Are you a novel lover who is fond of investigative thrillers? Then here is a list of the best 10 crime thriller novels that you don’t want to miss out on. Finding the best books for ourselves is still a tough task to do, so we are here to help.

1. The Girl on the Train

Author

The girl on the train is a novel written by Paula Hawkins, a British author. It was published in January of 2015.

Protagonist

The protagonist of the story is Rachel Watson. She is a 33 year old alcoholic,suffering the after effects of her stranded marriage.

Plot

The Protagonist commutes by the same train every day. She has become so familiarized with the visuals on her way that she feels all of it to be a part of her life. When the train stops at the same signal every day she observes a couple, two people with a picture-perfect life. She watches them from afar, as the train takes off from the signal. One day she witnessed something strange and shocking. From here the story takes the reader through a journey filled with a roller coaster of emotions and surprises.

2. The Hound of Baskerville

Author

The Hound of Baskerville is written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is the third novel, written by the author in a series of Sherlock Holmes novels.

Protagonist

Sherlock Holmes is a consulting detective with impeccable observational skills. He is a master in the science of deduction and forensics. He, along with his blogger -doctor friend Watson, is a popular crime solving duo in Victorian London.

Plot

Holmes is assigned a case in Dartmoor in Devonshire, England. Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead. He’s called upon to solve the murder mystery of Dartmoor, where he also uncovers the truth behind the legend of the Hound of Baskerville, the story about a cold-blooded hound that roams the countryside at night, thirsty for blood.

3. The DaVinci Code

Author

Daniel Gerrard Brown is an American writer. He has authored many bestsellers like Angels and Demons. The Lost Symbol Origin and Inferno, his works have also been translated into many other languages. They often portray sensitive topics, which has led to many controversies.

Protagonist

The protagonist is a university professor named Robert Langdon.He specializes in symbology and iconology.

Plot

The story starts off as Robert as a suspect in a murder investigation, which later in the story, the protagonist and his friend Sophie end up investigating. The incidents at the beginning occur in France, in the Paris Louvre Museum. The alternate religious history discussed in the book is the reason for the controversy associated with it. Especially the part where it says Jesus was married hurts religious sentiments. The progression of the story is very interesting, as the protagonist, along with his friend, runs from French polish while unraveling mysteries.

4. The Silent Patient

Author

Written by Alan Michaelides, a British-Crypto author. The silent patient was published in February of 2019. It was his debut novel. At the time, it was among one of the best crime thriller novels.

Protagonist

Alicia Berenson is a painter who becomes mute after being arrested for her husband, Gabrielle’s brutal murder. She is found mentally unstable and is sent to a psych ward where she meets Theo Faber, the psychiatrist.

Theo tries to make Alicia speak, by telling her about her childhood.A time when she was the target of her father’s resentment. Theo tries to induce her to speak, in which he succeeds. She tells him about the masked man who visited them prior to the murder.

But soon, Alicia also dies due to poisoning, but the words she scribbled down on her diary had the power to expose the monster behind the caring psychiatrist Theo Faber.

5. Before I Go To Sleep

Author

Before I go to sleep, was SJ Watson’s first novel, and has won many awards. The book was released in 2011, Final Cut and Double Take :A Novel, are some of her works among others.

Protagonist

Christine Lucas is a lady in her 40s Suffering from anterograde amnesia, a condition normally caused by accidents where one is unable to store new memories after the accident.

Plot

Christine wakes up every morning thinking she’s in her 20s and reads from her journal about her condition and that she is married to a guy named Ben and had a son named Adam. She has a therapist, helping her with her condition. Dr. Nash. The story unravels as she starts getting small pieces of her memory back, which lead her to discover what really happened to her.

6. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Author

It is the first book in the Millennium novel series. It’s written by the Swedish writer and journalist Stieg Larsson. The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, are some of his other works.

Protagonist

Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist are the main characters. Salander is a hacker she is an androgynous woman who goes by the name ‘Wasp’ and is a prominent member of Hacker Republic. She also has a photographic memory. The latter is an investigative journalist and Co-owner of the Magazine -Millennium.

Plot

The novel starts off after Mikael is pressured to resign from his job at millennium after being convicted for defamation. Mikael who thought he had hit rock bottom is given a second chance at his career, as he is appointed by Henrik-vanger, to solve his nice Harriet’s murder. The novel progresses, as Michael, along with Salander unravels the mystery behind that death of Harriet.

7. The Silence Of The Lambs

Author

The novel is written by William Thomas Harry III. His debut novel was Black Sunday. The Silence of the Lambs was first published in 1988.

Protagonist

Dr. Hannibal Lecter is the main character of Thomas Harris’s Novels. He is a serial killer who eats his victims. Before being arrested, he was a reputed psychiatrist. He first appeared in the novel, Red Dragon.

Plot

The story commences as an FBI agent, Clarice Starling, is assigned to meet the cannibal,Dr. Hannibal Lecter, to help with an ongoing investigation, a case in which the killer skinned the woman he killed. The book is a journey at the end of which Clarice captures the killer known as Buffalo Bill. The book ends with Lecter escaping the prison and calling Clarice to congratulate her when she graduates, but he doesn’t tell her where he is.

8. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Author

Agatha Christie was an English novelist and has written 66 detective novels. The murder of Roger Ackroyd was published in the year 1926.

Protagonist

The murder of Roger Ackroyd is the third in a series of novels with the main character as Detective Hercule Poirot.

Plot

Roger Ackroyd’s fiancee commits suicide. Not long after the horrible incident, Roger Ackroyd is murdered. Mr Ackroyd was a friend of Hercule Poirot. So, Poirot who had already retired, and was settled in a village, comes out of retirement to solve the murder mystery.

9. Killing Floor

Author

The author known by the name Lee Child, rose to fame with his Jack Reacher novel series .His original name is James Dover Grant. He is a British author. The Killing Floor was his debut novel.

Protagonist

Jack Reacher is a man in his 30s. He leaves US military police and wanders around America. The character first appeared in the novel Killing Floor.

Plot

At the beginning of the story, we can see Jack Reacher reaching the town of Margrave, Georgia. He is accused of a murder which he did not commit. He goes there, in search of information about the death of a guitar player. With time, he learns that his brother, Joe Reacher, is the murdered man. And the story progresses, as he starts investigating.

10. And Then There Were None

Author

It’s a novel written by Agatha Christie. It was published in the month of November of 1939. The initial version was called 10 Little niggers.

Protagonist

It is difficult to point out one person as the central character. However, among the 10 characters, Vera Claythorn and Phillip Lampard lived longer compared to others. Vera is the last one to be killed on the island after she kills Phillip, thinking he is the killer.

Plot

10 Strangers are brought to an island. All of them have committed crimes in their past, crimes that cannot be punished by law. They are killed, one by one. The story gets interesting as they start suspecting each other of being the killer. In the end, Vera hangs herself out of guilt. And then when nobody was left, Justice Wargrave, who was terminally ill, commits suicide by shooting himself.