10 EXCITING MYSTERY NOVELS | Classics To Read This Winter

We found winter to be a good time to read mystery novels, or short stories with suspense. For our “Sleepy Hollow Book Club” we picked our personal favorite mysteries that we think never dissapoint any cold winter day.

We usually think of England when we are picturing a classic mystery novel. Characters like Agatha Christie’s “Miss Marple” and G.K. Chesterton’s “Father Brown” have both a charming crime solving finesse with a steady tea-time routine in the cozy environment of the English countryside. “Sherlock Holmes” might be a little bit different, yet the same charming elements of old times are present.

The best mystery novels in our taste tends to be filled with more idyllic settings than guns.

We believe those sort of details has a big impact for our love of old classic mystery novels, and why there is comfort reading through its pages. Especially during the colder winter days. We hope you will find our top 10 mystery list as pleasant as we had putting it together and we would love to read in the comments about your favorite mysteries!

(P.S. This list includes affiliate links to each book title. By purchasing any book you support our blog. For that, we are very thankful)

OUR TOP 10 CLASSIC MYSTERY LIST

Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Cristie (Feat; Poirot)

Just after midnight, the Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, a millionaire lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Without a shred of doubt, one of his fellow passengers is the murderer. Isolated by the snow, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer before the murderer strikes again.

Endless Night – Agatha Cristie (Feat; Miss Marple)

Said to be one of Agatha Christie’s personal favorites. When penniless Michael Rogers discovers the beautiful house at Gypsy’s Acre and then meets the heiress Ellie, it seems that all his dreams have come true at once. But he ignores an old woman’s warning of an ancient curse, and evil begins to stir in paradise.

Peril at End House – Agatha Cristie (Feat; Poirot)

A young woman who has recently survived a series of very close calls appears to be the target of a dedicated killer. Once again it’s up to Hercule Poirot to save her life. The question is, can he find the killer before he hits his target?

A Murder is Announced – Agatha Cristie (Feat; Miss Marple)

A Murder is Announced in a small-town newspaper advertisement. Is it a childish practical joke? Or a spiteful hoax? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, the locals arrive at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out and a gun is fired. Miss Marple which is among the guests must unravel the fiendish puzzle to find the killer.

The Haunted Bookshop – Christopher Morley

This is not a traditional murder mystery, but a suspenseful novel with the right cozy setting, set in Brooklyn around the time of the end of World War I. It continues the story of Roger Mifflin, the book seller in “Parnassus on Wheels.” It also details an adventure of Miss Titania Chapman and a young advertising man named Aubrey Gilbert.

The Haunted Bookshop is not a novel of the supernatural. Rather, the name refers to the ghosts of the past that haunt all libraries and bookstores: “the ghosts of all great literature.”

The Hound of the Baskervilles – Arthur Conan Doyle (Feat; Sherlock Holmes)

The tale warned the descendants of that ancient family never to venture out on the moor. But Sir Charles Baskerville was now dead and the footprints of a giant hound have been found near his body. Would the new heir of the Baskervilles meet the same dreadful fate?

Sherlock Holmes and his faithful friend, Dr. Watson, are faced with their most terrifying case in this wonderful classic of masterful detection and bone-chilling suspense.

A Scandal in Bohemia – Arthur Conan Doyle (Feat; Sherlock Holmes)

The King of Bohemia engages Sherlock Holmes to recover an indiscreet photograph showing him with the opera singer Irene Adler – the revelation of which would derail his marriage.

In disguise, Holmes witnesses Adler marry the man she truly loves, and also discover the photograph’s hiding place. Although as they are to retrieve the photo, they find Adler has fled the country with it, leaving behind a letter for Holmes and a portrait of herself for the King.

The Maltese Falcon – Dashiell Hammett

Sam Spade is hired by the Miss Wonderley to track down her sister, who has eloped with a louse called Floyd Thursby. However, Miss Wonderley is in fact the beautiful and treacherous Brigid O’Shaughnessy, and when Spade’s partner Miles Archer is shot while on Thursby’s trail, Spade finds himself both hunter and hunted: can he track down the jewel-encrusted bird, a treasure worth killing for?

The Secret Garden – G.K. Chesterton (Feat; Father Brown)

Aristide Valentin, Paris chief of police, has decided to stage a grand dinner party at his estate. The estate has only one entrance, with a garden protected by a high wall; there is no entering or leaving except by the main entrance, which is guarded by Valentin’s steadfast servant, Ivan. However, a murder most foul occurs, a decapitation, and it will be up to Father Brown to use all his wits to solve this heinous murder.

The Invisible Man – G.K. Chesterton (Feat; Father Brown)

The basic plot of “The Invisible Man” might sound similar as “The Secret Garden” but seem to be one of the most loved short-stories of G.K. Chesterton and his “Father Brown”.

A murderer manages to get in and out of a house, even though it is under constant observation.