The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side

The Greek Coffin Mystery

Ellery Queen · 370 pages

After the death of an elderly Greek man who is an internationally famous art dealer and collector, his attorney discovers that his will is missing and notifies the district attorney. When Inspector Richard Queen of the New York Police Force's Homicide Squad and his amateur detective son Ellery are called in, Ellery narrows down the possible location of the will to a single location: the dead man's

Cover Her Face

P.D. James · 254 pages

When a sly and sensuous young woman who had used her body and her brains to climb the social ladder is murdered by someone who had clearly decided that the wages of sin should be death, it falls to Inspector Adam Dalgliesh to find out who the killer is.

The Brutal Telling

Louise Penny · 395 pages

A stranger is found murdered in the village bistro and antiques store and all clues point to bistro owner Olivier being the killer. Once again, Chief Inspector Gamache and his team are called in to strip back layers of lies, exposing both treasures and rancid secrets long buried--but not forgotten.

The Last Party

Clare Mackintosh · 432 pages

Murder at Holly House

Denzil Meyrick · 410 pages

Strong Poison

Dorothy L. Sayers · 272 pages

This is the first in the Lord Peter Wimsey series of stories that includes Harriet Vane. Harriet is introduced as she stands in the dock on trial for murder. Lord Peter immediately determines that she is innocent and sets out to prove it - falling in love with her in the process.

The Valley of Fear

Arthur Conan Doyle · 190 pages

Even Sherlock Holmes, well-accustomed to the bizarre, finds the elements of this case unusual; the scene of the crime, a moated English country house; the wapon, a very American sawed-off shotgun; the bereaved, strangely dry-eyed; and the solution, backward in time and deep in a VALLEY OF FEAR...

The Secret of the Old Clock

Carolyn Keene · 198 pages

Nancy Drew's first mystery begins when she becomes intrigued by a missing will that could change the fortunes of several families in her town. As she follows a trail of clues connected to an old clock, Nancy uncovers secrets, confronts schemers, and proves her determination and resourcefulness. Blending suspense, clever deduction, and charm that launched a legendary series, this story introduces t

False Scent

Ngaio Marsh · 255 pages

In a poisonous cloud of spray, the curtain falls on a drama queen. Little did beloved British actress Mary Bellamy know that she would be done in at her own birthday party-choked by toxic mist from the bottle of "Slaypest," a deadly insecticide. Basking in the glow of her most adoring fans-who all happened to be her most duplicitous enemies-Mary would make her final performance. When Superinten

The Three Coffins

John Dickson Carr · 240 pages

Professor Charles Grimaud was explaining to some friends the natural causes behind an ancient superstition about men leaving their coffins when a stranger entered and challenged Grimaud's skepticism. The stranger asserted that he had risen from his own coffin and that four walls meant nothing to him. He added, 'My brother can do more... he wants your life and will call on you!' The brother came du

Dancers in Mourning

Margery Allingham · 298 pages

Crocodile on the Sandbank

Elizabeth Peters · 280 pages

Thirty-one-year-old Victorian gentlewoman Amelia Peabody has not only inherited her father's fortune, but she is also blessed with his strong will as well. Now she's headed for Cairo, accompanied by a girl with a tarnished past, to indulge her passion for Egyptology. Little did she know that murder and a homicidal mummy lay in wait for her.

Trent's Last Case

E.C. Bentley · 182 pages

Trent investigates the death of an industrialist. He solves the case three times, each time getting closer to the truth.

The House Without a Key

Earl Derr Biggers · 210 pages

The Cuckoo's Calling

J.K. Rowling · 480 pages

After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office. Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, thelegendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the

Green for Danger

Christianna Brand · 256 pages

A murder takes place in a make-shift hospital during the second world war. Inspector Cockrill is asked to investigate even as the murderer strikes again. A nice twist in the end makes this worth a read.

Blue Lightning

Ann Cleeves · 368 pages

In the fourth book of Ann Cleeves' critically acclaimed series set in the Shetland Islands, Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez brings his fiancée home to Fair Isle, a birder's paradise, where strangers are viewed with suspicions and distrust. When a woman's body is discovered at the island's bird observatory, the investigation is hampered by a raging storm that renders the island totally isolated. Ji

Death at the President's Lodging

Michael Innes · 256 pages

Inspector Appleby is called to St Anthony's College, where the President has been murdered in his Lodging. Scandal abounds when it becomes clear that the only people with any motive to murder him are the only people who had the opportunity - because the President's Lodging opens off Orchard Ground, which is locked at night, and only the Fellows of the College have keys.

No Wind of Blame

Georgette Heyer · 320 pages

Tragedy befalls the Carter family following an eventful visit from a Russian prince and a scandalous blackmail letter. The murder of Wally Carter generates a bewildering mystery: how does one shoot a man crossing a narrow bridge without being near the murder weapon when it is fired? The superlatively analytical Inspector Hemingway reveals his unnerving talent for solving a fiendish problem.

A is for Alibi

Sue Grafton · 244 pages

A IS FOR AVENGER. A tough-talking former cop, private investigator Kinsey Millhone has set up a modest detective agency in a quiet corner of Santa Teresa, California. She's a twice-divorced loner with few personal possessions and fewer personal attachments but with a soft spot for underdogs and lost causes. A IS FOR ACCUSED. That's why she draws desperate clients like Nikki Fife. Eight years ag

The Singing Sands

Josephine Tey · 224 pages

The Incredulity of Father Brown

G.K. Chesterton · 195 pages

Father Brown , full-time Catholic priest and part-time amateur detective, returns in this third collection of short stories. Unlike the first two collections, this time Father Brown is investigating alone; his sidekick, the former criminal Flambeau, is nowhere to be seen. Father Brown has to solve a murder (including his own!) in each story, and since several also appear to involve the supernatura

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows

Alan Bradley · 286 pages

It's Christmastime, and the precocious Flavia de Luce - an eleven-year-old sleuth with a passion for chemistry and a penchant for crime-solving - is tucked away in her laboratory, whipping up a concoction to ensnare Saint Nick. But she is soon distracted when a film crew arrives at Buckshaw, the de Luces' decaying English estate, to shoot a movie starring the famed Phyllis Wyvern. Amid a ragin

The Thin Man

Dashiell Hammett · 197 pages

Nick and Nora Charles are Hammett's most enchanting creations, a rich, glamorous couple who solve homicides in between wisecracks and martinis. At once knowing and unabashedly romantic, The Thin Man is a murder mystery that doubles as a sophisticated comedy of manners.