12 Bloody Good Mysteries—Even for the Faint of Heart

“There’s something delightfully endearing about Lisa Lutz’s kinetic and quirky THE SPELLMAN FILES. It reads like a well-scripted television sitcom/family drama and, considering Lutz’s screenwriting background, that vibe makes perfect sense. As soon as I’d finished reading this offbeat novel, I wanted to binge-read the rest of the books in the series.”

Read the full review by Allison Tyler here.

Stephanie Plum is a spunky combination of Nancy Drew and Dirty Harry, and — although a female bounty hunter — is the opposite of Domino Harvey. She is described by the author as "incredibly average and yet heroic if necessary."

In Victorian-era Egypt, feisty and happily unmarried Amelia Peabody tries her hand at archaeology. As she travels the Nile, she encounters mysterious missing mummies and a burly, opinionated archaeologist who wants no help from a woman—but Amelia’s wit and strong will might just change his mind.

When the town milkman is found murdered behind Hannah’s bakery surrounded by her famous chocolate chip crunchies, she’s determined to find the killer. Stuffed with wacky characters and sweet recipes, this deliciously suspenseful mystery will keep you guessing until the last bite.

In the Highlands of 1950s Scotland, a boy is found dead and two young girls have an unbelievably fanciful explanation for his disappearance. When the local newspaper staff set out to find the truth, the townspeople’s dark pasts threaten to prevent the crime from ever being solved.

In alternate reality England, time travel and cloning are routine and citizens live in a virtual police state. Thanks to a nationwide obsession with literature, Thursday Next makes a comfortable living as a renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when characters begin to go missing from great works of literature, she faces the greatest challenge of her career.

At a concert in Edinburgh, amateur detective Isabel witnesses a man fall from the upper balcony. Was it an accident or something more sinister? Against the best advice of her charming cast of friends, Isabel is determined to find out.

When a panicked mother approaches Bernie Little’s struggling detective agency with a missing person case, he can’t believe his luck. Narrated by Bernie’s canine sidekick Chet, this is a fast-paced tale of adventure, suspense, and the lovable loyalty of man’s best friend.

Former pop star Heather is content with her new dress size and job as an assistant dorm director at a New York college. When a girl is discovered dead at the bottom of an elevator shaft in Heather’s residence hall, Heather knows it’s time to get on the case.

Grim reaper Charley Davidson moonlights as a private investigator for the murdered folks she deals with who demand that their killers are brought to justice. Charley’s job is no walk in the park, but it gets even more complicated when a sexy entity starts following her.