A mystery is a work of fiction about a puzzling event or crime. Famous mystery writers include: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dashiell Hammett, Agatha Christie, Edgar Allan Poe, and Dorothy L. Sayers. Read more about classic mysteries and their writers.
1. Classic Mystery Stories
by Douglas G. Greene (Editor). Dover. From the publisher: "13 classics devoted to genuine tale of ratiocination. Edgar Allan Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Charles Dickens' Three Detective Anecdotes, Jack London's The Leopard Man Story, 10 others."
2. Crime Novels
by Robert Polito (Editor). Library of America. From the publisher: "With visionary and often subversive force they create a dark and violent mythology out of the most commonplace elements of modern life. The raw power of their vernacular style has profoundly influenced contemporary American culture and writing. Far from formulaic, they are ambitious works which bend the rules of genre fiction to their often experimental purposes."3. Detection by Gaslight
by Douglas G. Greene (Editor). Dover. From the publisher: "Rich, varied collection of 14 extraordinary Victorian and Edwardian crime stories, many never before published in book form: Kipling’s 'The Return of Imray'; 'The Tragedy of the Life Raft' by Jacques Futrelle; 'The Copper Beeches' by Arthur Conan Doyle, plus hard-to-find tales..."4. Oxford Book of American Detective Stories
by Tony Hillerman (Editor) and Rosemary Herbert (Editor). Oxford University Press. From the publisher: "Edgar Allan Poe's 'Murders in the Rue Morgue' launched the detective story in 1841. The genre began as a highbrow form of entertainment, a puzzle to be solved by a rational sifting of clues. In Britain, the stories became decidedly upper crust..."5. Complete Sherlock Holmes
by Arthur Conan Doyle. Doubleday. From the publisher: "Here, collected in one volume, are all four full-length novels and 56 short stories chronicling the colorful adventures of Sherlock Holmes--every word Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ever wrote about Baker Street's most famous resident."6. Oxford Book of Victorian Detective Stories
by Michael Cox (Editor). Oxford University Press. From the publisher: "The Victorian era saw the first great flowering of the detective story. Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, J.S. Le Fanu, and a host of others pioneered a genre of fiction that remains among the most popular today."7. World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories
by Ed Gorman (Editor). St. Martins Press. From the publisher: "'The World's Finest Crime and Mystery Stories,' finally fills the void for those with a hunger for the best mystery and suspense stories of the past year. Multi-award--winning editor Ed Gorman has collected stories from the world over, to present more than 200,00 words of superlative fiction."8. Murderous Schemes
by Donald Westlake (Editor). Oxford University Press. From the publisher: "Here is a glorious treasure chest of tales that cover every crime in the book, written by a who's who of crime fiction--Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, G. K. Chesterton, Raymond Chandler, Ellery Queen..."9. Shakespearean Detectives: Murders and Mysteries Based on Shakespeare
by Mike Ashley (Editor). Carroll & Graf Publishers. From the publisher: "Wonderfully entertaining mysteries, murder and all-round mayhem abound in this second volume of stories set in the world of Shakespeare's plays. Following on the success of Shakespearean Whodunnits, editor Mike Ashley has put together another, equally inventive collection completing the canon of the bard's plays and poems..."10. A Moment on the Edge: 100 Years of Crime Stories by Women
by Elizabeth George (Editor). HarperCollins. From the publisher: "These shocking and compulsively readable stories are arranged chronologically, starting with the classic 'A Jury of Her Peers' by Susan Glaspell (1917). Also included are stories by Golden Age mystery writers Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh, and New Golden Age author Sara Paretsky..."