12 Novels Featuring Amateur Sleuths

Like a Sister

by Kellye Garrett

When disgraced Black reality TV star Desiree Pierce is found dead in the Bronx the morning after her 25th birthday, the police chalk up to an overdose. Her estranged half-sister Lena doesn’t buy it. There’s no way Desiree would have been in that neighborhood. She’s driven to find the truth, no matter what family secrets she stumbles into along the way. Part family drama, part thriller and wonderfully narrated by Bahni Turpin.

The Thursday Murder Club (The Thursday Murder Club Book 1)

by Richard Osman

This book remind me so much of Angela Lansbury in Murder She Wrote. It's a fun mystery that will appeal to readers of all ages. Plus, it looks like the first in what will be a series! It's set in a retirement community, where four friends meet in the Jigsaw Room every week to chat about unsolved crimes. This group of 70-somethings call themselves "The Thursday Murder Club." When bodies start piling up in a live and local case, they set out to catch a killer. Completely charming, and so well-narrated by Lesley Manville.

The Maid: A Novel

by Nita Prose

I picked this up after so many book friends gushed about it. (Plus, I'll admit, I was intrigued by the announcement that Florence Pugh would star in the film adaptation.) Fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and fast-moving, plot-driven mysteries will enjoy this tale of a conscientious, neurodivergent maid seeking to prove her innocence after she becomes the prime suspect in a wealthy man's murder at a swanky hotel.

The Woman in the Library

by Sulari Gentill

From the publisher: "The tranquility is shattered by a woman's terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who'd happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning—it just happens that one is a murderer. Sulari Gentill delivers a sharply thrilling read with The Woman in the Library, an unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated nature of friendship and shows us that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all."

Death Comes to Marlow

by Robert Thorogood

From Donna: I love a humorous murder mystery with an older amateur detective, and in this book that’s 78-year-old Judith Potts, a crossword puzzle author. Don’t be concerned that this is book two in the Marlow Murder Club series, you can easily jump in here if you haven’t read the first one. The police suspect suicide when a man is found crushed to death in a locked study during his pre-wedding party, but Judith and her friends Susie and Becks are immediately suspicious of the other guests. If you’re a fan of The Thursday Murder Club series or Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple books, I think you’ll have a lot of fun with this one!

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

by Jesse Q. Sutanto

From the publisher: "Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady—ah, lady of a certain age—who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco's Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her Gen-Z son is up to. Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing—a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand, a flash drive. Vera doesn’t know what comes over her, but after calling the cops like any good citizen would, she sort of . . . swipes the flash drive from the body and tucks it safely into the pocket of her apron. Why? Because Vera is sure she would do a better job than the police possibly could, because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands. Vera knows the killer will be back for the flash drive; all she has to do is watch the increasing number of customers at her shop and figure out which one among them is the killer."

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It

by Elle Cosimano

A witty mystery about a stressed out single mother/novelist. Behind on her deadline, Finlay Donovan gets on a call with her literary agent to discuss the plot of her new suspense novel…which causes someone to believe she’s in the business of disposing of lackluster husbands. When she gets tangled up in a murder investigation, she finds she much prefers writing about fictional crime to living it but she can’t bring herself to walk away. A good pick for anyone who enjoys plots that are a bit over the top.

Death by Dumpling: A Noodle Shop Mystery

by Vivien Chien

Lana Lee returns to Cleveland to help at her family’s Chinese restaurant after her life implodes. It’s her best option, despite never thinking she’d go back. When the restaurant’s property manager dies of anaphylactic shock after eating shrimp dumplings Lana delivered herself, it defies belief. The staff knew about his severe shellfish allergy and never would have sent him that but the cook is arrested nonetheless. Lana can’t let an innocent man go to jail so she takes up the case herself, no matter what hot water it might put her in.

Death Below Stairs

by Jennifer Ashley

In this historical mystery, cook Kat Holloway doesn’t mind the eccentricities of her employers so long as they let her rule the kitchen. When her kitchen maid is murdered, Kat is compelled to seek justice on her behalf. She turns to delivery man Daniel—who is more than he seems—and a few others to aid in her quest. But this is no mere murder. It involves a threat against Queen Victoria herself. For fans of Downton Abbey.

Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge

by Spencer Quinn

Loretta Plansky, recently widowed, is living in a Florida retirement community, staying busy, and focused on the neighbors’ gardens and her tennis game. Accustomed to getting phone calls from family members asking for money, she’s not surprised when her grandson Will calls and asks for $10,000 to get out of a jam. Except the caller isn’t actually Will and by morning, they’ve absconded with Loretta’s life savings. When law enforcement claims they’ll have no luck finding the scammers, Loretta takes things into her own hands. Her journey takes her to Romania and leads to so much more. I so enjoyed Mrs Plansky's sense of humor, as well as the frequent jokes about American grammar. For fans of the Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman.

Magpie Murders

by Anthony Horowitz

Editor Susan Ryeland has worked with Alan Conway for years, putting up with his eccentricities for the sake of his bestselling detective series. Every Atticus Pünd mystery novel feels pretty much the same to Susan by now, each one set in a small English village, following an Agatha Christie-like formula. When Susan reads Conway’s latest, however, she finds there might be more to the fictional mystery at Pye Hall. The more she reads, the more she becomes convinced of a real life mystery between the pages. A tale of greed and gruesome murder prompts Susan to investigate in this clever novel-within-a-novel.

12 Novels Featuring Amateur Sleuths

Like a Sister

The Thursday Murder Club (The Thursday Murder Club Book 1)

The Stranger Diaries

The Maid: A Novel

The Woman in the Library

Death Comes to Marlow

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It

Death by Dumpling: A Noodle Shop Mystery

Death Below Stairs

Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge

Magpie Murders

Find your next read with:

100 Book recommendations
for every mood

12 Novels Featuring Amateur Sleuths

Find your next read with:

100 Book recommendations for every mood

100 Book recommendations
for every mood