We here at Village Copier are all about the intrigue. No book rotates faster around our infrequent book club than what every hot new mystery novel is being read. Here we’ve compiled five of our favorites for you to enjoy.
THE GROWN UP
Gillian Flynn
Mystery’s “it” girl, Gillian Flynn strikes again with a short story that’s as thrilling as it is quick to read. The main character is a sex worker/ “physic” that is hired to clear ghosts out of a swanky Manhattan brownstone. However, the protagonist is in for more than she bargained for when creepy things are actually happening around the house, and she’s left alone with the creepy son of her employer. Edited by George R.R. Martin, this book will keep you engaged from start to finish, and will only take about an hour to read.
THE BIG FOUR
Agatha Christie
You can’t have a favorite mystery novel list without at least one Christine book on the list. Part of the Poirot stories, The Big Four is a compilation of several different cases that were once short stories. A tale of international espionage, it follows Poirot at he takes down four big villains over twelve stories.
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Steig Larsson
Disgrased Swedish reporter Mikael Blomkvist teams up with troubled girl Lisbeth Salandar to solve the mysterious disappearance of a wealthy retired CEO named Vangard’s grandniece. On a small Swedish island where most of Vangard’s family lives Blomkvist and Salander uncover many buried secrets, and bite off a little more than they can chew. The first of a series of novels, the book starts slow, but builds to a gripping story that’s tough to put down.
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
Paula Hawkins
The UK’s answer to Gillian Flynn, Hawkin’s novel will keep you guessing until the very end. A classic who-done-it, The Girl on the Train follows Rachel Watson: an alcoholic who can’t leave her old life behind. She gets wrapped up in the disappearance of young woman in her former neighborhood, as she tries to glue together the pieces of the fateful night as a her drunken escapades make her a prime suspect.
IN THE LAKE IN THE WOODS
Tim O’Brian
A perfect example of the unreliable narrator, In the Lake in the Woods follows the story of a failed politician as he tries to figure out the disappearance of his wife. The protagonist retraces the events leading up to his wife’s vanishing one more amid Vietnam flashbacks, leaving the viewer to try and decide if he is just mentally unstable or a murder. You’ll be guessing until the very end as you breeze through this thriller.
