What you'll find here
Mysteries ask "who did it?" Thrillers ask "will they stop it in time?" Most books here lean one way or the other:
- Detective and police procedural. A professional investigator, a case, the method. Often a series with a returning lead.
- Amateur sleuth. Someone who isn't paid to solve it, and solves it anyway. The gentler end has its own shelf: cozy mystery.
- Psychological thrillers. The danger is inside a house, a marriage, a mind. Look for unreliable narrator and twist ending.
- Crime from the other side. Told by the people committing it. Often morally grey, sometimes a heist or a revenge story.
- Locked-room and puzzle mysteries. A fair-play puzzle the reader can solve too. Tagged locked-room mystery.
- Legal, political and spy thrillers. Courtrooms, conspiracies, people who can't trust their own side.
Finding your next one
- Read chapter 1 first. A thriller lives or dies on its opening. The free first chapter shows you the voice and the hook before you buy.
- Check the content notes. Crime fiction can get dark. Under More filters you can leave out content you'd rather not read.
- Try "Most finished". Books ranked by how many readers finish the free first chapter: a good sign of a hook that works. Nobody can pay to be there.
- Read before release. Authors give out free advance copies here. Ask for a place and read it in your browser.
Writing a mystery or thriller?
List your book free and add your first chapter: in this genre, the opening is your best advertisement. Your chapter 1 page shows how many readers finish it and where the ones who stop leave off, which is exactly what you want to know about a hook. Keep the blurb spoiler-free (KDP doesn't allow spoilers in descriptions either): How to write a blurb.