mystery novel
Crime fiction book
A mystery novel is a work of fiction centered on a crime—usually murder—and its investigation.
The narrative typically follows a detective or amateur sleuth piecing together clues until the perpetrator is revealed.
The genre emphasizes puzzle-solving and suspense: She stayed up all night finishing the mystery novel.
- suspectBelieve to be likely
- cluesHints toward answers
- dead bodyDeceased person's remains
- crime sceneLocation of an offense
- detectiveProfessional crime investigator
private investigator · small town · police procedural · sleuth · red herrings · false alibi · evidence · noir · justice · final chapter · whodunit · victim · missing person · psychological thriller · unreliable narrator · dark secret · amateur sleuth · tweed jacket
- bookstextbooks, study guides, book, paperback, hardcover
- narrativesshort story, memoir, fable, tale, novella
- writing genresdiary, journal, memoir, poetry, essay
- literary genresfiction, poetry collections, realism, family drama, classic novels
- fictionfiction, novels, novella, novellas, short story
- crime fictiondetective fiction, detective novels, detective, detective stories, whodunit
fictionality
mystery novelbiography
Written life account
autobiography · nonfiction · memoir · journalism · historical account