(Part 2) Best mystery books according to redditors
We found 5,635 Reddit comments discussing the best mystery books. We ranked the 927 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
I did some research in the 1990s for use in sci fi scenarios about both the past and the future. Some of it regarded 'what ifs' about lost civilizations such as a possible Atlantis-like scenario in southeast asia, that got decimated in a biotech war, then drowned by rising seas at the end of the last Ice Age.
(Note that the use of biotech meant virtually all evidence of its usage would rot totally away; then the rising seas helped destroy any other evidence as well).
The Atlantis That Could Have Been
My other scenario dealt with a pseudo primate civilization that basically developed millions of years before humanity, in the vicinity of Antarctica and the Kerguelen mini continent (it was all much warmer then). A tight constraint on a certain vital plant in their diet which wouldn't grow elsewhere in the world, plus their own despotic government, kept them primarily within the environs of Kerguelen for a very long time; then the rulers decided to move lock stock and barrel into space, and leave behind most of their peasants/slaves to die in their homeland, as Kerguelen sank beneath the sea. The race still exists today in the outer solar system, mining asteroids and comets, and warily watching humanity advance tech-wise.
The main reasons they hadn't destroyed us the past century is because we remain clueless to their existence, and their rulers enjoy our entertainment media. Plus, they like stealing some of the breakthroughs we make in stuff like drugs and medical tech, that they haven't (as explained on my site, the ruling families keep a tight leash on tech development within their own nation, out of fear that it might make them lose control of their people; the only exceptions have been times like when they wanted to rush development of space technologies to make the leap into space).
Could we eventually uncover a lost civilization on the sunken Kerguelen continent? And if so, what might have been its fate?
I include many supporting references for my speculations.
Finally, in the sci fi book Anne Maddison’s Secret Admirer, evidence of both these civilizations are discovered by a woman private investigator on Earth, in 2017. :-)
Some other stuff that's $1.99 right now:
The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne is $5.95 in the sale, but you can get the Kindle version for $1.99 and add narration for $1.99 ($3.98).
You can also Read & Listen for free if you have Kindle Unlimited.
If it's "inevitable," it's a very, very long ways off. Modern machine learning techniques are more a result of huge data volumes than of particularly sophisticated math - even things like deep neural networks are more akin to doing a lot of calculus quickly than they are akin to anything you're recognize as "thinking." I know it's an old joke in the field that "anything we know how to do isn't AI any more," but we're not materially closer to creating a mechanical system we'd even hypothetically recognize as sapient than we were 30 years ago.
Once you start arguing about "brain in a box"-style AI, you rapidly run afoul of the sort of logical shortcuts that plague groups like LessWrong, where you rapidly start either rationalizing arbitrarily-strong characteristics into your supposed AI or start rationalizing away physical limits.
For further reading, I recommend Rule 34, by Charlie Stross. (Yes, the title is a reference.) He takes this premise a bit more seriously than I do, and follows one scenario (where a research lab creates a strong AI personal assistant, which then influences events beyond the lab) through to its conclusions. While he doesn't get into the legislative or judicial elements, he does explore the problems such a creation would pose for policework and investigation, and the kinds of things that might make the question "is an AI alive" rather urgent for the law.
Maybe not so much a murderer, but John L. Orr was a firefighter/investigator on an arson case wherein it turned out he was the arsonist.
While the investigation was still ongoing, he wrote a novel titled "Points of Origin" that essentially documented the exact situation that was going on. That being said... I'm not 100% certain, but I don't think the book was published until after the guy was convicted.
http://murderpedia.org/male.O/o/orr-john-leonard.htm
https://www.amazon.com/Points-Origin-John-L-Orr/dp/0741406365
Worked for me, but the only 'freebie' you can get with this credit is this book :
-The Innocent Dead: A Witch Cozy Mystery (The Maid, Mother, and Crone Paranormal Mystery Series Book 1)
All other books are >$2.00 - correct me if I'm wrong, I just sorted by price low to high and only saw the one
Just a harmless little plug...
The Violinist is now available on Kindle Unlimited. If you have an account it's free to read. Check it out if you like crime/noir stories centered around a mystery wrapped in 1950s era espionage.
Paperback should be available by Tuesday.
If she loved Harry Potter, some urban fantasy might be worth trying. Dresden Files is one of the archetypal examples that everyone brings up, though it does have a first-person Guy Perspective complete with a bit of a staring problem and some unconscious condescension/patronization (early-series in particular, he does get better on that one). I still love the books and I know a bunch of wimminfolks do as well, but it's worth noting in case that'd be a big turn-off. Skip straight to the third book if you try Dresden tho - first two are skippable and not the best intro. Some people say skip to fourth, but those people are wrong. Third-book intro place ftw.
To run through a couple other urban fantasies:
Twenty Palaces: Very very good IMHO, but a bit (kinda) (sometimes a lot) bleak and sad. YMMV.
Magic Ex Libris: Books are magic. A bit cheesy but a fun premise. I read the first two and I might keep going if I ever diminish the size of Mt Readmore.
Eric Carter: Pitch-black supernatural LA noir. If she doesn't like GoT b/c it's too dark this is a definite no-no, but I thought I'd mention just because I like these books and you never know.
Aaand there's a bunch more UF out there but I'm kinda worn out on typing right now. Hope some of this helped!
that's right unless you have kindle unlimited
https://www.amazon.com/Innocent-Dead-Mystery-Mother-Paranormal-ebook/dp/B06Y63X9YN/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1511377364&sr=1-1
What about it?
I'd recommend Halting State and Rule 34 by Charles Stross. In form they are near-future poilce procedurals, in a world where virtual reality increasing impinges on the real world. "Halting State" involves a robbery in an MMORG that has real-world consequences. "Rule 34" involves a series of murders in Edinburgh, Scotland, that lead to a deep conspiracy rooted in a former Russian republic. The stories use the implications of virtual reaiity and online communications jumped up well beyond what we have now, and their representation of how virtual reality will affect everyday lives and police work will have you thinking.
If you want to a book by Stross that's just pure, balls-to-the-wall ideas, try "Accelerando" available for free, here. It's not representative of his later work, but if you want something to get you mind working ... it'll do.
Talk to me when you get the Dresden Files books in Hardcover. That will truly be impressive.
I used to love all those new age books! Why not head down to the used bookstore and pick up half a dozen books that look fun out of that section? There's always something entertaining there. If she's a true believer, avoid anything that suggests people can survive by eating nothing but air.
Or, if she's not a true believer but just interested in the subject, have you considered getting her some non-fiction books that delve into the psychology behind ghost sightings and such? Like Investigating the Paranormal (less skeptical) or Demon-Haunted World (much more skeptical)?
Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches was a fascinating read and IIRC largely historical. She might also enjoy branching out into a book like The Predictioneer's Game, which is about game theory and how to use it effectively in modern life.
If she likes mysteries at all, I suggest Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time. It's about a police officer who is laid up in hospital and decides to use the time to solve a famous historical mystery. You could also consider biographies of strong and active women who inspire -- Princess Diana, maybe, or Martha Stewart?
(Edited to add links)
I swear I have to do everything myself.
The Violinist: A Frank Sloan Novel
Vendor Links:
The Devil and Daniel Webster is short. Though if you're interested in recommendations for books that are longer that you may like check out these:
The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut's Windlass
On Basilisk Station
The Hobbit
The Dresden Files 1, 2, 3. (The first two books of the series are the weakest, the quality jumps tremendously in Book 3 and each one is better then the last after that.)
The Lost Fleet
I'd look into Girl with the Dragon Tattoo if you haven't already. It definitely strikes the mood you seem to be looking for, and it does a great job balancing the case itself with the development of the characters involved. I actually haven't continued the trilogy yet myself, but I've been told many times that the later books are even better than the first. I enjoyed the first one quite a bit, though, and it's not usually by genre.
Read it as it was published, as the first readers experienced it. Reading A Study in Scarlet might be the only exception to the rule since it might unfairly turn you away. If you have the time, as others suggested, read them along with an annotated guide
This one is excellent, but there are others.
Just don't read the first few chapters (about characters, dates, places etc) without reading the stories first.
Frankly, that's how I feel about most annotated volumes. I've only found three that don't make me want to rip my hair out and hurl the book into the fireplace.
The Complete Annotated Alice, annotated by Martin Gardner. This annotation is so good that it is almost mandatory for reading Alice. It illuminates nagging questions and helps bring the full experience to life. There are hundreds of jokes that are either cultural or highly technical, and Gardner points them out in such a way that they're hilarious. Highly recommended.
The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, annotated by William S. Baring-Gould. Extremely well done; the discussions about the stories, Victoriana, and the writing process are not only informative, but enthralling. It's exceptional. Later attempts at annotations (specifically those by Leslie S. Klinger) are best avoided. He intrudes upon the stories without adding anything of value. Awful.
The Annotated Carmilla, annotated by D. MacDowell Blue is a very nice annotation that digs down deep into the subtext and the mysteries of the novella. He informs without ever being intrusive. Nicely done.
Virtually any other annotaiton should be avoided. The various attempts to annotate The Wind in the Willows, for instance, are so horrendous that I threw them away. That is the worst insult I can give a book.
John Leonard Orr was a Los Angeles fire investigator who had an uncanny knack for looking at an arson scene and telling them exactly how the fire started, during a span of years when LA was plagued by a mysterious serial arsonist- which coincided with his fire investigator career.
He wrote a manuscript for his own crime-drama novel Points of Origin: Playing With Fire, in which the fire investigator is himself the serial arsonist he's publicly tracking down. His own arch-enemy.
You can guess where this goes. He was in fact found to be the serial arsonist (killed 4 people) investigating himself, all the while pursuing this fictional serial arsonist character he imagined... while writing a fictional novel about a serial arsonist masquerading as a fire investigator while investigating himself.
His book wasn't published until years after his conviction. It was just a manuscript at the time.
I suppose the obvious choice would be The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels. I'd also recommend The Carla Trilogy by John LeCarre (though these novels take place in the 1970s, they are some of the best thriller/spy novels ever written and don't think your wife will mind.
Most classic books that I didn't enjoy before college I have tried to re-read a decade later and have enjoyed them. Maturity is required for some books. Except Daughter of Time; that book will always be complete and utter shit.
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:
amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
amazon.com.au
amazon.in
amazon.com.mx
amazon.de
amazon.it
amazon.es
amazon.com.br
amazon.nl
amazon.co.jp
amazon.fr
Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.
Sheffield P.I.: The Day of Death is free https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XYQW4XP
Hi, I’m sorry your having problems. For some reason the amazon.com link seems to be having issues and I’m looking into it.
However the .co.uk work is active and (more importantly) free!
Hopefully, this will work www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07L8MLLWC
Amazon DE: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01N63A1OL/
I publish under a lot of different pseudonyms. And the stories vary widely. Below are some of them:
Spellbound: The Lost, the Hidden, and the Forgotten
The Old Soldier and the Monsters of Mount Snyder
The Goddess of Trinifore College
Wildest Dreams, Lost and Found
Anne Maddison’s Secret Admirer
It could be the Matt McKendrick series, by Frances A Miller. Matt is accused of raping and killing his baby sister, but later is taken in by the cop who arrested him. He runs, a lot, and in the final book Losers and Winners he competes, and his main competition is a former gang member who's gang goes after Matt and beats the living daylight out of him.
Every second word in the book seems to be Bull, or Bullshit... there are a few fights and a drug deal that takes place in the locker room, and the books are set in LA where there are gang problems.
From the cover description it's likely The Truth Trap which is the first book in the series.
John D. McDonald, who mostly wrote detective novels and is well known for his Travis McGee books, also wrote The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything. It's out of print, but Amazon has it for sale.
Go with a used copy, or see if your local library can source one for you. It was also made into a film.
You might enjoy the annotated collection:
http://www.amazon.com/Annotated-Sherlock-Holmes-Fifty-Six-Complete/dp/0517502917/
Awesome story. Totally light but also deep.
Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything
The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne Is a great rational and Rationalist thiller! from the amazon discription.
"Professor Theo Cray is trained to see patterns where others see chaos. So when mutilated bodies found deep in the Montana woods leave the cops searching blindly for clues, Theo sees something they missed. Something unnatural. Something only he can stop.
As a computational biologist, Theo is more familiar with digital code and microbes than the dark arts of forensic sleuthing. But a field trip to Montana suddenly lands him in the middle of an investigation into the bloody killing of one of his former students. As more details, and bodies, come to light, the local cops determine that the killer is either a grizzly gone rogue…or Theo himself. Racing to stay one step ahead of the police, Theo must use his scientific acumen to uncover the killer. Will he be able to become as cunning as the predator he hunts—before he becomes its prey?"
The audio book is also very good.
The Truth Trap
FREE 8-13-19
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VJJDX5L
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Can a novice witch match the sinister forces gathering in a small town?
Following the implosion of her marriage and professional life, Maggie Corey needs to start over. Relocating to the idyllic New England town of Hope’s Crossing, where her family has settled since its founding, should be a welcome refresh. Aunt Clara is eager to retire and hand Maggie the keys to her store. And her new home might even help Maggie awaken her family’s rumored witchy powers.
Maggie’s plans have all the makings of a spell for success—until the sorcery turns sour.
Not long after the move, Aunt Clara is murdered in retaliation for an act of charity. Since Maggie inherits Clara’s small fortune, shop, and home, all eyes turn to her. With no witnesses and no suspects with an obvious motive, Maggie is framed as the perfect killer. Proving her own innocence is an uphill battle, especially when other descendants of Salem Witch Trial survivors like her are under constant threat and persecution in the pious town. To clear her name, Maggie will have to draw on the kindness of a few quirky residents, her aunt’s crafty cat, and her own blossoming supernatural powers.
With a deadly criminal on the loose, the newest witch in town might be the best chance Hope’s Crossing has to defeat murder with magic…
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Is it The Truth Trap? Alternatively, it might be one of the other books in that series.
Points of Origin, written by John Orr
[Author is a former fire captain and arson investigator for the Glendale Fire Department in Southern California ... who was indicted and later convicted for serial arson. ] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Leonard_Orr)
One of the best books on this.
John D. MacDonald -- best known for his Travis McGee series -- gets blasted by many for being misogynistic. He's not, he's simply a product of his time.
If you like vintage Heinlein, the old Rockford Files TV series, Carl Hiaasen, and the clothes in Mad Men, I cannot recommend MacDonald enough.
The Ex-Heroes series is a personal favorite. great character development and really clever power usage. When you figure one of the villains powers you have that "Oh shit it was there this whole time and I didn't notice it!" moments.
Later on in the Dresden Files Harry Dresden has his own Rouges Gallery, sidekick, and car named the blue Beetle. He has the luck and mid-battle banter of Spider-Man and as many allies as the X-Men but fewer true friends.
There's a lot of power crawl and he struggles with morality and fighting a never ending battle against evils that most of the world doesn't recognize while getting no respect.
Seriously, Dresden Files is my favorite thing maybe ever and I try to convert people to the light whenever I can. The books started out a little rough but started getting really good with book three but book four is also a great place to start. I'm not exaggerating when I say the series gets better and better with each book. The third acts always manage to leave me on the edge of my seat and then the next one comes along and blows it away. Sorry for going on fore awhile but I fucking love the Dresden Files.
Free e-books today!
r/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H764YSS- "Detective Wings", a story about a special detective cases and his target of 100% solved cases
r/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GTRY25Z- "Sam's Theory", a short story about a woman who loses everything and starts questioning her past relationships
r/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HHM6W4T- "Mousetrapped", a story about an immortal woman who faces childbirth and motherhood and a special relationship with her immortal husband
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0451461975/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
reviews are actually kinda decent and numerous
https://www.amazon.com/Ark-Children-Dead-Earth-Book-ebook/dp/B00TCI402K
weird
Grade 9: the assigned books in the curriculum were Fahrenheit 451 and A Midsummer Nights Dream, plus an anthology of short stories and one of poetry. My class did the short stories and the poetry, but we spent the rest of the semester learning how to write argumentative essays about the War on Terror and then learning how to give persuasive speeches.
Grade 10: The assigned books in the curriculum were The Chrysalids and/or To Kill A Mockingbird, an anthology of short stories, one of poetry and Romeo and Juliet. My teacher followed the curriculum that year.
Grade 11: The assigned books in the curriculum were Lord of The Flies, an anthology of short stories, one of poetry and Macbeth. We read the short stories, the poetry, Macbeth and then we did literature circles. My group did The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey.
Grade 12: The assigned books in the curriculum were Of Mice and Men, an anthology of short stories, one of poetry and Hamlet. We didn't quite get to Hamlet, but we also did independent novel studies. I picked Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton.
Ta-da! http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451461975/iagonet
I've purchased about 20 Kindle books and only one has it disabled (Foundation).
Also fwiw, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo doesn't have it anymore
When home is no longer safe, where do you run to?
Leaving behind her newly crowned husband to oversee Pettraud, Duchess Jacqueline Arienta Xavier returns home to Saphire for the first time in months. While the War Council looms ever closer, the Duchess is eager to get back to work upon her return to the duchy. Yet, soon after her homecoming, a harrowing attack within the halls of the palace forces Jax to flee from court. Seeking refuge behind the walls of the fortified Galensmore estate, Jax and her friends prepare to wait out the storm until the culprit behind the palace attack is apprehended. It's not until a member of the Galensmore household turns up dead that Jax realizes danger is closer than ever before.
Peril strikes the heart of Duchess Jacqueline's court in SOVEREIGN SIEGED.
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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RC2D7V6/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i4