Oh My God What Just Happened! Let’s Talk About Mystery Thrillers

I love mystery thrillers. If I had to choose a single genre of books to read, I would choose thrillers. There is the heart pounding sensation of not knowing what will happen next, the oh my god what just happened instances of a great plot twist. I love mystery thrillers. And today I want to share some of favourite mystery books.

Mystery Thrillers Sub-Genres

The mystery genre has developed many sub-genres. And many stories can be considered as a mixture of varying categories or sub-genres. Here are a few of the well-known ones and my favourite most recent book in the category.

Cozy Mystery are a sub-genre of crime fiction is explored with humour, and the crime and investigation take place in a small, socially intimate community. My favourite cozies so far are:

Amateur Detective tries to solve the murder of someone close. Either the police have tried and failed or misread the murder as an accident/suicide. Last year I enjoyed the Lady Alkmene mystery series with amateur detectives.

Police Procedural that emphasizes factual police operations. Law enforcement is a team effort where department politics often plays a large role. This type of mystery isn’t my favourite and I can’t think of an example of a police crime genre that I really enjoyed. Recommendations are always welcomed.

Legal/Medical wherein the lawyers and doctors are the protagonists. A few weeks ago I read Dangerous To Know by Anne Buist. The main character was forensic psychiatrist  Natalie King. The book is the second in a series. I did not read book one but oh my god Dangerous to Know had me on edge.

Suspense is done when the instead of the detective pursuing the criminal,  the protagonist is the one being pursued. Here the question is not so much “Who done it?” but “How will the main character stay alive?” and why is this happening.

A few months ago I read The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda and that book was a perfect suspense thriller, even the ending was satisfying.

Romantic Suspense is the creepy goodness of suspense mystery thriller with the added bonus of a steamy romance. These are my guilty pleasures. Every Nora Roberts book I have ever read falls in this category.

Noir  is a  gritty, bleak, gory and unforgiving. Think the very opposite of cozies. I have to admit I haven’t read a whole lot of noir books. One that sticks out is Psycho Analysis by VR Stone.

Historical  the action takes place into the past, near or far, and its a historical mystery. I am not a fan of historical fiction. So far I have not read that book that really grabbed my attention. I guess the Lady Alkmene series could also fall in this category because the stories are set in the 1920s. Please share any recommendations of gripping historical mystery thrillers that I can add to my monster TBR list.

What are your favourite thrillers? Please share your recommendations.

Until next time happy reading!