Mystery Novels

Do you love a good "whodunnit"?

Girl reading mystery in library

The mystery genre is a genre of fiction that follows a crime (like a murder or a disappearance) from the moment it is committed to the moment it is solved. Mystery novels are often called “whodunnits” because they turn the reader into a detective trying to figure out the who, what, when, and how of a particular crime. Most mysteries feature a detective or private eye solving a case as the central character. (credit: Dan Brown, Master Class)

Most critics and scholars credit Edgar Allan Poe with inventing the modern mystery. He published a short story called The Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1841 that featured Auguste C. Dupin, literature’s first fictional detective. It was a groundbreaking moment that saw the creation of an entirely new literary genre. Dupin was the first well-known character in literature to work a case, gather clues, and solve a mystery. (credit: Dan Brown, Master Class)

Follow this link to read Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue.


Since Poe, vast scores of authors have taken up the role of mystery novelist. Some famous mystery writers have been:


Mysterious woods

Today, the mystery genre is broad and varied, including detective stories, cozy mysteries, police procedurals, and capers (stories that follow the criminals rather than the detective in the story). There are dozens of sub-genres of the mystery novel, but they all share common ground in that a main character or team is solving a mystery, usually a crime. Readers love these stories for the suspense, clues, puzzles, and often, for the unique personalities of the detectives in the stories. How would you like to find a new mystery to feed your hunger for a good story?

Coded by Rebecca MacPhee