Mystery & Suspense

Sometime in the last four or five decades the Powers That Be decided every movie mystery would follow basically the same plot so that viewers wouldn't have to worry about the outcome and would be able to enjoy the movie all the way through. Fortunately for those who prefer to let the future unfold itself, there are still mystery novels.

A mystery is simply something you don't know or can't understand. By the time you understand it, it's not a mystery anymore. Part of the fun of detective stories is not knowing what's going on (at least, not for sure) until the end, when sudden light dawns in the midst of the darkness and you fancy yourself a bit dull for not having picked up on the clues earlier.

Trying to figure the solution before the main characters get there is pretty fun, too, though there's another kind of satisfaction from waiting till Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes or Lord Peter Wimsey reveal the criminal by name, the extent of his or her crimes, and the motivations that led them to kill, steal or lie. Though in the end, most of us probably end up in both categories, trying to figure everything out but still surprised by the truth.

Modern mystery novels tend to focus on criminal evil, fascinated by the depths humans are capable of sinking to. While older ones certainly didn't hesitate to point out man's depravity and capacity for wrongdoing, they were even more concerned with justice and the good guys who overcome the bad guys through superior wit and reason.

These are the ones we like. We don't admire Sherlock Holmes only for his formidable genius, but also for his commitment to employ it for the forces of good. Miss Marple doesn't need to solve crimes, but she does—and we rejoice every time she triumphs over a shady perpetrator. In the real world things might not always wind up so neatly, but it's nice to know in some books they always will.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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115 Items found Print
Active Filters: 9th grade (Ages 14-15), Trade Paperback
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A Miss Marple Mystery #7
by Agatha Christie
2022 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
A.B.C. Murders
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #13
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #33
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
by Arthur Conan Conan Doyle
from Penguin Classics
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$11.20
After the Funeral
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #29
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
And Then There Were None
by Agatha Christie
75th Anniversary from HarperCollins
Murder Mystery for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Appointment with Death
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #19
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Appointment with Death
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #19
by Agatha Christie
1975 Printing from Dell Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
At Bertram's Hotel
A Miss Marple Mystery #10
by Agatha Christie
Reprint from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Beyond the Reflection's Edge
Echoes From the Edge #1
by Bryan Davis
from Zondervan
for 7th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Big Four
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #5
by Agatha Christie
Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Black as Night
by Regina Doman
2nd edition from Chesterton Press
Modern Fairy Tale for
Blue Shoes and Happiness
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #7
by Alexander McCall Smith
Edition from Anchor Books
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Body in the Library
A Miss Marple Mystery #2
by Agatha Christie
2022 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Busman's Honeymoon (11)
A Lord Peter Mystery, Book 11
by Dorothy L. Sayers
Reprint from HarperCollins
Murder Mystery for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
By the Pricking of My Thumbs
A Tommy and Tuppence Mystery #4
by Agatha Christie
Reissue, 2012 from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Cards on the Table
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #15
by Agatha Christie
Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Caribbean Mystery
A Miss Marple Mystery #9
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99
Cat Among the Pigeons
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #32
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Clouds of Witness (2)
A Lord Peter Mystery, Book 2
by Dorothy Sayers
Reissue from HarperCollins
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99
Complete Father Brown Stories
by G. K. Chesterton
from Wordsworth Classics
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.39
Conference of the Birds
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #39
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reprint from William Morrow & Company
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.99
Daughter of Time
by Josephine Tey
1st edition from Touchstone
for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.00
Dead Man's Folly
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #31
by Agatha Christie
2014 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Death in the Clouds
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #12
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Death on the Nile
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #17
by Agatha Christie
from HarperCollins
Mystery & Suspense for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Desolations of Devil's Acre
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Disappeared
by Francisco X. Stork
from Arthur A. Levine Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$10.99
Dorothy L. Sayers: The Complete Stories
by Dorothy L. Sayers
from Harper & Row
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
Dorothy's Double
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Dumb Witness
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #16
by Agatha Christie
Reprint from William Morrow & Company
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.99
Elephants Can Remember
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #37
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Enchantress of Florence
by Salman Rushdie
Reprint from Anchor Books
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Evil Under the Sun
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #23
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict
Mysterious Benedict Society #5
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Father Brown Stories Part II
by G. K. Chesterton
from Ignatius Press
Mystery for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$23.50
Five Little Pigs
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #24
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from Bantam Books
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Five Red Herrings (6)
A Lord Peter Mystery, Book 6
by Dorothy Sayers
from HarperCollins
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Four Adventures of Richard Hannay
by John Buchan
from David R. Godine
Action Adventure for 8th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Gaudy Night (10)
A Lord Peter Mystery, Book 10
by Dorothy L. Sayers
Reissue from HarperCollins
Murder Mystery for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Hallowe'en Party
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #36
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Have His Carcase (7) TOS
A Lord Peter Mystery, Book 7
by Dorothy L. Sayers
Reprint from HarperCollins
Murder Mystery for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Hawk and the Dove Series
by Penelope Wilcock
from Lion Hudson
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Hercule Poirot's Christmas
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #20
by Agatha Christie
2021 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Hickory Dickory Dock
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #30
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Hollow City
Book 2
by Ransom Riggs
from Quirk Books
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Hollow City
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Hound of the Baskervilles
by Arthur Conan Doyle
from Dover Publications
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$3.20
Kitchen Boy
by Robert Alexander
Reprint from Penguin Press
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Labors of Hercules
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #26
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Library of Souls
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Lord Edgware Dies
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #9
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Lord Peter
by Dorothy Sayers
Reprint from Harper & Row
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Man in the Brown Suit
A Colonel Race Mystery #1
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Map of Days
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Midnight Dancers
by Regina Doman
1st edition from Chesterton Press
Modern Fairy Tale for
Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
A Miss Marple Mystery #8
by Agatha Christie
2022 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
by Ransom Riggs
Reprint from Quirk Books
for 7th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Morbid Taste for Bones
Brother Cadfael
by Ellis Peters
from Mysterious Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Morbid Taste for Bones
Brother Cadfael
by Ellis Peters
Reissue from Mysterious Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.99
Moving Finger
A Miss Marple Mystery #3
by Agatha Christie
2022 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Mr. Benedict's Book of Perplexing Puzzles, Elusive Enigmas, and Curious Conundrums
Mysterious Benedict Society
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Mrs. McGinty's Dead
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #28
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Murder at the Vicarage
A Miss Marple Mystery #1
by Agatha Christie
2022 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Murder in Mesopotamia
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #14
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Murder in the Mews
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #18
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Murder is Announced
A Miss Marple Mystery #4
by Agatha Christie
2022 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Murder of Roger Ackroyd
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #4
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Murder on the Links
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #2
by Agatha Christie
2020 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Mysterious Affair at Styles
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #1
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Mysterious Benedict Society - Boxed Set
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$50.00
Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
Mysterious Benedict Society #2
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma
Mysterious Benedict Society Book 3
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Mystery of the Blue Train
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #6
by Agatha Christie
2022 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
N or M?
A Tommy and Tuppence Mystery #3
by Agatha Christie
2016 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Nemesis
A Miss Marple Mystery #11
by Agatha Christie
2022 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Nightmare's Edge
Echoes From the Edge #3
by Bryan Davis
from Zondervan
for 7th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Nine Tailors (9)
A Lord Peter Mystery, Book 9
by Dorothy Sayers
from Harcourt
Murder Mystery for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Okay for Now
by Gary D. Schmidt
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
One Corpse Too Many
Brother Cadfael
by Ellis Peters
Reissue from Mysterious Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.99
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #22
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Ordeal by Innocence
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Partners in Crime
A Tommy and Tuppence Mystery #2
by Agatha Christie
2012 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Peril at End House
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #8
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Phantom of the Opera
by Gaston Leroux
from Bantam Books
Mystery/Horror for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.95
Pocket Full of Rye
A Miss Marple Mystery #6
by Agatha Christie
2022 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Poirot Investigates
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #3
by Agatha Christie
2020 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Postern of Fate
A Tommy and Tuppence Mystery #5
by Agatha Christie
2012 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Red House Mystery
by A. A. Milne
from Bob Jones University Press
Mystery/Suspense for 7th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.99
Sad Cypress
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #21
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Secret Adversary
A Tommy and Tuppence Mystery #1
by Agatha Christie
2016 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Secret Agents Four
by Donald J. Sobol
from Bethlehem Books
Action/Adventure for 6th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Secret of Chimneys
A Superintendent Battle Mystery #1
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Shadow of the Bear
by Regina Doman
4th edition from Chesterton Press
Modern Fairy Tale for
Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon
by Larry Millett
from Penguin Classics
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Sleeping Murder
A Miss Marple Mystery #12
by Agatha Christie
2022 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Signet Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Oxford University
Mystery/Suspense for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$7.95
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