5 Mysteries That Twisted Me Into Knots

by Deb Richardson-Moore

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5 books

I'm a big fan of the mystery ending that gobsmacks you, that sends you flipping back to the beginning to see how the author fooled you so completely. When I write my own mysteries, I want a reader to stay up late reading, then finish in astonishment, thinking, "Wow! Didn't see that coming!" In each of these five terrific novels, I salute the author's twistedness.

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We Need to Talk About Kevin

Lionel Shriver, 2011

What a nail-biter. This book about a school shooting is one of the most stunning and powerful books I've ever read. The author's agent initially turned it down, and it went on to win the 2005 Orange Prize for Fiction. Just let me say that Lionel Shriver's ending hit me like a body blow. I was forced to go back and see how her plot had confounded me so completely. (Don't even try to substitute the movie. It's incomprehensible.)

Defending Jacob

William Landay, 2017

You might think I have a thing about troubled young males, but it's their mothers who intrigue me. Young Jacob is accused of killing a schoolmate. Surely, with his loving parents and privileged background, he couldn't have done it. Could he?

The Almost Sisters

Joshilyn Jackson, 2017

Southern writer Joshilyn Jackson is one of my all-time favorites. Her mysteries are also Southern literature, with an irreverent sense of humor and an unerring sense of place. In The Almost Sisters, she confronts race and privilege, guilt and innocence. I was near the end before I picked up on a twist she'd embedded.

The Girl on the Train

Paula Hawkins, 2015

Who isn't intrigued by the idea of a voyeur peering into our lives, from a moving train no less? I know that some readers are tired of unreliable or alcoholic narrators, but I love the way this girl tells her convoluted story. The movie did an excellent job of capturing the book's surprises as well as its blockbuster finale.

Death Comes As the End

Agatha Christie, 2010

Well, you gotta include Agatha Christie on any list. I read this one decades ago and remember being stunned when the murderer was revealed. This is an unusual Dame Agatha story, set in ancient Egypt and inspired by her husband’s archeological digs. In my view, she can’t be topped. She’s also the one who introduced me to the unreliable narrator with her fabulous Murder of Roger Ackroyd.