10 Best Genius Showdown Mystery Books: Battle of the Geniuses!
Who doesn't love a good ol' fashioned battle of the intellects? Well, buckle up, smartypants, because this list of 10 fantastic puzzle-masterpieces is sure to tickle your gray matter. From icy Nordic noir to pulsing techno-thrillers, every single entry on this list showcases a deadly game of crafty calculations and cunning strategies. These books don’t just feature a genius protagonist; they're a full-blown genius showdown that elevates your mystery reading experience. Expect Machiavellian machinations, brilliant deductions, and unpredictable plot twists that will have you gasping. If you yearn for mental acrobatics, complex plots, and characters with Sherlock-level intelligence battling it out over a game of mind-boggling mysteries—this is the list for you. These titles take the phrase 'war of the minds' on a whole new level, pitting intellectuals against each other—and sometimes against themselves. So get ready to get schooled as you play spectator to some of the literary world's most brilliant minds. Brace yourselves, mystery and thriller lovers. These cunning tales of genius showdowns aren't just nail-bitingly tense—they're so gripping, your bookworm instincts won't allow you to put them down. So, are you ready for some hardcore mind games? Then let's get started!
『The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August』
Wildly original, funny and moving, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is an extraordinary story of a life lived again and again from World Fantasy Award-winning author Claire North. Harry August is on his deathbed. Again. No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes. Until now. As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. "I nearly missed you, Doctor August," she says. "I need to send a message." This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.
Author | Claire North |
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Price | $9.99 |
Publisher | Redhook |
Release Date | Apr 08, 2014 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Lies of Locke Lamora』
'If you haven't read it, you should' Patrick Rothfuss, New York Times bestselling author of The Name of the Wind 'Fresh, original and engrossing' George R.R. Martin, the phenomenon behind A Game of Thrones Locke Lamora is a legend. But not under his own name. They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. They say he has a hand in everything that happens in the city. And they are wrong on every count. Averagely tall, slender, god-awful with a sword but blessed with a quick tongue, Locke is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. He steals from the rich - they're the only ones worth stealing from - but the poor can go steal for themselves. What Locke cons, wheedles and tricks into his possession is strictly for him and his band of fellow thieves: the Gentleman Bastards. Camorr is a city of shifting revels, filthy canals, baroque palaces and crowded cemeteries. Home to Dons, merchants, soldiers, beggars, cripples, and feral children. And to Capa Barsavi, the criminal mastermind who runs the dark parts of the city. But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa's power from a man no one has ever seen, a man no blade can touch. One would be well advised not to be caught between Capa Barsavi and The Grey King. Even a master of the sword such as the Thorn of Camorr. As for Locke... Readers can't get enough of Locke Lamora: 'Original, engrossing, emotional, and devastatingly impactful' Novel Notions 'I'd recommend any fantasy fan to give it a try' Mark Lawrence, Sunday Times bestselling author 'It is witty, profane, violent, over the top, and frequently hilarious.' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'I straight up got chills in some parts' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'A love child of Ocean's Eleven and The Godfather.' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'It stole hours of sleep. It wrapped me in cozy myth. It gave me the blessing of feeling like a kid again, snuggled up with a book, wondering how the hell 10pm became 4am. Find. Buy. Consume' Pierce Brown, bestselling author of the Red Rising series 'I mean seriously, I loved all those characters and their cunning and deceiving ways.' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Author | Scott Lynch |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Hachette Book Group |
Release Date | Sep 18, 2008 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Devotion of Suspect X』
Now a major motion picture on Netflix, Jaane Jaan This e-book now includes preview chapters from Higashino's newest mystery, SALVATION OF A SAINT. Yasuko Hanaoka is a divorced, single mother who thought she had finally escaped her abusive ex-husband Togashi. When he shows up one day to extort money from her, threatening both her and her teenaged daughter Misato, the situation quickly escalates into violence and Togashi ends up dead on her apartment floor. Overhearing the commotion, Yasuko's next door neighbor, middle-aged high school mathematics teacher Ishigami, offers his help, disposing not only of the body but plotting the cover-up step-by-step. When the body turns up and is identified, Detective Kusanagi draws the case and Yasuko comes under suspicion. Kusanagi is unable to find any obvious holes in Yasuko's manufactured alibi and yet is still sure that there's something wrong. Kusanagi brings in Dr. Manabu Yukawa, a physicist and college friend who frequently consults with the police. Yukawa, known to the police by the nickname Professor Galileo, went to college with Ishigami. After meeting up with him again, Yukawa is convinced that Ishigami had something to do with the murder. What ensues is a high level battle of wits, as Ishigami tries to protect Yasuko by outmaneuvering and outthinking Yukawa, who faces his most clever and determined opponent yet.
Author | Keigo Higashino |
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Price | $12.99 |
Publisher | Minotaur Books |
Release Date | Feb 01, 2011 |
Source | Google Books |
『Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell』
In the Hugo-award winning, epic New York Times Bestseller and basis for the BBC miniseries, two men change England's history when they bring magic back into the world. In the midst of the Napoleonic Wars in 1806, most people believe magic to have long since disappeared from England - until the reclusive Mr. Norrell reveals his powers and becomes an overnight celebrity. Another practicing magician then emerges: the young and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell's pupil, and the two join forces in the war against France. But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wild, most perilous forms of magic, and he soon risks sacrificing his partnership with Norrell and everything else he holds dear. Susanna Clarke's brilliant first novel is an utterly compelling epic tale of nineteenth-century England and the two magicians who, first as teacher and pupil and then as rivals, emerge to change its history.
Author | Susanna Clarke |
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Price | $9 |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing USA |
Release Date | Jun 05, 2010 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Prestige』
The winner of the 1995 World Fantasy Award
Author | Christopher Priest |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Macmillan |
Release Date | Oct 03, 2006 |
Source | Google Books |
『Crime and Punishment』
In a timeless story of justice, morality, and redemption, an impoverished Russian student murders a miserly landlady, a crime that has severe repercussions on his life and his family as he battles his conscience. Reissue.
Author | Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Signet Classics |
Release Date | Jan 01, 2006 |
Source | Google Books |
『Codename Villanelle』
The breakneck thriller that inspired TV sensation Killing Eve, starring Sandra Oh, "unlike any other spy drama you've seen." - Daily Beast Villanelle (a codename, of course) is one of the world's most skilled assassins. A catlike psychopath whose love for the creature comforts of her luxurious lifestyle is second only to her love of the game, she specializes in murdering the world's richest and most powerful. But when she murders an influential Russian politician, she draws a relentless foe to her tail. Eve Polastri (not a codename) is a former MI6 operative hired by the national security services for a singular task: to find and capture or kill the assassin responsible, and those who have aided her. Eve, whose quiet and otherwise unextraordinary life belies her quick wit and keen intellect, accepts the mission. The ensuing chase will lead them on a trail around the world, intersecting with corrupt governments and powerful criminal organizations, all leading towards a final confrontation from which neither will emerge unscathed. Codename Villanelle is a sleek, fast-paced international thriller from an exciting new voice in fiction.
Author | Luke Jennings |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Mulholland Books |
Release Date | Apr 03, 2018 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Nothing Man』
“Gripping, beautifully written, and genuinely chilling, The Nothing Man had me from page one. Simply stellar.”—Meg Gardiner, Edgar Award–winning author of The Dark Corners of the Night I was the girl who survived the Nothing Man. Now I am the woman who is going to catch him ... At the age of twelve, Eve Black was the only member of her family to survive an encounter with serial attacker the Nothing Man. Now an adult, she is obsessed with identifying the man who destroyed her life. Supermarket security guard Jim Doyle has just started reading The Nothing Man—the true-crime memoir Eve has written about her efforts to track down her family’s killer. As he turns each page, his rage grows. Because Jim’s not just interested in reading about the Nothing Man. He is the Nothing Man. Jim soon begins to realize how dangerously close Eve is getting to the truth. He knows she won’t give up until she finds him. He has no choice but to stop her first ...
Author | Catherine Ryan Howard |
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Price | $9.99 |
Publisher | Blackstone Publishing |
Release Date | Aug 04, 2020 |
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 |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | |
Release Date | Jan 01, 2014 |
Source | Google Books |
『I Am Pilgrim』
In a seedy hotel near Ground Zero, a woman lies face down in a pool of acid, features melted of her face, teeth missing, fingerprints gone. The room has been sprayed down with DNA-eradicating antiseptic spray. Pilgrim, the code name for a legendary, world-class segret agent, quickly realizes that all of the murderer's techniques were pulled directly from his own book, a cult classic of forensic science written under a pen name.
Author | Terry Hayes |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Simon and Schuster |
Release Date | Jul 21, 2015 |
Source | Google Books |
And there you have it, folks! A list of mind-boggling showdowns between some of the shrewdest, snappiest geniuses literature and comics have to offer. Do they raise the bar of intelligence, outmaneuvering each other with phenomenal mental gymnastics? You bet they do. It's this fast-paced plot twist, coupled with stunningly complex characters, that makes these narratives absolutely riveting. We're talking about battles of intellect so vividly described, you'll find yourself unable to resist turning another page. And, guess what? It's not just about the nail-biting suspense and the topsy-turvy puzzle solving. There's also an emotional depth to these stories that'll leave you feeling moved, stunned, and totally engaged. So, whether you're just dipping your toes in the world of detective novels, or you're a long-time fan of genius showdowns, there's something in this mix for you. Go ahead. Dive into the fun of unraveling clues and unmasking culprits along with these brilliant minds. It's a thrilling ride you'll not regret!
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