If you like mysteries, browse these tips and tricks for finding your next mysterious read. There is a huge amount of variation within the genre from true crime to the supernatural, thriller, or romance. A mystery fits any reading taste!
1. Read an award winner.
The Agatha Awards celebrate traditional mysteries, a genre defined as mysteries that contain no explicit sex, excessive gore, or gratuitous violence. To place convenient requests in our catalog, browse all of the Agatha Award winners in our collection browse all of the Agatha Award winners in our collection.
The Anthony Awards for mystery writers are announced at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. To place convenient requests in our catalog, browse all of the Anthony Award winners in our collection browse all of the Anthony Award winners in our collection.
2. Borrow e-books or downloadable audiobooks.
Use mystery lists from OverDrive to find e-books and downloadable audiobooks. If you have never borrowed from OverDrive before, both OverDrive/Libby app directions and OverDrive browser directions are available as well as an OverDrive video tutorial and Overdrive Support.
Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.
3. Get reading recommendations from IndyPL staff.
Click on a featured book list to get mystery reading recommendations. Browse all our staff mystery lists or see our If You Like Cozy Mysteries recommendations.
- Black Mystery Writers
- Calling Madam Sherlock!: Historical Mysteries Starring Female Detectives
- Cooking Up a Good Mystery Read
- Crime-solving spooks
- Hallmark Mystery Channel Shows and the Books that Inspired Them.
- If You Liked Killers of the Flower Moon
- IndyPL Staff Picks 2023- Best of Suspense, Mystery, and Horror
- Mysteries and Thrillers by Indigenous Authors
- Mysteries and Thrillers from Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Authors
- Mysteries with a Paranormal Twist
- Pet Detectives
- Travel the World with Mystery Books
Mysteries for Teens:
- If You Liked…Ace of Spades
- Manga for Fans of True Crime, Mysteries, and Thrillers
- Standalone Mysteries for Adults and Teens
Mysteries for Kids:
Staff Picks 2024- Best of Suspense
In the mood to freak yourself out? Check out our staff’s favorite horror, mystery, and thriller novels from 2024.
We’ve got stories of missing children that span decades (The God of the Woods and The Middle of the Night, All the Colors of the Dark), lots of haunted houses (Incidents Around the House, We Use to Live Here, and Model Home), and indigenous suspense (The Angel of Indian Lake and Where They Last Saw Her).
4. Make a selection from this list of mystery authors.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Nekesa Afia
Kelley Armstrong
Ace Atkins
Linwood Barclay
Nevada Barr
Jefferson Bass
Rhys Bowen
C.J. Box
Rita Mae Brown
James Lee Burke
Stephen L. Carter
Linda Castillo
Lee Child
Agatha Christie
Mary Higgins Clark
Tracy Clark
Ann Cleeves
Harlan Coben
Michael Connelly
Patricia Cornwell
Robert Crais
Jeffery Deaver
Janet Evanovich
Rudolph Fisher
Robert Galbraith
Kellye Garrett
Elizabeth George
Tess Gerritsen
Sue Grafton
James Grippand
Rachel Howzell Hall
Charlaine Harris
Cheryl A. Head
Veronica G. Henry
Anne Hillerman
Chester Himes
Karla F. C. Holloway
Judith A. Jance
Craig Johnson
Solomon Jones
Stephen Mack Jones
M.O. Kayode
Faye Kellerman
Jonathan Kellerman
Rosalie Knecht
William Kent Krueger
Dennis Lehane
Donna Leon
Laura Lippman
Attica Locke
Sujata Massey
Alexander McCall Smith
Val McDermid
Wanda M. Morris
Walter Mosley
Jo Nesbo
Sara Paretsky
Robert B. Parker
James Patterson
Louise Penny
Anne Perry
Gary Phillips
Kwei Quartey
Deanna Raybourn
Kathy Reichs
Jewell Parker Rhodes
J.D. Robb
Peter Robinson
John Sandford
Karin Slaughter
Victoria Thompson
Charles Todd
Stuart Turton
Martin Walker
Valerie Wilson Wesley
Jacqueline Winspear
Stuart Woods
5. Use your IndyPL Library card to login to Novelist Plus.
Find mystery reading recommendations, read-alikes, series lists, reviews, and lists of award-winning mystery books on Novelist Plus. First, login, then choose the “Mystery” category from the list on the left. Choose from categories like like “Standalone Mysteries,” “Police Procedurals,” “Historical Mysteries,” and more! Read a brief description, see a star rating, and select “Check Availability” to see if the book is available to borrow from IndyPL.
6. Look online for more reading suggestions.
Our staff suggests these sites for mystery readers.
- Novelsuspects.com is great for fans of mysteries, thrillers, and true crime. There you’ll find book lists, essays, reviews, and more.
- On Mysteryfile.com read daily reviews of both books and media.
- On Stopyourekillingme.com browse reviews or thousands of authors sorted by series or explore by setting or the sleuth’s occupation.
- Crimereads.com really lets you drill down to your mystery flavor of choice: noir, suspense, legal thriller, etc.
7. Subscribe to the mystery newsletter from NextReads.
Receive mystery reading recommendation in your inbox monthly. Book suggestions are linked to our catalog for easy requesting. It’s FREE! See a sample issue and Subscribe to NextReads!
8. Find a book discussion near you!
You are invited to join in one of our many in-person or online book discussions that take place several times each month. In our book discussion groups we read and talk about both fiction and non-fiction books. We express our opinions (both likes and dislikes!) with other avid readers in the city.
- Event: Adult Book Discussion at Martindale-Brightwood
- Date & Time: Monday, January 06, 5:30pm
- Location: Martindale-Brightwood Branch
- Description: The book we will be reading and discussing is “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt. Pick up a copy at Martindale-Brightwood today! Never attended? We would love to have you!
- No Registration Required.
- Event: Adult Book Discussion at Wayne
- Date & Time: Monday, January 06, 6:30pm
- Location: Wayne Branch
- Description: The book to be discussed is “Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame” by Olivia Ford. Adults are invited to this monthly book discussion program, which is free and open to everyone!
- No Registration Required.
- Event: Franklin Road Book Discussion
- Date & Time: Monday, January 06, 6:30pm
- Location: Franklin Road Branch
- Description: Adults are invited to this monthly book discussion program. The title for January is “Hercule Poirot’s Christmas” by Agatha Christie.
- No Registration Required.