10 Best Dark Mystery Books Confronting Bizarre Crimes
Pull up a chair, my fellow mystery aficionados, and prepare to take a nosedive into the realms of darkness and intrigue. Venture into a world where common crimes are considered too routine, too mundane. A realm where the macabre and the unorthodox reign supreme. These carefully picked dark mystery books centered around bizarre crimes are guaranteed to leave you with chills running down your spine and an insatiable appetite for more.
Each masterfully written piece questions the extent of human depravity while remarkably maintaining the addictive element of puzzle solving that every mystery book demands. They eloquently thread suspense, horror, and even a touch of the paranormal into the fabric of murder, theft and other unimaginable transgressions. Inevitably, leading you down an exhilarating yet eerie labyrinth filled with unexpected twists.
Now, these aren't your standard whodunit tales – they feature crimes that defy logic, protagonists battling their own demons, and antagonists whose motives far transgress traditional boundaries. Venture if you dare into the underworld of novels that defy sensation, reaching new levels of obscurity and intricacy. Ready for a thrill? Let's dive headfirst into these compelling tales that promise crime, mystery and an unforgettable journey into the bizarre!
『Gone Girl』
When a woman goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary, her diary reveals hidden turmoil in her marriage, while her husband, desperate to clear himself of suspicion, realizes that something more disturbing than murder may have occurred.
Author | Gillian Flynn |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | |
Release Date | Jan 01, 2014 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo』
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The thrilling first book in the Millenium series featuring Lisbeth Salander: “Combine the chilly Swedish backdrop and moody psychodrama of a Bergman movie with the grisly pyrotechnics of a serial-killer thriller, then add an angry punk heroine and a down-on-his-luck investigative journalist, and you have the ingredients of Stieg Larsson’s first novel” (The New York Times). Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.
Author | Stieg Larsson |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Vintage Crime/Black Lizard |
Release Date | Jun 23, 2009 |
Source | Google Books |
『Sharp Objects (Movie Tie-In)』
NOW AN HBO® LIMITED SERIES STARRING AMY ADAMS, NOMINATED FOR EIGHT EMMY AWARDS, INCLUDING OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GONE GIRL Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming. Praise for Sharp Objects “Nasty, addictive reading.”—Chicago Tribune “Skillful and disturbing.”—Washington Post “Darkly original . . . [a] riveting tale.”—People
Author | Gillian Flynn |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Crown |
Release Date | Jun 12, 2018 |
Source | Google Books |
『Dark Places』
Libby Day was just seven years old when her older brother massacred her family while she hid in a cupboard. Her evidence helped put him away. Ever since then she has been drifting, surviving for more than 20 years on the proceeds of the 'Libby Day fund'. But now the money is running out and Libby is desperate. When she is offered $500 to do a guest appearance, she feels she has to accept. But this is no ordinary gathering. The Kill Club is a group of true-crime obsessives who share information on notorious murders, and they think her brother Ben is innocent. Ben was a social misfit, ground down by the small-town farming community in which he lived. But he did have a girlfriend - a brooding heavy metal fan called Diondra. Through her, Ben became involved with drugs and the dark arts. When the town suddenly turned against him, his thoughts turned black. But was he capable of murder? Libby must delve into her family's past to uncover the truth - no matter how painful ...
Author | Gillian Flynn |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Weidenfeld & Nicolson |
Release Date | Jul 01, 2015 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Girl on the Train』
The #1 New York Times bestseller, USA Today Book of the Year and now a major motion picture starring Emily Blunt. Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple having breakfast on their deck. She's even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. And then she sees something shocking. It's only a minute until the train moves on, but it's enough. Now everything's changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?
Author | Paula Hawkins |
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Price | $14.99 |
Publisher | Penguin |
Release Date | Jan 13, 2015 |
Source | Google Books |
『In the Woods』
When he was twelve years old, Adam Ryan went playing in the woods with his two best friends. He never saw them again. Their bodies were never found, and Adam himself was discovered with his back pressed against an oak tree and his shoes filled with blood. He had no memory of what had happened. Twenty years on, Rob Ryan - the child who came back - is a detective in the Dublin police force. He's changed his name. No one knows about his past. Then a little girl's body is found at the site of the old tragedy and Rob is drawn back into the mystery. Knowing that he would be thrown off the case if his past were revealed, Rob takes a fateful decision to keep quiet but hope that he might also solve the twenty-year-old mystery of the woods.
Author | Tana French |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Hodder Paperbacks |
Release Date | Jan 01, 2013 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Cuckoo's Calling』
Published under a pseudonym, J. K. Rowling's brilliant debut mystery introduces Detective Cormoran Strike as he investigates a supermodel's suicide in "one of the best books of the year" (USA Today), the first novel in the brilliant series that inspired the acclaimed HBO Max series C.B. Strike. 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, creditors are calling, and after a breakup with his longtime girlfriend, he's living in his office. Then John Bristow walks through his door with a shocking story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry -- known to her friends as the Cuckoo -- famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man. You may think you know detectives, but you've never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this.
Author | Robert Galbraith |
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Price | $8.99 |
Publisher | Mulholland Books |
Release Date | Apr 30, 2013 |
Source | Google Books |
『Number One Ladies' Detective Agency』
Working in Gaborone, Botswana, sleuth Precious Ramotswe investigates several local mysteries, including a search for a missing boy and the case of the clinic doctor with different personalities for different days of the week. Originally in paperback. 25,000 first printing.
Author | Alexander McCall Smith |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Pantheon |
Release Date | Nov 01, 2005 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Thirteenth Tale』
Biographer Margaret Lea returns one night to her apartment above her father's antiquarian bookshop. On her steps she finds a letter. It is a hand-written request from one of Britain’s most prolific and well-loved novelists. Vida Winter, gravely ill, wants to recount her life story before it is too late, and she wants Margaret to be the one to capture her history. The request takes Margaret by surprise–she doesn’t know the author, nor has she read any of Miss Winter’s dozens of novels. Late one night, while pondering whether to accept the task of recording Miss Winter’s personal story, Margaret begins to read her father’s rare copy of Miss Winter’s Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. She is spellbound by the stories and confused when she realizes the book only contains twelve stories. Where is the thirteenth tale? Intrigued, Margaret agrees to meet Miss Winter and act as her biographer. As Vida Winter unfolds her story, she shares with Margaret the dark family secrets that she has long kept hidden as she remembers her days at Angelfield, the now burnt-out estate that was her childhood home. Margaret carefully records Miss Winter’s account and finds herself more and more deeply immersed in the strange and troubling story. In the end, both women have to confront their pasts and the weight of family secrets. As well as the ghosts that haunt them still.
Author | Diane Setterfield |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Anchor Canada |
Release Date | Mar 16, 2009 |
Source | Google Books |
『Before I Go to Sleep』
"As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I'm still a child. Thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me...." Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love—all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may be telling you only half the story. Welcome to Christine's life.
Author | S. J. Watson |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Harper Paperbacks |
Release Date | Feb 01, 2013 |
Source | Google Books |
Wrapping this all up, these novels are a must-have addition to your bookshelf if heart-pounding, spine-chilling dark mysteries are your sort of thing. Each manifests a unique exploration into the eerie shadows of crime, confronting mysteries that are not only bizarre in nature, but rich with engaging narratives that will keep you guessing until the last page. As you delve into these stories, you'll find yourself entranced by complicated characters, twisted plots, and baffling enigmas that will surely stir your imagination. Remember, these are not for the faint-hearted, but for the brave explorers of the human psyche, hidden secrets, and startling revelations. These masterpieces will make you question reality, ponder morality, and perhaps, even keep your lights on at night. Take my advice, grab a blanket, prepared yourself a warm cup of hot chocolate because you're in for a ride filled with shiver-inducing surprises. Happy reading, fellow mystery lovers! Enjoy the beautiful chill of suspense that lies within every page. So go on, summon your courage and start your journey into these dark, bewildering worlds where mystery abounds.
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