12 Best Mystery Audiobooks

George Dawes Green’s The Kingdoms of Savannah is an atmospheric Southern mystery that uses the backdrop of Savannah to present a deeply compelling tale, wherein a local man has been murdered and his partner is missing. Morgana Musgrove, a domineering Savannah socialite, enlists the help of her grown children to help solve the case. Together they embark on a beguiling investigation that tests their familial bonds as they travel from the outskirts of Savannah to the dark heart of the city in search of the truth. A cast of narrators help bring Green’s acclaimed new mystery to life in this thrilling audiobook adaptation, making for an immersive listen that will keep you guessing until the very end.

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Yahoo! hails the audiobook format of Alex Michaelides’s The Silent Patient as “the perfect binge listen,” and we’re inclined to agree. But whether you listen to it in one thrilling session or tease out the suspense, you’re sure to love this #1 New York Times bestselling psychological thriller. The narrative centers on Alicia Berenson, a successful artist living in London who appears to lead the ideal life — until the night she shoots her husband five times in the face. After the brutal act, Berenson refuses to speak another word. Theo Faber, a criminal psychotherapist, is determined to break through to Berenson and understand what really happened that night. But is he prepared for what he’s about to uncover? The audiobook of The Silent Patient is an absolute thrill ride from beginning to end. Plus, it features a fascinating bonus interview with the author.

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We can’t wait to dive into Alex North’s upcoming novel, The Angel Maker, coming in February 2023. To gear up for it, why not listen to North’s bestselling supernatural thriller debut, The Whisper Man? The compelling, creepy thriller is set in the sleepy town of Featherbank, a quaint little village that’s haunted by a twisted past. Twenty years ago, a serial killer preyed upon Featherbank, whispering through his victims’ windows at night and luring them to their doom. Now, when a local boy goes missing, residents are convinced that the darkness has returned, and two detectives must find the child and stop the nightmare before it’s too late. Listeners hungry for a scary audiobook are sure to find it in The Whisper Man. British actor Christopher Eccleston narrates, “add[ing] flavor to the tale” by reading “with a fervor that gives the story a strong sense of suspense” (Booklist).

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In A Nearly Normal Family, M.T. Edvardsson — whose next book, The Woman Inside, will publish in June 2023 — presents a gripping thriller coupled with an affecting family drama. The novel introduces us to Stella Sandell, an 18-year-old who stands accused of murdering a businessman nearly 15 years her senior. The slaying sends shockwaves through Stella’s well-to-do community and turns her family upside down. Now Stella’s father, a pastor, and her mother, a criminal defense attorney, must reckon with their daughter being a murder suspect and decide how far they’re willing to go to protect their child. A Nearly Normal Family ratchets up the tension by delivering its narrative from multiple perspectives, interweaving each family member’s distinct point of view. This unique structure lends itself well to a compelling audiobook adaptation voiced by three narrators. You will not want to stop listening once you begin.

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The Other Black Girl, the instant New York Times bestseller from Zakiya Dalila Harris, is so addictive that we feel we have a duty to warn you. Crack open this razor-sharp workplace mystery/psychological thriller only when you have a good chunk of free time, because once you get into it, you’ll be hooked. Among the voice talent narrating Harris’s acclaimed debut is Aja Naomi King from How to Get Away With Murder. And if that doesn’t intrigue you, then Harris’s gripping tale surely will. The Other Black Girl is set in the corridors of Wagner Books, where editorial assistant Nella Rogers is the book publisher’s lone Black employee. So when a second Black employee, Hazel, begins working in the cubicle next door, Nella is initially elated to have someone to whom she can relate. Soon, however, Hazel becomes the office darling, while Nella’s status slips. Then Nella begins receiving threatening notes demanding she leave Wagner — and things take a devilishly twisted turn from there.

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Stuart Turton’s The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a wildly entertaining locked-room mystery with a time-bending twist. Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered tonight at 11 p.m. The following day, she’ll be murdered yet again at the exact same time. On each of these days, Aiden Bishop awakes in the body of a different witness — and he can only break the cycle once he reveals Evelyn’s killer. At 17 hours, the audiobook version of Turton’s bestselling mystery is a long haul, but the time will fly by as you try to put together the pieces of this inventive puzzle. Seasoned voice actor James Cameron Stewart serves as the narrator of 7½ Deaths, making for a beguiling listen. Bonus: The narrative also makes an excellent mystery book club book!

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The New York Times Book Review compared this bestselling mystery by Lucy Foley to “the Agatha Christie classics,” and we can’t think of a better comparison. The Guest List whisks you away to a destination wedding off the coast of Ireland, where the party is soon disrupted by the discovery of a dead body. Everyone from the bride and groom to the bridesmaids, groomsmen, and wedding planner becomes a suspect, and the narrative is packed with tantalizing clues that will have you playing Sherlock Holmes. Six narrators give the book an extra auditory spark that makes this delicious mystery more exciting and immersive.

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Lisa Jewell is a modern-day master of suspense, and The Family Upstairs does not disappoint. In this intricately crafted domestic thriller, 25-year-old Libby Jones is shocked to discover that she’s inherited a beautiful but rundown townhome in London’s posh Chelsea neighborhood. The surprise family inheritance is life-changing, and it leads Libby to dig into her birth story — she’s been orphaned since she was six months old — as well as the mysterious history of the home itself. But others are watching, and Libby is on a collision course to meet them. This is a tantalizing tale about long-buried family secrets, and the plot twists are stellar. Good luck pausing after you press play on this mystery audiobook.

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Acclaimed author Anthony Horowitz is known for his dazzlingly imaginative mysteries, and in The Word Is Murder, the author dreams up a fictional version of himself to play a central role in his own mystery. The fictional version of Horowitz becomes curious about a case and cozies up with a brilliant but disgraced police detective, Daniel Hawthorne, in hopes of unearthing new material for a book. As the two investigate the murder of a woman who had just planned her own memorial service, Horowitz realizes that the story may be bigger than he anticipated. He also realizes that Hawthorne may have his own secrets to hide. This mystery audiobook is narrated by Olivier Award–winning actor/playwright Rory Kinnear, whom you may recognize from The Imitation Game or Penny Dreadful. He adds a twist of dark drama to Horowitz’s swirling crime tale.

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S.A. Cosby’s Razorblade Tears is a compelling revenge thriller that doubles as a moving portrait of love, loss, identity, and fractured fatherhood. The novel centers on the murders of two men, Isiah and Derek, husbands in an interracial marriage. Their fathers — Ike Randolph, a Black man, and Buddy Lee, a white man — are ex-cons who never fully accepted Isiah and Derek’s relationship. But in the wake of the murders, Ike and Buddy Lee are drawn together by their grief and must reckon with their bigotries as they set out to exact revenge on those who hurt their boys. Adam Lazarre-White narrates Cosby’s acclaimed narrative, delivering a “commanding performance… [that] creates an irresistible listening experience” (AudioFile magazine).

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Sure, One of Us Is Lying is now a TV series, but that doesn’t mean you should miss experiencing the thrilling, original book for yourself. In Karen M. McManus’s stylish YA whodunit, five teenagers at Bayview High are sent to detention, but only four emerge alive. All the teenage archetypes are present, from athletic Cooper and brainy Brownyn to outcast Simon, the doomed student who winds up dead. Simon, it seems, had planned to reveal juicy secrets about the four other students before his mysterious demise in detention. Now all of them are suspects, and the race is on to expose the true killer. A cast of voice actors contribute their talents to the audiobook version of One of Us Is Lying, elevating the entertainment value of this wicked mystery.

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You can’t go wrong with the final mystery audiobook on our list. For starters, The Outsider is a #1 New York Times bestselling novel by legendary author Stephen King, a true master of all things spooky. Couple that with the narration talents of actor Will Patton — who has not only been acting for decades but has also narrated more than 50 audiobooks — and you have one thrilling listen. The narrative centers on the unspeakable murder of an 11-year-old boy and the investigation into the prime suspect: the seemingly upstanding teacher and coach Terry Maitland. Maitland has an alibi, yet DNA evidence and eyewitness reports point to his guilt. Detective Ralph Anderson embarks on a dark quest for the truth, following the clues to twisted places you would never expect.

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