Love the mystery genre but tired of violent deaths?
Read on to find your next murderless mystery!
In one of my previous posts, I asked what mystery-related courses you’d like to take. Terry Odell answered,
I would like to see "Mystery Doesn't Have to Mean Murder." There are so many other crimes out there.
Indeed, there are, including some that aren’t violent. That brings up the interesting question: Why do the majority of books in the mystery genre center around murder?
I’m not sure. I’ve let a few ideas bounce around in my head, but I haven’t thought deeply about it. What are your thoughts? Leave a comment or just hit ‘reply’ to let me know!
In the meantime, if you’re yearning for a mystery without murder, I’ve put together a list of links to lists of murderless mysteries. (Well, that wasn’t confusing at all, was it?)
And if you’ve written a murder-free mystery, share it with us!
From Goodreads
Shelf: Non Murder Mystery Books | Goodreads
List: Murder-free Mystery Book titles for high-intensity suspense and/or mystery novels that do NOT include murder (not even a cozy murder mystery), nor revolve around a war, and are not sci-fi or dystopian in nature.
List: Mysteries Without Murder: Not all mysteries are strewn with corpses. Here is a list of entertaining tomes by some of the genre's most illustrious authors, and nary a stiff in the bunch!
List: The Best Mysteries Without Murder Cozy mysteries, mysteries and suspenseful novels without the murder and gore, but with just enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat.
List: Murder Free / Murderless Cozy Mysteries Cozy mysteries with crimes other than murder, such as theft, missing persons, and more.
Other lists
On HuffPost: Five Murderless Mysteries to Read Now by Linda Johns. The list includes a smart con, a heist, and various other non-violent crimes.
On BookRiot: Maybe Not Dead: 6 Kinds of Non-Murder Focused Mystery Plots, by Jamie Canaves. This is more about the various types of mystery plots, but Canaves gives multiple examples of each subgenre.
Reddit had multiple discussions and comments were helpful for finding murderless mysteries. Some titles were from other genres or blended genres, and a few were repeats. Alexander McCall Smith’s No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series was mentioned frequently, as was Dorothy Sayers’ Gaudy Night. Here’s a few relevant discussions:
Personal recommendations
The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh by Claudia Gray. I love this Jane Austen-inspired series, which follows the investigations of Jonathan Darcy (son of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett) and Juliet Tilney (daughter of Mr. Tilney and Catherine Moreland). Jonathan and Juliet have been summoned to Rosings Park to find who dares to threaten illustrious, most esteemed Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
An Excellent Mystery (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, #11) by Ellis Peters. In my teens, I devoured historical mysteries and Brother Cadfael was a favorite. This is the only novel in the series without a murder to solve, but Brother Cadfael must use his sleuthing skills—and hard-won wisdom—when he uncovers a dangerous secret.
What novels would you add to these lists?
I love a good mystery, but it is nearly impossible to find Mystery books that are not all about murder. I am sick and tired of all the murder. There is nothing cozy about murder. There have to be plenty of mysteries that mystery writers could pen that do not include a grisly murder.
I reiterate, MURDER is not COZY!