Are you struggling to Find The Best Mystery Thriller Book For You? I get it. Book descriptions and blurbs make every book sound great. But is it for YOU? There’s nothing worse than buying a book you don’t even like. Or that you’re not in the mood for! Take my Quiz and Find The Best Mystery Thriller Book For You!
After reading mysteries and thrillers my entire life, I have developed a quick quiz that will help you find out what kind of book you’re in the mood for: mystery, thriller or suspense.
And because YES! mood reads are a thing, you take the quiz and discover the type of mystery or thriller you’re craving … right now.
Find the Best Mystery Thriller Book For You
Steps:
- Take the quiz!
- If you like, drop in your email in your results box and I’ll send personalized book recs straight to you.
- If you want to read more about what I consider the three main types of crime fiction, keep scrolling! Feel free to explore ALL three categories, because MOOD READS are a thing!
Mystery, Thriller,
or Suspense?
Find your perfect dark read
If my Quiz Recommended You Read a Mystery
I recommended a mystery for you because your answers indicated that you seem to be in the mood for a more methodical puzzle-style book with clues and a resolution.
You might have less patience with books in which you are kept in then dark until the end. Or books that don’t have a solid resolution. If this sounds like you (or what you’re in the mood for) let’s discuss MYSTERIES!
What is a Mystery Novel?
- In a mystery novel, some kind of crime has been committed
- There is an investigation, either by a government authority, a private investigator, or an amateur sleuth
- The narrative consists of the presentation of various puzzle pieces to the reader, some clues and others red herrings.
- At the end of the book, the mystery is solved. Chaos turns to order.
- The narrative is mainly in the present, though events in the past are investigated or discussed.
A mystery is the most rule-based of these three categories. But not ALL these rules have to be followed to the letter. There can be multiple crimes over the course of the book. There can be investigations carried out by both police and an amateur, for instance.
But I will argue that, just like a romance novel that requires a happily ever after, the genre conventions of a mystery require resolution of some sort. In a noir mystery, this can be rough justice or vigilante justice, but there is some sort of justice meted out.
I would also argue that the conventions of mystery mean that the clues necessary to solve the mystery are presented to the reader.
If the Quiz Recommended You Read a Suspense Novel
I recommended a suspense novel for you because your answers indicated that you seem to be in the mood for a twisty, diabolical book that makes you feel unsettled and uneasy.
You might find methodical mysteries too slow-paced and thrillers lacking in character development. You want to really bond with the characters and FEEL what they’re going through.
If this sounds like you (or what you’re in the mood for) let’s discuss SUSPENSE NOVELS!
What is a Suspense Novel?
- A suspense novel CAN involve a crime. At the minimum, it includes the threat of danger
- Psychological elements, like gaslighting, amnesia, or an unreliable narrator create an overall sense of unease and uncertainty
- The world of a suspense novel is often morally gray, with unlikeable characters
- The stakes of the book can be more personal and individual
- Police and/or authorities COULD (or might not) be involved
- Flashbacks, memories, or epistolary elements like journal entries are often used.
- Twists and shocking revels are common
- A suspense may have a somewhat unresolved ending
As you can see, I feel that suspense is its own category. Yes, mysteries can be suspenseful but I think a suspense novel has its own unique feel.
The narrator is often an individual facing some sort of personal or emotional peril.
Whereas the pace of a mystery is typically methodical, with the investigator following up clues and talking to people, a suspense novel often has a general feeling of unease broken up by moments of tension
If The Quiz Recommended You Read a Thriller:
True thriller readers can feel frustrated with the slower pace of a mystery or the endless psychoanalysis of a suspense story. They want a story that starts out with a fast pace and keeps the thrills and surprises coming.
If this sounds like you, let’s discuss THRILLERS!
What is a Thriller?
- Most if not all of a thriller’s narrative takes place in the present moment
- The pace is fast-moving (though I’d argue there is such a thing as a slow-burn thriller)
- The stakes are high (they can be global, political, or personal but usually involve matters of life and death)
- Thrillers have continuous and sustained tension and a sense of urgency
- There can be multiple narrators as a way to increase that tension
I took an entire class in thrillers, and one thing stuck with me:
While a mystery is somewhat backward-focused on a crime that has taken place, a thriller takes place in the present moment.
There’s often a ticking clock or a deadline at which some terrible thing will happen, unless a character can stop it. The tension typically rises along with the stakes. The stakes are typically life-and-and death!
I know what you’re thinking: most of the books called “thrillers” probably aren’t. That is true. There is a sub-category of books I like to call slow-burn thrillers, that have more of the set-up and character development of a suspense story and then suddenly kick into thriller territory.
Questions? Comments? Leave them below!