Now, the fate of the war balanced in his cold hands. Armed with this information and photographs of the silent, detailed town, die Nadel, aka Henry Faber, is on the run to outwit British intelligence and get in contact with his submarine.

Set in WWII the story oscillates between three narratives the first being the shenanigans of a Nazi spy named “die Nadel” (the needle) who prefers to kill with a stiletto knife and has debunked allied counter-intelligence regarding the true location of the D-Day landings by accidentally discovering fake tanks, aircraft, and a military town – an elaborate scheme designed to convince the Nazis that the landing is planned for Calais. Larsson’s story takes classic mystery tropes - family feud, blackmailing sequences - and spices them up with additional developments in the protagonists’ personal lives.Rating: A Tense World War II Thriller Filled with Spies and TacticsĪ tense thriller, Eye of the Needle is the novel that effectively launched Ken Follett’s career as a novelist, also spawning a later movie. Blomkvist is invited to stay over at the wealthy family’s island, where he comes into contact with other family members who were present at the scene years ago, and begins to wonder if any of them were involved.Īs Blomkvist decodes the copious amount of decades-old notes and newspaper clippings, he slowly fills in the missing pieces of the puzzle about this dysfunctional family. Following two separate strings of events, the characters eventually find themselves both trying to find the person who, forty years ago, supposedly killed Harriet Vanger - niece of one of the wealthiest men in Sweden. The first book of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series introduces us to journalist Mikael Blomkvist and freelance hacker Lisbeth Salander. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is no exception. It appears a mark of a good mystery book is that it has been made into a movie. If you're feeling overwhelmed by the number of great mystery books to read, you can also take our 30-second quiz below to narrow it down quickly and get a personalized mystery book recommendation 😉

From true crime books to espionage odysseys (of course, including whodunnit riddles) here are the 30 best mystery books that you cannot miss out on if you’re looking for twisted stories to keep you on the edge of your seat. Arguably, the best feeling when reading a crime novel is being faced with a sufficiently difficult puzzle and yet still being able to jump up and shout “I knew it!” when the final reveal comes around.Ī good murder case will always rank high on a list of mystery novels, but other stories also have their merits. The best mystery books are those with ingenious sprinklings of clues along the way that brings out the inner detective in you. When you flip open a mystery novel, what do you expect? Probably a thrilling tale that keeps you wondering who the culprit was.

Eye of the needle novel