Top 10 Detective Novels

Another stalwart of the detective genre is Miss Marple and she puts her deductive reasoning powers to the test after the presumed murdered of Colonel Protheroe in the village vicarage. This is not a straightforward case and there are red-herrings everywhere. So, when Protheroe’s widow and her new lover admit to his killing, there’s an element of doubt regarding the veracity of their confession. But why would they do this if they were innocent? You’ll have to read to find out.

Set in Santa Barbara, California, Sue Grafton’s detective tale ‘A is for Alibi’ has poison as it’s motif, with the toxin of choice being crushed oleander. A lot of effort has been made by the murderer to conceal their crime, as this poison has been fashioned into a tablet and disguised as a harmless antihistamine pill. The heroine of the piece is female investigator Kinsey Milhone and readers get to ride along as she attempts to solve this heinous crime. Grafton cites her own murderous fantasies experienced about her ex-husband during their messy divorce as inspiration for this novel. A simple, yet chilling fact and one that should keep you captivated until the last page. ​

From the mind that brought us Harry Potter and Voldemort comes a detective novel full of intrigue and subterfuge. The story centres around Cormoran Strike – a disabled war veteran turned P.I. – who is approached by the adoptive brother of his late old school pal Charlie to investigate the suspicious death of his sister and supermodel, Lula Landry. Partly down to a shortage of cash, Strike takes on the case of the lady some were calling ‘cuckoo’ due to the fact that she was adopted by Charlie’s parents when he died. Is this a clue as to who committed the murder? One thing’s for sure, things are pretty murky and it’s down to Cormoran Strike to unravel the tangled web of lies and deceit. A must-read for detective novel fans everywhere. ​

A Baron who is accused of killing his wife is the subject of this detective novel, as suspicions are raised when it has been discovered that the Baron took out 5 different life insurance policies for his wife prior to her death. At one point, it seemed like a tragic accident, as she had supposedly drunk acid from a bottle in her husband’s laboratory whilst sleepwalking, but it soon becomes apparent that foul play is at hand. The Baron’s guilt is fairly obvious from the first page, however, the mystery lies in how he did it and how he can be caught. A truly captivating novel that fully merits a place on our list.

This intensely immersive detective novel has it all, with a major drug dealer (Michael Rebus) who has a police officer for a brother (John Rebus) being investigated by the story’s main protagonist – journalist Jim Stevens. Set against the shadowy criminal underworld of Edinburgh, Scotland, Stevens sets to find out exactly how much John Rebus knows about his brother’s criminal activities and the murder of two young girls. In a tale that focuses as much on the pasts of the novel’s main characters as it does on the present, readers are kept guessing right until the last word. A real page-turner and one for fans of dark, murder mysteries.