BetterReads · A reading pathway
Puzzle mysteries
Fair-play clues and airtight plots — classics you can read free in BetterReads.
Step 1 · Styles
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Agatha Christie
Poirot’s debut method
Step 2 · Ackroyd
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Agatha Christie
A classic twist puzzle
Step 3 · Links
The Murder on the Links
Agatha Christie
Golden-age plotting
Step 4 · Adventures
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle
Casebook logic
Step 5 · The Hound
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Arthur Conan Doyle
Atmosphere and deduction
Step 6 · Edwin Drood
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Charles Dickens
Dickens’s unfinished whodunit
Step 7 · Partners
Partners in Crime
Agatha Christie
Tommy & Tuppence spoof the great detectives
Step 8 · Loveday Brooke
The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective
Catherine Louisa Pirkis
An early lady detective on impossible cases
Step 9 · Sword of Damocles
The Sword of Damocles
Anna Katharine Green
Gothic menace and a disputed inheritance
Step 10 · Murder by the Clock
Murder by the Clock
Rufus King
A locked-room race against time
Step 11 · Documents
The Documents in the Case
Dorothy L. Sayers
A forensic dossier of letters and poisoning
Step 12 · Hand and Ring
Hand and Ring
Anna Katharine Green
Gryce on a murder and a tell-tale ring
