Could you recommend me a really clever mystery book?

[samalama]

Everyone I know is either off on holiday for the bank holiday weekend or having BBQs or going on days out, but I'm alone and with no one to make plans with. So I thought I'll get myself lots of ice cream and chocolates and do some reading over the weekend.

Does anyone have any recs for a nice mystery book with some very clever detection? Either all the clues line up so nicely or the one big clue at the end makes everything clear and is very satisfying. I've read the Richard Osman ones and they don't fit the bill. I like Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle but I've read most of theirs. Still, any recommendations welcome, either old or new books.

Thank you so much for these! So many to save and keep. Lots are cheap on kindle as well. Keep 'em coming, looks like other people are benefitting too.

Peter James - Grace Series; very addictive!

Placemarking

Steve Cavanagh Fifty Fifty is excellent (also enjoyed all his other books in the series).

Possession by AS Byatt.

An investigative journey with a few twists and turns.

Am also making notes - thanks for posting OP!

Georgette Heyer wrote a few contemporary mysteries. Some are better than others, but they have her trademark witty dialogue. Some characters reappear in different books, so best read in publication order.

If you're talking Sayers, Allingham and Tey, Ngaio Marsh is the other Grande Dame of Crime who wrote before, during and after WW2.

Forgotten until the British Library began to republish her in their Crime Classics series, E.C.R. Lorac. I particularly like Murder by Matchlight for its wartime London setting.

And similar era, but cosy and comforting rather than clever, Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver.

I read a lot of these types of books and I think the best ones are by Ruth Ware. She just wraps everything up perfectly, and they’re more memorable than others because the settings are unusual.

Oh you’ve reminded me of his book Thirteen - genius storyline!!

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one a bit in love with Falco, possibly even more so in the radio adaptations 😅 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b0071prn?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

A bit different but Iain Pears An Instance of the Fingerpost. It tells the mystery from four different view points.

Oxford, 1660s. A scholar is dead, a woman stands accused, and four men tell their versions of the truth.

Each testimony contradicts the last - and only one reveals what truly happened.

Pears’ sweeping novel combines intellectual intrigue with page-turning mystery. An Instance of the Fingerpost is a triumph of storytelling: erudite, immersive and utterly gripping.

‘A novel that combines the simple pleasures of Agatha Christie with the intellectual subtlety of Umberto Eco’ The Times

I have read it twice and have just reminded myself to read it again as it’s been about ten years so I’ve completely forgotten any of the details!

Miss Silver books are an odd, charming treat and solidly set in their era. Some of them are clever and rather a lot rely on someone overhearing a confession or telephone conversation.

And she reuses plotlines and even paragraphs between books bizarrely often (especially strikingly patterned coats and that whole description of the filigree photograph frames), which makes me wonder if she was paid by the word and hoped her publisher wouldn't notice what the words were.

I’ve recently enjoyed Elly Griffiths novels. Both her series about archaeologist Ruth Galloway and also her Harbinder Kaur series (starting with The Stranger Diaries) have satisfying, clever plots and engaging characters.

Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco

The Shardlake series - CJ Sansom (but read in order) C. J. Sansom - Wikipedia

Any Michael Connelly book - but especially featuring Harry Bosch and/or Mickey Haller (but read in order) Michael Connelly - Wikipedia

Any Harry Hole books by Jo Nesbo - Jo Nesbø - Wikipedia

The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo trilogy by Stieg Larson

Anthony Horowitz's recent books - all the Hawthorne series and the bigger ones (Magpie Murders, Moonflower Murders and Marble Hall Murders). I love these and they are very clever - they contain mysteries inside mysteries. Can't remember which one but one of the bigger books is about a novelist who has worked out a murder and written the answer in code in a book, and the book itself contains the entire text of the fictional book. Loads of layers - I love these!

Just to add I am furiously scribbling notes as well, great thread @samalama

(Shame I’d been trying to promise myself I should not buy any more books this year as I have a massive pile to read already and also want to try reading some of the ones in my collection I’ve not read for 20+ years again!! 😂😂)

There are so many good recommendations on this thread. I really enjoy Golden Age detective fiction and the re-issued British Library Crime Classics series is worth working through. I particularly enjoy ECR Lorac and am delighted to see her recommended above. Her books are clever, often atmospheric, and give a real feel for their time and setting.

Each book in the British Library series is introduced by Martin Edward’s. He has his own books too, and I particularly like the Rachel Savernack series.

If you want something more modern (and don’t want a “procedural” like my personal hero Rebus), I highly recommend Doug Johnstone’s books in the Skelf series.

For something more lighthearted but oh so very clever, Anthony Horowitz has the Hawthorne series.

Hope you have a fantastic weekend of good books and chocolate.

.....that whole description of the filigree photograph frames), which makes me wonder if she was paid by the word and hoped her publisher wouldn't notice what the words were.

I think every book gets the walnut chairs, the peacock blue carpet and curtains, the pictures on the wall and the photo frames, because a reader might start with any book, so each one has the scene setting description to introduce Miss Silver. Same as the repeated description of Frank Abbott (who really must be getting on a bit by the end of the series) with his mirror smooth hair and impeccable tailoring.

Like the later Chalet School books with each one having a detailed description of the cubicle, with its gaily patterned curtains, bureau and bedside rug.

Definitely any of Janice Hallett’s books. Start with The Appeal.

Thanks for the recommendations, mine is Barbara Vine

Anthony Horowitz crime books inc Magpie Murders

Asta's Book
A Dark Adapted Eye both by Barbara Vine
A Place of Execution Val McDermid

Thoroughly recommend these three. Multi layered and engrossing plots.

Placeholding

Anthony horowitz’s the word is murder series

I think some of these are serialised on Radio Four Extra. Anton Lesser (?) as Falco. So would also be on BBC Sounds.

A lot of Dorothy L Sayers books about Lord Peter Whimsey are also on Sounds. They are enjoyable too.

Seconding Ngaio Marsh (the older I get the less I adore Lord Peter Whimsey and the more I think Roderick Alleyn is the man for me 🤣).

I really enjoyed How to Solve Your Own Murder recently (by Kristen Perrin).