There is nothing quite like curling up with a great mystery, especially in the winter, when the weather is brisk and begging you to stay in your Parachute bed a little longer. There’s just something undeniably comforting about a great whodunnit, however grisly the crime – as any Law and Order fan can attest. So this season, our reading list features five mysteries we can’t wait to read.
'Faceless Killers,' by Henning Mankell
Stieg Larsson fans (“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”) will love returning to Sweden for another, equally addictive mystery series: Henning Mankell’s wildly popular Wallander series. In 12 fiercely engrossing books, Inspector Kurt Wallander of the Ystad police force solves violent and confounding homicides while navigating the stressors of his personal life – an eccentric painter father, a daughter he struggles to understand and a love life in perpetual disarray. The cases are interesting enough, but Wallader is the one you’ll come back for, time after time.
'The Silent Patient,' by Alex Michaelides
Alex Michaelides’ debut novel, “The Silent Patient,” is the psychological thriller of the moment. The story centers on psychologist Theo Farber, as he tries to discern the motive of criminal Alicia Berenson. Why did this woman, who seemed to have it all, suddenly shoot her husband in the face repeatedly? Farber’s desire to solve this mystery is complicated by the fact that after committing her crime, Berenson stopped speaking – completely. This #1 New York Times bestseller is already being developed into a film.
'The Tuscan Child,' by Rhys Bowen
After her father passes away, Joanna finds, among his things, a letter that leads her down a rabbit hole of family secrets. Her curiosity ultimately spurs her to leave England and travel to the Tuscan countryside to learn the long-buried truth about her father’s past. But it’s not all stress and darkness; Joanna makes time for plenty of wine and pasta along the way. “The Tuscan Child,” is a rich, delicious, sensory journey for her – and for the reader.
'Lethal White,' by Robert Galbraith
Robert Galbraith, as you probably know, is J. K. Rowling’s alias. His latest book came out in paperback earlier this year, making it the perfect page-turner for that flight home for the holidays. In “Lethal White,” the fourth installment of the popular Cormoran Strike series, lovably hard-boiled P.I. Cormoran Strike meets a mysterious man who claims to have seen a murder as a child. As Strike explores the strange story, he begins to unravel a complex series of events that reaches from London’s lowest slums of to its highest government.
'Rebecca,' by Daphne du Maurier
A seemingly perfect man. A proposal. A dark secret. What more do you want from a mystery? This novel, published in 1938, won the vintage-read spot on our list, narrowly edging out Raymond Chandler and Agatha Christie favorites. The story is narrated by a young woman who meets, and soon marries, a charming, wealthy widower. But her new life in a luxurious estate is not what it seems. Her husband seems haunted by the memory of his first wife, and try as she might, the narrator can not shake the eternal presence of the dead, “Rebecca.” The iconic novel was later developed into a beloved Alfred Hitchcock film.