What are some of the best thriller/mystery books ever written?
Agatha Christie. Almost any book by her is great. Not for nothing is she called the Queen of Crime. Some of my favorites are:And Then There Were None : Classic locked room mystery. Bunch of people on an island, and one by one they start dying. But what makes it special is everyone dies. Then who's the murderer? The resolution of this question was pure genius. Must read.The Mysterious Affair At Styles : The book that introduced the world's second best* detective - Hercule Poirot. This is more along the lines of a typical Christie novel - a murder is committed, and suspicion falls on multiple people, and when Poirot finally cracks the case, you are forced to admire the audacity and brilliance of the killer.Partners In Crime : Not a novel, but a collection of short stories, but still really great. It does have an overall plot though. Tommy and Tuppence, husband wife and adventure seekers, solve each case by emulating the methods of other well known fictional detectives. Fun!*Because Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes blows him out of the water, IMHO. Not for nothing is he the most portrayed movie character. There's four novels and several short stories, and all are brilliant. The Hound of The Baskervilles in particular is just amazing. But really, you can pick up anything and be sure it's going to be great. If you can, get an edition with the original illustrations - they're really great.As for thrillers, my go to recommendation is Frederick Forsyth's The Day of The Jackal. The book is astoundingly well researched and realistic, to the point you'll be left wondering whether this is fiction or a real incident. Graeme Shimmin has done a great review here : The Spy's Library: The Day of the Jackal. Though this was Forsyth's best IMO, there are others that are also quite excellent : The Odessa File, The Icon, The Deceiver to name a few.Finally, this is rather unorthodox, but Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy. Technically, it's an epic fantasy, but it was intriguing and exciting enough that I couldn't put it down until I had read all the three books. I can't reveal much because of spoilers, but it has puzzles and mysteries and intrigue aplenty, apart from worldbuilding that will never cease to amaze you and a pace that'll keep you on your toes throughout. Do give it a try.