![]() ![]() Then again, the first genre that comes to mind for me is literary which I kind of think is a made up genre for books we as a collective decide are well-written and meaningful. Carlos Ruiz ZafónĪt first I didn’t think of putting Carlos Ruiz Zafón on this list, because when I think about his work for some reason mystery is not the first genre that comes to mind. If you’re looking for a more traditional mystery story from Lehane, I would suggest starting with his debut novel A Drink Before the War, the first in his series about private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. The stories themselves are great, but the way he tells them is what elevates them beyond traditional mystery or crime fiction. The thing that really stands out about Lehane for me is is prose style, which is gritty and beautiful at the same time. I discovered Dennis Lehane through his psychological thriller Shutter Island, which I absolutely loved. I sense another Book Riot post about girls’ school mysteries forthcoming. I would start with that one, and then move on to my favorite: Grotesque, which incidentally also partially takes place at an all girls’ school just like my favorite Tana French novel The Secret Place. Kirino has a few novels translated into English, but her most popular one is by far Out. ![]() In a genre that is often intensely masculine, it’s great to see authors like Kirino redefining expectations. Natsuo Kirino is a Japanese mystery writer who writes novels in the hardboiled detective tradition, but what sets her work apart from other hardboiled detective novels in the genre are the excellently-rendered female protagonists. My personal favorite is The Secret Place, which you could start with since you don’t have to read these books in order however, if you’re a completest like me, you might as well start at the beginning and read In The Woods. There isn’t a single one of French’s books I didn’t like, although I do favor some to others. Her Dublin Murder Squad series books are the perfect combination of spine-chilling mystery, excellent writing, and in-depth character development. Why? Because when someone is wanting to get into reading mysteries, Tana French is always the first author I recommend. If I were being completely biased (which I kind of am because this is my list, but let’s focus), Tana French would be the number one author on this list that is supposed to be un-numbered. All ten authors are listed in no particular order, because it was hard enough to narrow the list down to the ten best, so please don’t make me rank them any further. But these are the authors I think have gone beyond simply writing a fun mystery and have really elevated or added to the mystery genre in some way. I am ready to get so much hate for making a definitive list, because of course everyone has their own opinions about mystery authors and what makes a mystery novel good. Today I have given myself the impossible and unfair task of naming the top ten best mystery authors of all time. She spends her free time reading, watching horror movies and musicals, cuddling cats, Instagramming pictures of cats, and blogging/podcasting about books with the ladies over at #BookSquadGoals (She can be reached at All posts by Emily Martin Emily has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi, MS, and she has an MFA in Creative Writing from GCSU in Milledgeville, GA, home of Flannery O’Connor. ![]()
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