Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with mystery and mysteries

Good mystery movies to watch?

jsturgill — Thu, 16 May 2013 22:44:31 -0800

I'd like to get some good mystery movie recommendations from the 80s on. It's OK if they veer toward the thriller, like Michael Clayton, ridiculous like Ford Fairlaine, noirish like Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, or are a more standard outing with a strong, interesting, well developed detective lead like Zero Effect. Drawing room mysteries totally A-OK too. Super bonus points if I can stream them now on Hulu plus or Netflix.

Which post-Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories are worth reading?

jsturgill — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 16:18:51 -0800

What are the best non-Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories, collections, and novels?

Mysteries without conventional detectives

echo target — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 10:29:34 -0800

I need mystery novel recommendations! Looking for good mysteries with unconventional characters as the lead. The better half has read all the Holmes on the Range books by Steve Hockensmith. She likes the cowboy narrators. What other good mysteries have as their lead character someone other than a cop or a detective?

Humor's good, but not strictly required.

help me complicate my life

grumblebee — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:24:31 -0800

Please recommend mystery/thriller novels with incredibly complex plots. I've almost finished reading the final book in the Millennium Trilogy, and I'm already pining for more.

In addition to liking the characters, I really love the dozens of plot threads that start all confused and separate and then gradually come together to form a clear picture of a crime or conspiracy. It feels like a very satisfying game of solitaire -- all the cards falling neatly into place.

Can you recommend more books like this? Complex crimes are good, but even better are mysteries or thrillers with a lot of interconnected subplots and characters.

I have already read most of Dennis Lehane's, Lee Child's, Ridley Pearson's and Nelson DeMille's books.

I've also read most of P.D. James's books, and I love them, but they don't have the number of subplots I'm interested in here. I'm not just looking for good mysteries. I'm looking for mysteries with LOST/Dickensian plot tangles.

Mystery book mystery

cashman — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:56:38 -0800

I'm looking for a short mystery stories book I read in a library. One of the stories is where a character comes up a flight of stairs and thinks he sees something (a murder?) in someone's apartment, but it's actually some kind of mirrored reflection of a mirrored reflection of someone through a window across the street. The book/collection was published before 1996 and if I remember correctly, was all short story mysteries of 5 to 20 pages.

Book of Gal Pal Detectives with Salami-Loving Dog, with Crime Scenes with Clue Arrows?

emptybowl — Fri, 09 Jul 2004 10:07:07 -0800

I have a vague, sketchy recollection of a book series I used to read in 2nd and 3rd grade (20 years ago). It was about two young girls, friends, who solved mysteries together. They also had a dog that loved salami. I believe the were normal books, not comic books, but each book had cartoony pictures of "crime scenes" and such, with little arrows pointing out certain clues (kinda like Bernie Mac, except funny). Anyone have any idea what I'm talking about?