10 Mystery Classics You Won’t Be Able to Put Down
We all love a chilling mystery novel. Our eyes widen and hearts lurch upon the twists and turns hanging around the corner of every great mystery novel.
Now, almost everyone is writing and selling mystery novels. This makes it difficult for us readers to find the amazing mystery classics. Don’t worry readers! We have compiled a list of the top mystery novels you can never put down.
10. The Sign Of The Broken Sword by GK Chesterton
A Father Brown short story, The Sign of the Broken Sword is often underrated amongst its contemporaries, which makes it all the more necessary for us to put it on this list.
The story talks about Father Brown discussing the death of an old general popular in his local town. We don’t want to say anything more, except that you should READ THIS STORY! Seriously, its amongst the most underrated mystery classics out there.
9. The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad
Quite simply one of Conrad’s best works, The Secret Agent is perhaps more than just a mystery novel. Nevertheless, its place on the list is unquestionable.
The story traces the life of a shopkeeper named Adolf Verloc, and some secrets he has been hiding from his family. With themes of greed, retribution, and anarchy, The Secret Agent makes it to our list of top mystery classics of all time.
8. The Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle
No mystery classics list can not have a Sherlock Holmes classic. Through its dark turns and cold characters, reading the Speckled Band is not for the faint-hearted.
Helen Stone arrives at 221B Bakers Street to ask the help of Sherlock Holmes. She is about to be married, but a fear grips her heart. She fears she is going to be murdered in a few days!
7. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Wilkie Collins’ classic, The Moonstone is often considered a pioneer of mystery novels, being amongst the first to explore the genre and its subtleties.
Rachael receives a stunning diamond called the Moonstone on her eighteenth birthday. She wears the stone to her birthday party, where it is the envy of every eye watching. On the same night, the diamond is stolen from her chambers.
6. The Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan
Some stories are stories, and others are pioneers. John Buchan’s The Thirty Nine Steps falls in the latter category.
One of literary fiction’s most exhilarating spy stories, the mystery classic talks about an anarchist plot which threatens to disrupt Europe. Saving Europe is down to one man, Richard Hannay, a Scottish expatriate who inadvertently gets embroiled in the mess.
5. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by RL Stevenson
A cult classic in many ways, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is arguably one of the most referenced sci-f- mystery novels of all time.
Everyone is confused by the strange friendship between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. While the doctor is a fairly sociable and pleasant man, his friend Mr. Hyde is dangerous and violent. The story explores the very bases of human emotion, and more specifically, the polarity which can develop in personality over time when people suppress their emotions.
4. The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe
No mystery novels list would be complete without Edgar Allan Poe. In The Black Cat, Poe brings readers into a dark, sadistic world both unforgiving and suffocating.
The mystery classic traces the friendly relationship between a man and his cat. Both seem to be fond of each other, until one day the man does something so cruel that the cat begins to avoid him.
3. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Wilkie Collins appears on the list yet again, this time with his most popular story, The Woman in White.
Walter, an artist, turns up to teach painting to Laura. In a remarkable coincidence, Walter finds that Laura looks very familiar to a woman he met a few hours before, who happened to be a patient at a mental asylum. Through strange twists and turns, Collins manages to create the ultimate mystery classic for generations to come, inspiring a spurt of mystery novels written by other young writers.
2. The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe
Poe returns on the list with his all time classic The Murders in the Rue Morgue. The story is often considered the foundation on which future authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie wrote their work.
The story traces the double murder of a mother and her daughter in a home on the street Rue Morgue. The case intrigues the interest of one M. Dupin, who uses his analytical skills to investigate the case.
1. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
Quite simply, a mystery novels top ten has to end with a Sherlock Holmes story at the top. The Hound of the Baskervilles, set mostly in a rural countryside of Devon, the story flirts the line between fantastical elements and reality.
In one of the most popular Sherlock Holmes cases of all time, the consulting detective is called upon to debunk the terrible legend surrounding the Baskerville family and deal with a murderous hound prowling in the shadows.
So here was our list of the top ten mystery classics you won’t be putting down. Which book do you think we missed out? Tell us in the comments below and remember: reading is happiness
You can read all the above stories on the TaccoMacco reading at Re 1/- per chapter. Download the app by clicking here. Cheers!
