10 Best Hard-Boiled Mystery Books! Are They Impossible to Solve?
Who doesn't love a good puzzle, a mystery that knots your brows and keeps your mind running at breakneck speed, leaving you restless, clueless, and craving for the reveal? Friends, you are at the right spot. Let me tell you that there's nothing like a good hard-boiled mystery novel to fulfill that primal need to challenge your intellect and hold your breath tight. These aren't your typical, glossy, quick-fix mysteries. Oh no. These are full-blown, cerebral games where the detective doesn't have easy answers and the criminal mastermind isn't going down without a formidable fight. They're gritty, they're dark, and loaded with sinister secrets that are anything but elementary. From blood-streaked crime scenes to the dirty back-alleys of forgotten cities, these novels take you on a wild ride into the depths of human ingenuity, wickedness, and persistence. Prepare for sleepless nights with 10 of the best hard-boiled mystery books we've handpicked just for you. You'll be chewing over these twisted tales long after you've turned the last page, guaranteed. Be forewarned though, once you enter this labyrinth, it might just be impossible to solve. Are you up for the challenge?
『One of Us Is Lying (TV Series Tie-In Edition)』
All the secrets of the Bayview Four will be revealed in the TV series now streaming on Peacock! THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY • BUZZFEED • POPCRUSH “Pretty Little Liars meets The Breakfast Club” (Entertainment Weekly) in this addictive mystery about what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Pay close attention and you might solve this. On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention. Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing. Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher. And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app. Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose? Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them. And don’t miss the #1 New York Times bestselling sequel, One of Us is Next!
Author | Karen M. McManus |
---|---|
Price | unknown |
Publisher | Delacorte Press |
Release Date | Nov 30, 2021 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Big Sleep』
The renowned novel from the crime fiction master, with the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times), Philip Marlowe. • Featuring the iconic character that inspired the film Marlowe, starring Liam Neeson. A dying millionaire hires private eye Philip Marlowe to handle the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters, and Marlowe finds himself involved with more than extortion. Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder are just a few of the complications he gets caught up in. “Chandler seems to have created the culminating American hero: wised up, hopeful, thoughtful, adventurous, sentimental, cynical and rebellious.” —The New York Times Book Review
Author | Raymond Chandler |
---|---|
Price | $13.99 |
Publisher | Vintage Crime/Black Lizard |
Release Date | Jun 11, 2002 |
Source | Google Books |
『Gone Girl』
Marriage can be a real killer. One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work "draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction." Gone Girl's toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn. On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer. As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet? With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.
Author | Gillian Flynn |
---|---|
Price | unknown |
Publisher | |
Release Date | Jan 01, 2014 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Da Vinci Code』
#1 WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER • While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. “Blockbuster perfection.... A gleefully erudite suspense novel.” —The New York Times “A pulse-quickening, brain-teasing adventure.” —People As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci—clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter. Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci—and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle—while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move—the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever.
Author | Dan Brown |
---|---|
Price | unknown |
Publisher | Vintage |
Release Date | Mar 28, 2006 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Maltese Falcon (Special Edition)』
ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME • A special edition of this coolly glittering gem of detective fiction that has haunted three generations of readers, from one of the greatest mystery writers of all time. Featuring an introduction by James Ellroy. A treasure worth killing for. Sam Spade, a slightly shopworn private eye with his own solitary code of ethics. A perfumed grafter named Joel Cairo, a fat man name Gutman, and Brigid O’Shaughnessy, a beautiful and treacherous woman whose loyalties shift at the drop of a dime. These are the ingredients of Dashiell Hammett's iconic, influential, and beloved The Maltese Falcon. A Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Special Edition
Author | Dashiell Hammett/Josephine Hammett Marshall |
---|---|
Price | unknown |
Publisher | Vintage Crime/Black Lizard |
Release Date | Aug 09, 2022 |
Source | Google Books |
『Farewell, My Lovely』
The renowned novel from crime fiction master Raymond Chandler, with the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times), Philip Marlowe • Featuring the iconic character that inspired the film Marlowe, starring Liam Neeson. Philip Marlowe's about to give up on a completely routine case when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to get caught up in a murder that leads to a ring of jewel thieves, another murder, a fortune-teller, a couple more murders, and more corruption than your average graveyard.
Author | Raymond Chandler |
---|---|
Price | $12.99 |
Publisher | Vintage Crime/Black Lizard |
Release Date | Jun 11, 2002 |
Source | Google Books |
『Murder On The Orient Express』
An international cast of suspects, all passengers on the crowded train, are speeding through the snowy European landscape when a bizarre and terrible murder brings them to an abrupt halt. One of their glittering number lies dead in his cabin, stabbed a mysterious twelve times. There is no lack of clues for Poirot - but which clue is real and which is a clever plant? Poirot realises that this time he is dealing with a murderer of enormous cunning and that in a case frought with fear and inconstencies only one thing is certain - the murderer is still aboard the train waiting to strike again.
Author | Agatha Christie |
---|---|
Price | unknown |
Publisher | Lulu.com |
Release Date | Nov 01, 2018 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Day of the Jackal』
Author | Frederick Forsyth |
---|---|
Price | unknown |
Publisher | Im Press |
Release Date | Jan 01, 2002 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Lady in the Lake』
The renowned novel from crime fiction master Raymond Chandler, with the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times), Philip Marlowe • Featuring the iconic character that inspired the film Marlowe, starring Liam Neeson. In The Lady in the Lake, hardboiled crime fiction master Raymond Chandler brings us the story of a couple of missing wives—one a rich man's and one a poor man's—who have become the objects of Philip Marlowe's investigation. One of them may have gotten a Mexican divorce and married a gigolo and the other may be dead. Marlowe's not sure he cares about either one, but he's not paid to care.
Author | Raymond Chandler |
---|---|
Price | $13.99 |
Publisher | Vintage Crime/Black Lizard |
Release Date | Jun 11, 2002 |
Source | Google Books |
『The High Window』
The renowned novel from crime fiction master Raymond Chandler, with the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times), Philip Marlowe • Featuring the iconic character that inspired the film Marlowe, starring Liam Neeson. A wealthy Pasadena widow with a mean streak, a missing daughter-in-law with a past, and a gold coin worth a small fortune—the elements don't quite add up until Marlowe discovers evidence of murder, rape, blackmail, and the worst kind of human exploitation. "Raymond Chandler is a star of the first magnitude." Erle Stanley Gardner "Raymond Chandler has given us a detective who is hard-boiled enough to be convincing . . . and that is no mean achievement." --The New York Times
Author | Raymond Chandler |
---|---|
Price | $9.99 |
Publisher | Vintage Crime/Black Lizard |
Release Date | Jun 11, 2002 |
Source | Google Books |
Well, folks, that wraps up our list of the top 10 hard-boiled mystery novels that seem near impossible to crack. These little literary puzzles have all the ingredients to cook up a storm of suspense and intrigue - tough, cynical detectives, sinister suspects, twisted plots, and dark, gritty cityscapes. Sure, some of the names we've mentioned are tried and true classics of the genre, but there's a beauty in that familiar grittiness. Others might be new to you, but trust us, they've got the bite to keep you hooked. So, push up your sleeves, put on your detective hat, and dive into these convoluted worlds. Remember though, it's not just about finding out 'whodunit', it's about the thrilling journey that gets you there!
The articles on this site are solely intended to create opportunities for encountering new books, and we do not guarantee the accuracy of the information. Therefore, we kindly ask that you thoroughly research the product information and details of each work on your own before making a purchase. We have no connection to the services provided by each e-commerce site, so please use them at your own responsibility.