Are you a lover of the spook? Look, personally I’m not, but I do love a good mystery. It’s a genre I don’t talk about much and often forget I love, but when I read it, good times abound.

So today we’re going to look at my top 7 recommendations of mystery books I’ve read that top the charts!

7. And Then There Were None

To this day, I have yet to read a book more thrilling and deliciously fantastic as And Then There Were None. We all know that Agatha Christie is the queen of crime, but this book really is something. It’s the kind of book where you need the author’s note to make sense of everything even after you finish.

If you don’t know what this is about, it’s about ten strangers being invited to a private island, all under different pretences. And one by one, they start to die. Oooh, very spooky. It’s the kind of book that has that has you slowly going mad trying to work it out.

6. The Island

This one was surprisingly nail-bite-y. Similarly to the Agatha Christie, this sees a bunch of teenagers on an island camping out. But when their guide ends up dying, they’re left stranded trying to survive until their families realise they’re missing when they will eventually miss their return date.

And of course, mysterious things start happening – kids turning against kids, and the sanity of all on the island coming into question. It’s really hard to work out what’s really going on in this one.

5. The Girl on the Train

We all heard about this one when it was released – it was all anyone could talk about. But oh my god, it’s worth it. I want to resurrect it out of the dusty pile of hyped books that we’ve since forgotten about, to say you really should read this if you haven’t.

This is a book that proved to me that reading outside your typical genre can really be rewarding. I just loved the strange mystery to this, and the complicated way the main character tries to solve the problem, considering she’s a bit sketchy herself.

4. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

When you think of a classic horror, everyone turns towards Frankenstein, which I think is just a mistake. I love Frankenstein, but it’s got nothing on the true spook levels of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

This is a well-known story about a man with two very different sides to him. But it’s also very short and a great quick-read to tuck into if you’re looking for a small thrill that’s not too scary. It’s such a great experiment of it’s time to see how closely you can blur the lines between good and evil, and whether one person can ever entirely just be one of them.

3. The Maidens

This has quite a number of mixed reviews, but if you’re after a book that won’t let you put it down at night until you’re finished, this is the one. This book was unbelievably addictive to read. I was obsessed with the need to know how things were going to turn out.

Sure it has its faults, but I think on the surface level this is simply a good thrill, a brain-stretching mystery and an unbelievably shocking conclusion to the mystery. Not to be missed in my opinion, even if it doesn’t hit your top charts.

2. The Inheritance Games

This just wouldn’t be a complete list if the fun of The Inheritance Games wasn’t on here. This is not a scary book, but it is certainly unputdownable. It’s a real game of not knowing everyone’s agendas but knowing that everyone has an angle.

It’s a quick read full of twists and turns. And you’ll find yourself wanting to like characters, but being entirely unable to trust them. So if you fall into the category of wanting a good, kept-me-up-all-night mystery without a scare factor, this is the one.

1. Verity

Verity is very popular at the moment, and for good reason. This is one of the ultimate mystery books that has you feeling uncomfortable – and it’s certainly one that will keep you up at night as it plays on your mind.

Very different from the usual thing I know Hoover to write, this ghostly narrative will play with your mind and have you guessing the agendas of characters you’re not even sure are in play.

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What’s your favourite addictive mystery?