she believed hid a secret code.
Told entirely through transcripts, and the ending will send you straight back to page one.
The Twyford Code - by Janice Hallett
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 13+
A broke teenager inherits a billionaire's fortune from a man she's never met, and must solve his puzzles, and survive his family, to find out why.
Twisty, puzzle-box fun with a new surprise every few chapters.
A broke teenager inherits a billionaire's fortune from a man she's never met, and must solve his puzzles, and survive his family, to find out why.
Twisty, puzzle-box fun with a new surprise every few chapters.
The Inheritance Games - by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 15+
A couple come home from a dinner party next door to find their baby gone from her cot, and the police start looking hard at them.
Short, fast and stacked with twists, from the middle all the way to the last line.
A couple come home from a dinner party next door to find their baby gone from her cot, and the police start looking hard at them.
Short, fast and stacked with twists, from the middle all the way to the last line.
The Couple Next Door - by Shari Lapena
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
A group of old university friends spends New Year at a remote Highland lodge, a blizzard cuts them off, and one of them ends up dead.
Classic locked-room tension, with both the victim and the killer kept hidden until late.
A group of old university friends spends New Year at a remote Highland lodge, a blizzard cuts them off, and one of them ends up dead.
Classic locked-room tension, with both the victim and the killer kept hidden until late.
The Hunting Party - by Lucy Foley
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 15+
An editor reading her bestselling author's final manuscript finds the last chapters missing, and starts to suspect a real murder behind the story.
Two brilliant mysteries for the price of one, and a love letter to the classic whodunit.
An editor reading her bestselling author's final manuscript finds the last chapters missing, and starts to suspect a real murder behind the story.
Two brilliant mysteries for the price of one, and a love letter to the classic whodunit.
Magpie Murders - by Anthony Horowitz
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 15+
A woman is strangled just hours after planning her own funeral, and a fictional version of the author is roped into writing a book about the prickly ex-detective investigating it.
Witty and clever, with a fair-play solution hiding in plain sight.
A woman is strangled just hours after planning her own funeral, and a fictional version of the author is roped into writing a book about the prickly ex-detective investigating it.
Witty and clever, with a fair-play solution hiding in plain sight.
The Word Is Murder - by Anthony Horowitz