If you are a fantasy reader who also loves a hint of some mystery, we’ve got your back, here are our top picks of the Best Fantasy Mystery Books you can find as of 2022, from Lighthearted to the darkest of them, so read on:
16 Fantasy Mystery Books:
Dream of Death City By PJ Nwosu
This new series of intricate mysteries set in fantastical realms combines thrilling, dark fantasy with a heavy dose of Sherlock Holmes.
A cold frontier is haunted by pale moths. A frozen body is discovered in the snow beneath the shadow of a death god who has drowned.
To solve a horrible crime, investigators travel to a superstitious island. A soldier with sinister dreams and a humble slave who is eager to prove her worth are among them. Neither is ready for what they discover.
Nobody who escapes returns unscathed from the bizarre and terrible frontier of Death City.
Thora and Diem must first stay alive.
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Fairy Tale By Stephen King
Charlie Reade appears to be a typical high school student who excels at baseball and football and is a respectable student. But he is carrying a big load. When he was seven years old, his mother was killed in a hit-and-run accident, and his father’s grief led to alcoholism. Charlie picked up self-care skills while also teaching his father. When Charlie is seventeen years old, he meets Radar the dog and Howard Bowditch, an elderly recluse who lives alone in a sizable home at the top of a sizable hill with a locked shed in the backyard. Strange sounds occasionally emanate from it.
Charlie begins working for Mr. Bowditch and falls in love with Radar. After that, Bowditch leaves Charlie a cassette tape on which he tells a story that no one would ever believe. In the shed, there is a portal to another planet, which Bowditch is aware of and has kept a secret his entire long existence.
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The Dark Secrets of Oliveto By Stefano A. Giovannoni
Every state in the U.S. has one—that one little town where unexplainable events take place without the knowledge of the majority of its residents—where the lines separating the natural and paranormal intersect.
Some claim that the ley lines on which these settlements are situated are mystical, while others assert that European settlers brought their own superstitions and magic with them.
The spring break trip to Nico’s hometown of Oliveto with his best friend Sofia will reveal to them things they never knew existed and set them on an adventure filled with enigmatic hints, unusual creatures, magic, and secrets that will alter the path of their lives forever.
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White Cat By Holly Black
This gritty, fast-paced fantasy, the first in a trilogy, is full of surprises. Cassel hails from a mysterious, lineage of swindlers and con artists. He’s used to feeling like an outsider because he doesn’t fit in at home or school. Because he killed his best friend Lila years ago, he is also accustomed to feeling guilty.
But as the people around him start to lose their memories and Cassel starts to have strange dreams about a white cat, he starts to wonder what actually happened to Lila. In his quest for information, he comes upon a cunning power play that seemed destined to be successful. However, Cassel has other plans, including one to scam the con artists.
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Serenade: A Paranormal Fantasy Mystery By Morgan Shamy
November Huntington is made to attend a music school for the talented when she is sent away to live with her long-lost family; this wouldn’t be a problem if November were musical. She is a natural athlete who despises standing out from the crowd.
The students at the school are cautious of her presence and do not welcome her, particularly Vincent, a moody teenager who is engaged with evil spirits and who has the ability to stop time by playing the piano. In actuality, everyone in her class is preoccupied with playing their instruments. And when they do, strange things happen.
However, there is a problem with the school. Over the years, deaths have happened, with pupils turning up with their throats slit, much like November’s parents did.
A murderer is at large… Before she too joins the dead, November needs to find a method to stop whoever it is, manage her feelings for Vincent, and unravel the mystery behind her parents’ past.
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Murder and Magic By Randall Garrett
The Anglo-French Empire is ruled by the ancestors of Richard the Lionheart, and the laws of magic have replaced the laws of physics in this alternate reality depicted in this Sidewise Award-winning series starring detective Lord Darcy and his sorcerer companion, Sean O Lochlainn. Using his wits, a sharp eye for observation, and a few select magic tricks, Lord Darcy solves murders in the first four stories of the popular Lord Darcy series, Murder and Magic. Lord Darcy must determine who murdered the reticent playboy, the Count D’Evreux, in “The Eyes Have it.” Lord Darcy analyzes the unexplained disappearance of the Marquis of Cherbourg in the political thriller “A Case of Identity,” which is made all the more puzzling by the increasing cold war with Poland.
In “The Muddle of the Woad,” Lord Darcy and Master Sean look into a cadaver covered in blue paint that is already buried within a coffin intended for the late Duke of Kent. “In a Stretch of the Imagination” is a humorous literary work in which the head of a significant
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The Case Files of Henri Davenforth Series
The Night Foxes cause quite a commotion when they daringly enter the Fourth Precinct’s Evidence Building. The burglary is audacious enough, but their technique tears apart the building’s magical wards and defenses like tissue paper. It would be an understatement of the century to say that this has the cops “alarmed.”
Naturally, Henri Davenforth is summoned as a Magical Examiner right away. To his complete surprise, Captain Gregson assigns him to investigate the matter as a detective. What’s more amazing is that he partners Henri. The detective of Shinigami.
Nobody is really sure where she is from, but she is renowned for murdering the century’s most dangerous renegade witch. She either inspires awe in every precinct officer or gives them a little bit of pause. Henri is simply perplexed. What should he do when he has a partner?
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Between Two Thorns By Emma Newman
The Nether is a mirror-world located between Mundanus, the world of humans, and Exilium, the realm of the Fae. There, Fae-touched households that have remained devoted to their timeless lords have preserved the social structure of 19th-century England. Catherine Rhoeas-Papaver was born into this realm, but she flees it all to live a typical life in Mundanus, free from her parents and the rules of Fae-touched society. However, she is currently being forced to return and deal with an arranged marriage and all the trappings of high society that go along with it.
Max, an Arbiter of the Split Worlds covenant with a dislocated soul who polices the boundaries between the worlds to protect innocents from the Fae, crosses paths with Cathy. Max is compelled to enlist Cathy’s assistance in resolving a high-profile disappearance within the Nether following a spate of kidnappings and the murder of his fellow Arbiters. However, being caught up in the Fae’s schemes could be catastrophic for everyone concerned.
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Shades of Milk and Honey By Mary Robinette Kowal
Shades of Milk and Honey is exactly what Pride and Prejudice and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell would have been like if Jane Austen had been a fantasy author. It is a close-up depiction of a woman named Jane and her search for love in a society where mastering the art of manipulating glitz is valued highly.
Jane and her sister Melody compete for the attention of eligible men, and while Jane has a remarkable talent for glamour, Melody has a fair complexion. Jane pushes her abilities to the physical limits of her body in an effort to right the wrong after realizing that one of Melody’s suitors is determined to use her sister in order to obtain her dowry. However, in the process, she unintentionally stumbles into a love story of her own.
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The Shadows Between Us By Tricia Levenseller
They’ve never found the body of the first and only boy who broke my heart. And they never will.”
Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power:
1) Woo the Shadow King.
2) Marry him.
3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.
Nobody is aware of the full scope of the newly minted Shadow King’s power. Some claim that he has the ability to direct the swirling shadows around him. Others claim that they communicate with him, whispering his adversaries’ thoughts. Regardless, Alessandra is going to exert every effort within her power to obtain what she rightfully deserves.
However, Alessandra isn’t the only person attempting to murder the king. She discovers herself attempting to keep him alive long enough for him to crown her as his queen while also fighting the want to cry. After all, a crafty, evil queen is the ideal candidate for a Shadow King.
Read our Full review of The Shadow between us here
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The Affair of the Mysterious Letter By Alexis Hall
With a fresh take on those well-known characters, Alexis Hall pays homage to Sherlock Holmes in this endearing, funny, and strange fantasy Mystery book.
Captain John Wyndham finds himself looking for a place to live after spending five years waging a war in a different universe. Out of necessity, he settles on a room at 221b Martyrs Walk. Ms. Shaharazad Haas, a consulting sorceress with a volatile temperament and a bad reputation, is his new roommate.
Captain Wyndham is lured into a mystery when Ms. Haas is asked to investigate a case of blackmail against one of her old lovers, Miss Eirene Viola. The investigation takes him from the literary set’s salons to Ven’s waterlogged back lanes and even to a prison cell in the sunken Carcosa. He is pursued by criminals, threatened by pirates, harassed by vampires, almost consumed by crazy gods, and required to punch a shark along the way.
But the case becomes more improbable the further the friends travel in search of the elusive blackmailer. But in Khelathra-Ven, reality is malleable, and Ms. Haas excels at the seemingly impossible.
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Fear the Drowning Deep By Sarah Glenn Marsh
Bridey Corkill, age 16, is eager to leave her small island and travel, the farther away from the ocean, the better. When Bridey was a small girl, she saw something entice her grandfather to jump off a cliff and end up in a watery grave while smiling. When a young woman is discovered drowned on the beach in 1913, those eerie recollections are brought to the surface. Whatever caused her Granddad to leap, according to Bridey, has returned to the Isle of Man.
People in Bridey’s picture-perfect community soon start disappearing, and she discovers an injured boy on the coast who is an outsider and has no idea who or where he is. He is taken in by Bridey’s family so he may recover and rest. He gives Bridey lessons on how to overcome her fear of the sea in exchange for saving his life, winning her love in the process.
However, there is something evil in the water, and Bridey must muster the bravery to discover who—or what—is destroying her community and find a way to put an end to it before she loses everyone she cares about.
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ROLL OVER AND DIE By kiki
Flum Apricot was never meant to be a hero. Despite zero stats across the board and a power she can’t even use, she somehow finds herself included in a party of heroes. But Flum’s life hits rock bottom when the party’s renowned sage, Jean Inteige, decides that the useless girl is dead weight, and arranges to have her sold into slavery. Tossed to monsters to be feasted upon for her master’s entertainment, Flum makes the desperate choice to reach for a cursed weapon…and something new awakens within her. A grimdark tale about one woman’s blood-soaked quest to reclaim her life!
A dark Fantasy Isekai Light novel filled with mystery and intrigue that will make you gasp for more.
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The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter By Theodora Goss
Following the passing of her parents, Mary Jekyll is left alone and destitute and is interested in learning more about her father’s obscure past. There is a prize for information leading to the arrest of Edward Hyde, a murderer and former friend of her father, and one particular clue suggests that he may be nearby. This reward would eliminate all of her immediate financial problems.
However, Diana, Hyde’s daughter and a feral youngster reared by nuns, is where her search takes her. Mary continues her hunt for the elusive Hyde with the help of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and she quickly makes friends with three additional women: Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherin Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein, all of whom were produced through frightening experiments.
The horrors of their past resurface when their investigations uncover a covert organization of unethical and power-mad scientists. It’s now up to the monsters to defeat the monstrous for good.
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Magic for Liars By Sarah Gailey
Ivy Gamble was born without magic and never wanted it.
Ivy Gamble is perfectly happy with her life – or at least, she’s perfectly fine.
She doesn’t in any way wish she was like Tabitha, her estranged, gifted twin sister.
Ivy Gamble is a liar.
The Osthorne Academy of Young Mages, where her estranged twin sister teaches Theoretical Magic, is the scene of a horrific murder, and reluctance detective Ivy Gamble is drawn into this world of unimaginable power and perilous secrets. Without losing herself, she will have to track down the murderer and reclaim her sister.
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Sorcery & Cecelia: Or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot By Patricia C. Wrede
Kate and Cecelia, cousins, have been best friends since they were young. But as they get closer to adulthood in 1817, their families have them spend the summer apart. While Kate travels to London to socialize with the most prominent members of English society, Cecelia battles boredom in her small rural community. Kate finds herself alone with a mysterious witch who offers her a taste from a chocolate pot at the initiation of a strong magician into the Royal College of Wizards. When Kate declines the drink, the witch vanishes and the chocolate burns through her clothing. Only Kate and Cecelia appear to be able to thwart the plan, which appears to involve unusual powers gathering to eliminate a revered wizard in this Fantasy Mystery Books.
