22 of the Century’s Best Mystery and Thriller Books (So Far), BIPOC Edition

In this brilliant gender-flipped take on Sherlock, Charlotte Holmes makes a living assisting her brother Sherlock in solving cases in Victorian England. But there is no Sherlock here; Charlotte is really doing the detecting all on her own through some light subterfuge, all with the help of her benefactor, Mrs. Watson. Charlotte is one of my favorite characters in literature, a woman whose powers of deduction are matched only by her love of a good slice of cake. She’s found a way to live independently in a society that does not typically afford women agency, chasing down clues while also pursuing the object of her affection in the mother of all slow burns. This book is the first in a series that keeps getting better and better. —Vanessa Diaz

Oh, how I envy anyone picking up this book for the first time! It’s about wealth, class, and corruption. It’s about gangsters and drug deals and nepo babies doing their damnedest to squander the family fortune. It’s what you would get if you put The Sopranos, Succession, and White Lotus into a blender and poured the resulting concoction into modern-day India. At turns dishy, suspenseful, and shocking, Age of Vice is always entertaining and always substantial. It’s a potent combination you’ll be thinking about long after you turn the final page. —Rebecca Joines Schinsky

This character-driven literary espionage thriller set during the Cold War stars FBI agent Marie who, as a young Black woman, struggles to be taken seriously by her bosses. When she’s offered her first meaningful assignment to infiltrate the inner circle of a revolutionary new president in Burkina Faso, she jumps at the opportunity. But the more she learns about her target, the more she starts to question her own government’s agenda and her role in it. It’s a fascinating and unique perspective on real historical events with a richly layered protagonist you’ll think about long past the final page. —Susie Dumond

This first book in a bestselling and award-winning cozy mystery series is full of delicious Filipine recipes and a cute weiner dog. Things start off when Lila Macapagal moves back home after a breakup. Her attention gets directed to helping revive her Tita Rosie’s dying restaurant, while her aunties try to do a little matchmaking for her. Well, things don’t exactly go to plan when a sassy food critic—who is also her ex-boyfriend—dies right after speaking to her. Partnered with her dachshund Longanista, she’ll need to utilize her network of snooping aunties lest she remain suspect #1, and her family’s restaurant gets shut down for good. —Erica Ezeifedi

Beauregard “Bug” Montage is an honest mechanic, a loving husband, and a hard-working dad. In the not-so-distant past, he was also known up and down the East Coast as the best damn getaway driver there ever was. Bug has left that life behind now with too much to lose, and only wants to do right by the people he loves. But like anyone who’s ever watched a heist movie knows, there’s always that one last job… I white-knuckled my way through this audiobook, flawlessly performed by the legendary Adam Lazarre-White. It’s not every day you come across an author who writes the kinds of scenes that make you forget to breathe, but the breakneck speed and almost unbearable tension of this book did just that. —Vanessa Diaz

East Texas comes alive in this rural noir by the Emmy Award-winning Attica Locke. In it, Darren Matthews is a Black Texas Ranger who contends with protecting and serving a place that has not protected or served him. Now he’s investigating two murders in a small town—that of a Black attorney from Chicago and a white female resident of the town. Things get real as the murders help long-held bitterness bubble over—and Matthews will need to solve the crimes before the town, and he, succumbs to them. Locke’s TV writing skills are fully on display in this suspenseful and atmospheric mystery-thriller. —Erica Ezeifedi

East Asian mysteries and thrillers grew not only in access over the first quarter of the 2000s, they also exploded in popularity with Western readers. Minato is among the authors who have developed a reputation for dark story lines and unpredictable twists. In Confessions, a young educator believes she has nothing to live for. Following an accident at the middle school where she teaches, she decides to resign–but not before delivering one last lesson to her students, two of whom she accuses of murdering her child. Now those students are turning on each other in revenge. It’s a disturbing and riveting read packed with secrets and revelations. —Kelly Jensen

When this book was published in 2018, there just wasn’t a lot of diversity in the cozy genre and it showed. But the Noodle Shop Mystery series renewed my love for cozy mysteries. Twelve books in, people seem to love the series as much as I do. Death by Dumpling introduces us to Lana Lee, who finds herself back at the family restaurant, Ho-Lee Noodle House in Cleveland. There she ends up playing amateur sleuth to save herself, her family, and her community with her dog, Kikkoman (Kikko) by her side. It’s a life-affirming series that celebrates family, friends, Chinese heritage, and of course, food. —Elisa Shoenberger

Jesse Q. Sutanto takes cozy mystery to its most hilarious extremes in this book about an accidental murder and a family trying to hide a body during the biggest wedding of the season. It’s more hijinks than whodunit since we know exactly who the culprit is from almost page one. But that just lends even more creativity to all the ways Sutanto devises to keep her characters out of trouble. —Rachel Brittain

This genre-bending magical mystery is full of demons, sapphic lovers, and all the dazzling trappings of 1940s Chicago. Our story’s detective, Helen Brandt, has a bit of a problem: she sold her soul to save her brother’s life, and her time on the mortal plane is almost up. But then she gets offered one last job, a job that promises that she no longer has to give up her soul, and can spend more time with the woman she loves. Thing is, the job means hunting down the White City Vampire, the deadliest killer in the city, and descending into a world of divine monsters, even as the clock ticks on her own life. —Erica Ezeifedi

Everything I Never Told You
by Celeste Ng
I can remember where I first read Ng’s captivating debut, a haunting literary mystery. After I complained about the long library queue, my love gifted me a copy. I curled up in a recliner then time slipped away. That attention-demanding opening—“Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.”—clutched my bookish attention, and I devoured the poignant story. When I think of the bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere and Our Missing Hearts, I think of beginnings that hook: a burned-down house; a mysterious letter. And it all began in an Ohio suburb during 1977 with the Lee family mourning the loss of their blue-eyed middle child—only 16. —Connie Pan

Angeline Boulley’s name is one any mystery/thriller reader, as well as any young adult reader, knows. That’s thanks to her debut novel, which set her career on fire. What does it mean to be an Anishinaabe kwe? That’s what Daunis has been wondering as she’s never quite fit in either in her hometown or the nearby Ojibwe reservation. But her dreams of leaving for a fresh start in college are challenged by a family tragedy, and now, Daunis pulls on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to help uncover corruption in her community. Among this book’s decorations are an Edgar Award, a Printz Award, a Morris Award, and so many more. —Kelly Jensen

I was hard-pressed to choose between Angie Kim’s two gripping literary mysteries for this list, as both are brilliant in different ways. I ultimately went with her debut novel, but don’t sleep on Happiness Falls either! Kim’s legal drama Miracle Creek is set around a tragic accident inside an experimental medical device that leaves two dead and multiple others injured. As we view the accident and its aftermath through the perspectives of various involved parties, the question of blame becomes increasingly complicated. It’s a finespun tale that explores technological advancement, criminal responsibility, the anxieties of modern parenting, immigrant experiences, and much more. Angie Kim is a must-read author for mystery lovers. —Susie Dumond

Tiffany D. Jackson is one of thee premier YA writers of mystery, thriller, and even a little horror. Her stories take on contemporary issues and center Black people, specifically Black girls, in stories that real-life news tends to ignore. In Monday’s Not Coming, Monday Charles is missing, and it feels like her best friend Claudia is the only one who’s noticed. With her best friend gone, and the bullies and tests mounting up, Claudia needs her best friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother and sister are no help at all—and it’s been weeks since anyone has seen Monday. —Erica Ezeifedi

Waubgeshig Rice’s post-apocalyptic thriller following an Anishinaabe community struggling to survive after the lights go out everywhere strikes that rare balance of being profoundly moving while keeping readers on the edge of their seats; its follow-up, Moon of the Turning Leaves, is even more action-packed. Together, these books stand out as singular stories in the genre, asking big questions about the erosion of Indigenous traditions, the staying power of colonization, and how we nurture and preserve community. The thrills here are deep and thoughtful, and the perspective is, unfortunately, hard to come by in the genre. —S. Zainab Williams

No mystery about what is happening here—the title tells you everything you really need to know—so the fun to be had is with why and how. And what fun it is! Braithwaite’s story about a woman reckoning with the dawning realization that her sister is killing off her boyfriends (hard to ignore when three in a row have ended up dead) is as funny as it is compelling. It’s a hard trick to pull off, and Braithwaite makes it look effortless. One of the most memorable and widely recommendable reading experiences I can recall. —Rebecca Joines Schinsky

My intro to the wonderful world of manga was Spy x Family and I could not have had a better first read. This charming and hilarious series has so much fun with the spy trope. It follows a family of four (yes, I include the dog!) made up of strangers keeping secrets, which makes for hilarious and madcap moments. Loid is a spy who needs a family to get close to his new target, so he adopts a girl and gets a fake wife. Funny thing: the child he adopts, Anya, is able to read people’s thoughts, the fake wife, Yor, is actually an assassin, and the adopted dog has precognitive abilities. And none of them know this about each other! —Jamie Canaves

Japanese crime novels have exploded in popularity this century. The first book of the Detective Galileo series was a hit when it came out in 2005 in Japan, racking up several of the country’s most prestigious literary awards for mysteries. Its acclaim only grew when it was published in English in 2011. It’s also been adapted four times as a movie: in Japan, Korea, China, and recently, on Netflix in Hindi. Part psychological thriller, part “howdunit” mystery, this twisty crime novel will keep you guessing throughout, despite the detective being sure of the murderer from the beginning. —Danika Ellis

Nella’s dream is to become a book editor. But between workplace microaggressions and pandering to mediocre white authors, it’s really difficult being the only Black employee at the publishing house where she works. So she’s excited when another Black woman, Hazel, is hired and assigned to the desk next to hers. But threatening notes start appearing on Nella’s desk, and Hazel seems to be setting Nella up to look bad with their bosses. Soon, Nella wonders if her life as well as her job are in danger. This book called out the overwhelming whiteness of publishing and delivered a gasp-inducing, twist-filled thriller at the same time. —Alison Doherty

I have so much love for the excellent leads and their partnership, along with all the cases and history that are tackled in this procedural series. The Canadian federal government created a community policing unit and Esa Khattak is running it. Detective Rachel Getty recently had her career tanked as retaliation, which prompts Esa to have her assigned to his unit. Their first case together doesn’t even seem like a case—a man accidentally fell to his death—but something about it feels off… If you’re looking for deeply layered stories, complex characters, and a modern setting with ties to histories that rarely get focus, this series starter is a must-read. —Jamie Canaves

This award-winning and atmospheric mystery by Sujata Massey takes place in 1920’s Bombay and stars an endearing protagonist named Perveen Mistry, who works as one of the first female lawyers in India. The mysteries of this novel grow compelling on multiple fronts, from the legal suspense of Perveen’s work, to the murder mystery she gets involved in with an eccentric family, and the slowly revealed secrets of her own troubled past. Massey’s examination of women’s rights during this era, as well as abusive relationships, adds incredible depth to the story. Plus, she creates characters you care about. Every book in this series is worth reading! —Megan Mabee

Sydney grew up in her Brooklyn neighborhood, but little by little finds it changing as her friends and neighbors are getting pushed out by high rent and pushy real estate agents to make room for new condos. Theo is one of the new people—a white guy who bought the brownstone across the street. But whether from guilt or an interest in history, he agrees to help her research the history of the neighborhood for a walking tour. What the two find in their research points to a deadly conspiracy theory that will threaten both their lives. This thriller delivers a genuinely terrifying plot while also dramatizing the horrors of gentrification. —Alison Doherty