Are you ready for 40 of the best Mystery and Crime Audiobooks to listen to on your next long road trip across the States? The MRC team picked out 40 of our favorite mystery audiobooks in different sub-genres from thriller audiobooks, cozy mysteries, true crime, and suspense audiobooks. We found some great audiobooks for everyone. So, get ready for the open road ahead with this list of good mystery audiobooks that will be great to listen to on your next road trip.
Listening to a mystery audiobook on long drives is an experience that transcends age, captivating the imagination of readers from all walks of life. The seamless fusion of audio storytelling and enigmatic plots offers an exhilarating escape from the mundane, making it a favorite pastime for avid readers seeking suspense and intrigue while driving or doing chores. In this blog post, we will explore the allure of mystery audiobooks that leave listeners yearning for more.
*Affiliate links are used in this article. The Mystery Review Crew is an Amazon Affiliate and, as such, earns from qualifying purchases. See our privacy policy and disclosures for more information.
From the very first moment, mystery audiobooks draw readers into their world with a carefully crafted atmosphere. The audiobook narrator’s voice sets the stage, evoking a sense of place and time that envelops the listener. Find some of the best books with chills and thrills in them in this 10 thriller audiobooks:
Thriller Audiobooks
1. All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers Narrated by Brittany Pressley & Karissa Vacker. Now if that name sounds familiar it’s because Ashley Flowers is the host of Crime Junkies, a podcast dedicated to helping solve true crime mysteries. *This is one of our favorite books and the perfect choice for a long trip.
Everyone from Wakarusa, Indiana, remembers the infamous murder mystery case of January Jacobs, who was discovered in a ditch hours after her family awoke to find her gone. Margot Davies was six at the time, the same age as January—and they were next-door neighbors. In the twenty years since, Margot has grown up, moved away, and become a big-city journalist. But she’s always been haunted by the feeling that it could’ve been her. And the worst part is, January’s killer has never been brought to justice.
When Margot returns home to help care for her uncle after he is diagnosed with early-onset dementia, she feels like she’s walked into a time capsule. Wakarusa is exactly how she remembers—genial, stifled, secretive. Then news breaks about five-year-old Natalie Clark from the next town over, who’s gone missing under circumstances eerily similar to January’s. With all the old feelings rushing back, Margot vows to find Natalie and to solve January’s murder once and for all.
But the police, Natalie’s family, the townspeople—they all seem to be hiding something. And the deeper Margot digs into Natalie’s disappearance, the more resistance she encounters, and the colder January’s case feels. Could January’s killer still be out there? Is it the same person who took Natalie? And what will it cost to finally discover what truly happened that night twenty years ago?
Twisty, chilling, and intense, All Good People Here is a searing tale that asks: What are your neighbors capable of when they think no one is watching?
Listen time: 10 hours and 35 minutes
Read more on Amazon
2 The Maid’s Diary by Loreth Anne White Narrated by Jane Oppenheimer
Kit Darling is a maid with a snooping problem. She’s the “invisible girl,” compelled to poke into her wealthy clients’ closely guarded lives. It’s a harmless hobby until Kit sees something she can’t unsee in the home of her brand-new clients: a secret so dark it could destroy the privileged couple expecting their first child. This makes Kit dangerous to the couple. In turn, it makes the couple—who might kill to keep their secret—dangerous to Kit.
When homicide cop Mallory Van Alst is called to a scene at a luxury waterfront home known as the Glass House, she’s confronted with evidence of a violent attack so bloody it’s improbable the victim is alive. But there’s no body. The homeowners are gone. And their maid is missing. The only witness is the elderly woman next door, who woke to screams in the night. The neighbor was also the last person to see Kit Darling alive.
As Mal begins to uncover the secret that has sent the lives of everyone involved on a devious and inescapable collision course, she realizes that nothing is quite as it seems. And no one escapes their past..
Listen time: 12 hours and 10 minutes
Read more on Amazon
3 The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine, Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman & Meghan Wolf
Amber Patterson is fed up. She’s tired of being a nobody: a plain, invisible woman who blends into the background. She deserves more – a life of money and power like the one blond-haired, blue-eyed goddess Daphne Parrish takes for granted.
To everyone in the exclusive town of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut, Daphne – a socialite and philanthropist – and her real-estate mogul husband, Jackson, are a couple straight out of a fairy tale.
Amber’s envy could eat her alive…if she didn’t have a plan. Amber uses Daphne’s compassion and caring to insinuate herself into the family’s life – the first step in a meticulous scheme to undermine her. Before long Amber is Daphne’s closest confidante, traveling to Europe with the Parrishes and their lovely young daughters and growing closer to Jackson. But a skeleton from her past may undermine everything that Amber has worked toward, and if it is discovered, her well-laid plan may fall to pieces.
With shocking turns and dark secrets that will keep you guessing until the very end, The Last Mrs. Parrish is a fresh, juicy, and utterly addictive thriller from a diabolically imaginative talent.
Listen Time: 12 hours
Read more on Amazon
4 Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell, Narrated by Helen Duff
Fifteen-year-old Ellie Mack was the perfect daughter. She was beloved by her parents, friends, and teachers. She and her boyfriend made a teenage golden couple. She was days away from an idyllic summer vacation, with her whole life ahead of her. And then she was gone.
Now her mother, Laurel Mack, is trying to put her life back together. It’s been 10 years since her daughter disappeared, seven years since her marriage ended, and only months since the last clue in Ellie’s case was unearthed. So when she meets an unexpectedly charming man in a cafe, she is surprised at how quickly their flirtation develops into something deeper. Before she knows it, she’s meeting Floyd’s daughters – and his youngest, Poppy, takes her breath away. Looking at her is like looking at Ellie. And now the unanswered questions she has tried so hard to put to rest haunt her anew…as well as some new ones about Floyd and Poppy….
Listen Time: 10 hours and 12 minutes
Read more on Amazon
5 Drift: Rachel Hatch by L.T. Ryan & Brian Shea, Narrated by Marnye Young
They killed the wrong girl. Rachel Hatch will make them pay.
Ex-Army criminal investigator Rachel Hatch is a drifter. No home. No commitments. Until her sister’s drowning drags her back to the town she left 15 years ago.
Convinced her sister’s death was no accident, Hatch partners with the local sheriff, Dalton Savage, to uncover the truth. Every answer unlocks another question, and as the investigation begins to unravel, Hatch and Savage find their lives on the line.
Hatch is forced to use her special set of skills – forged on the field of combat – to learn the truth about her sister and bring those responsible to justice.
The first novel in one of the most highly anticipated collaborative series this decade, Drift is a tightly woven story with deeply developed and endearing characters that will have you rooting for them at every turn, set at an exhilarating pace that will keep you listening late into the night.
Listen Time: 7 hours and 5 minutes
Read more on Amazon
6 Open Carry by Marc Cameron, Narrated by David Chandler
Law enforcement veteran Marc Cameron brings an explosive authenticity to this powerful new US Marshal series.
Arliss Cutter is a hero for our times. And his hunt for justice cuts straight to the bone….
US Marshal Arliss Cutter is a born tracker. Raised in the swamplands of Florida, he honed his skills in the military, fought in the Middle East, and worked three field positions for Marshal Services. When it comes to tracking someone down – or taking someone out – Cutter’s the best.
But his newest assignment is taking him out of his comfort zone to southeast Alaska. Cold, dark, uninhabited forests that are often shrouded in fog. And it’s the kind of case that makes his blood run cold…the shocking murder of a Tlingit Indian girl.
Three people have disappeared on Prince of Wales Island. Two are crew members of the reality TV show, Fishwives. Cutter’s job is to find the bodies, examine the crew’s footage for clues, and track down the men who killed them. Easier said than done. Especially when the whole town is hiding secrets, every trail is a dead end – and the hunter becomes the hunted….
Listen Time:11 hours 31 minutes
Read more on Amazon
7 The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, Narrated by Jack Hawkins & Louise Brealey
The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband – and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.
Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening, her husband, Gabriel, returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face and then never speaks another word.
Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.
Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations – a search for the truth that threatens to consume him….
Listen Time: 8 hours and 51 minutes
Read more on Amazon
8 The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave, Narrated by Rebecca Lowman
Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers—Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.
As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a US marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.
Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they’re also building a new future—one neither of them could have anticipated.
With its breakneck pacing, dizzying plot twists, and evocative family drama, The Last Thing He Told Me is a riveting mystery, certain to shock you with its final, heartbreaking turn.
Listen Time: 8 hours and 49 minutes
Read more on Amazon
9 Verity by Colleen Hoover, Narrated by Vanessa Johansson & Amy Landon
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.
Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of the night her family was forever altered.
Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents could devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue loving her.
Length 8 hours 10 minutes
Read more on Amazon
10 The Perfect Wife: A Jessie Hunt Psychological Suspense Thriller by Blake Pierce, Narrator Laura Bannister (the first book in the series).
Criminal profiler in training (and newlywed) Jessie Hunt, 29, discovers that dark secrets lurk in her new suburban town; when a body turns up dead, she finds herself caught in the crosshairs of her newfound friends, her husband’s secrets, her serial killer caseload – and the secrets of her own dark past.
In The Perfect Wife, criminal profiler in training Jessie Hunt is sure she’s finally put the darkness of her childhood behind her. She and her husband, Kyle, just moved from a cramped downtown Los Angeles apartment into a Westport Beach mansion. Kyle’s promotion has them swimming in money. And Jessie is on the verge of getting her master’s degree in forensic psychology, the last step in her dream of becoming a criminal profiler.
But soon after their arrival, Jessie begins to notice a series of strange developments. The neighbors – and their au pairs – all seem to be hiding secrets. The mysterious yacht club Kyle is desperate to join is rife with cheating spouses and with troubling rules of its own. And the notorious serial killer being held at the psychiatric hospital where Jessie is completing her degree seems to know more about her life than is normal – or safe.
As her world starts to unravel, Jessie begins to question everything around her – including her own sanity. Has she truly uncovered a disturbing conspiracy buried within a sunny, wealthy Southern California beach town? Does the mass murderer she’s studying really somehow know the origin of her private nightmares? Or has her tortured past finally come back to claim her?
A fast-paced psychological suspense thriller with unforgettable characters and heart-pounding suspense, The Perfect Wife is audiobook one in a riveting new series that will leave you listening late into the night.
Listen Time: 8 hours and 15 minutes
Read more on Amazon
*Bonus: If you like a bit more horror in your good audiobooks I would check out Stephen King’s The Outsider, it is one of our favorite Audiobooks in the supernatural horror genre!
An unspeakable crime. A confounding investigation. At a time when the King brand has never been stronger, he has delivered one of his most unsettling and compulsively listenable stories.
An 11-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.
As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King’s propulsive story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can.
Listen Time: 18 hours and 41 minutes
Read more on Amazon
Here are 10 Cozy Mystery Audiobooks that are perfect for long car rides and family road trips with classic whodunnits, women sleuths, and plot twists you didn’t see coming
Each footfall in a dimly lit alley, every creak of an old mansion’s floorboards, and the haunting echoes of an abandoned asylum come to life in the minds of listeners. This immersive experience captures our attention, allowing us a great way to unravel good mysteries alongside the characters. One reason we like listening to cozy mysteries is that they are intriguing who-dun-it, detective mysteries that are usually lighthearted and are like going on an adventure with your best friend. So if a thriller audiobook isn’t your thing, here are 10 cozy mysteries that the whole family can enjoy.
11 Tomboy by Shelley Blanton-Stroud, Narrated by April Doty
It’s 1939. Jane’s got five days at sea to solve the murder of a Wimbledon champion’s coach and submit a gossip column that tells the truth. If not the facts….
On the brink of World War II, Jane Benjamin wants to have it all. By day she hustles as a scruffy, tomboy cub reporter. By night, she secretly struggles to raise her toddler sister, Elsie, and protect her from their mother. But Jane’s got a plan: she’ll become the San Francisco Prospect’s first gossip columnist and make enough money to care for Elsie.
Jane finagles her way to the women’s championship at Wimbledon, starring her hometown’s tennis phenom and cover girl Tommie O’Rourke. She plans to write her first column there. But then she witnesses Edith “Coach” Carlson, Tommie’s closest companion, drop dead in the stands of an apparent heart attack, and her plan is thrown off track.
While sailing home on the RMS Queen Mary, Jane veers between competing instincts: Should she write a social bombshell column, personally damaging her new friend Tommie’s persona and career? Or should she work to uncover the truth of Coach’s death, which she now knows was a murder, and its connection to a larger conspiracy involving US participation in the coming war?
Putting away her menswear and donning first-class ballgowns, Jane discovers what upper-class status hides, protects, and destroys. Ultimately—like nations around the globe in 1939—she must choose what she’ll give up in order to do what’s right..
Listen Time: 8 hours and 24 minutes
Read more on Amazon
12 Murder on Pointe: A Fiona Quinn Mystery by C.S. McDonald, Narrated by Maren Swenson Waxenberg
Fiona can’t wait to attend the performance of Coppelia at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh. Her old friend, Silja Ramsay, is dancing the principal role. They have dinner after the show, but when they return Pittsburgh Ballet Theater is down one dancer! Ballerina, Alexis Cartwright, has been found dead in the dressing room. Is this murder a result of hot tempers among the cast members? Or is it a random act of violence? Will there be more murders? Homicide Detective Nathan Landry isn’t taking any chances. After finding out Fiona has a strong background in ballet, he recruits her to go undercover among the cast of Coppelia. Can Fiona help catch a killer, or will she be the next victim?
Listen Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes
Read more on Amazon
13 It’s Murder, My Son by Lauren Carr, Narrated by Mike Alger
What started out as the worst day of Mac Faraday’s life would end up being a new beginning. After a messy divorce hearing, the last person that Mac wanted to see was another lawyer. Yet, this lawyer wore the expression of a child bursting to tell his secret, which would reveal Mac as heir to undreamed of fortunes and lead him to the birthplace of America’s Queen of Mystery and an investigation that will unfold like one of her famous mystery novels.
Soon after she moves to her new lakefront home in Spencer, Maryland, multi-millionaire Katrina Singleton learns that life in an exclusive community is not all good. For some unknown reason, a strange man calling himself “Pay Back” begins stalking her. When Katrina is found strangled, all evidence points to her terrorist, who is nowhere to be found.
Three months later, the file on her murder is still open with only vague speculations from the local police department when Mac Faraday, sole heir to his unknown birth mother’s home and fortune, moves into the estate next door. Little does he know as he drives up to Spencer Manor that he is driving into a closed-gate community that is hiding more suspicious deaths than his DC workload as a homicide detective. With the help of his late mother’s journal, this retired cop puts all his detective skills to work to pick up where the local investigators have left off to follow the clues to Katrina’s killer.
Listen Time: 9 hours and 7 minutes
Read more on Amazon
14 Cheddar Off Dead by Korina Moss, Narrated by Erin Moon
Cheesemonger Willa Bauer is proving that sweet dreams are made of cheese. She’s opened her very own French-inspired cheese shop, Curds & Whey, in the heart of the Sonoma Valley. The small town of Yarrow Glen is Willa’s fresh start, and she’s determined to make it a success – starting with a visit from the local food critic. What Willa didn’t know is that this guy never gives a good review, and when he shows up, nothing goes according to plan. She doesn’t think the night can get any worse…until she finds the critic’s dead body, stabbed with one of her shop’s cheese knives. Now a prime suspect, Willa has always believed life’s problems can be solved with cheese, but she’s never tried to apply it to murder….
Listen Time: 7 hours and 45 minutes
Read more on Amazon
15 The Greenleaf Murders: A Historic Homes Mystery by R. J. Koreto, Narrated by Emily Sutton-Smith
Young architect Wren Fontaine lands her dream job: restoring Greenleaf House, New York’s finest Gilded-Age mansion, to its glory days. But old homes have old secrets: Stephen Greenleaf—heir to what’s left of his family’s legacy—refuses to reveal what his plans are once the renovation is completed. And still living in a corner of the home is Stephen’s ninety-year-old Aunt Agnes who’s lost in the past, brooding over a long-forgotten scandal while watching Wren with mistrust.
Wren’s job becomes more complex when a shady developer who was trying to acquire Greenleaf House is found murdered. And after breaking into a sealed attic, Wren finds a skeleton stuffed in a trunk. She soon realizes the two deaths, a century apart, are strangely related. Meanwhile, a distraction of a different kind appears in the form of her client’s niece, the beautiful and seductive Hadley Vanderwerf. As Wren gingerly approaches a romance, she finds that Hadley has her own secrets.
Then a third murder occurs, and the introverted architect is forced to think about people, and about how ill-fated love affairs and obsessions continue to haunt the Greenleafs. In the end, Wren risks her own life to uncover a pair of murderers, separated by a century but connected by motive. She reveals an odd twist in the family tree that forever changes the lives of the Greenleafs, the people who served them, the mansion they all called home—and even Wren herself.
Listen Time: 9 hours and 22 minutes
Read more on Amazon
And if you’d like to read more about the Author check out our Spotlight on R.J. Koreto
16 Girl with a Gun: Annie Oakley Mysteries by Kari Bovee, Narrated by Susanna Burney
Fifteen-year-old Annie Oakley is the sole supporter of her widowed mother and two younger siblings. An expert markswoman and independent spirit, she hunts game to sell to the local mercantile to make ends meet instead of accepting a marriage proposal that could solve all her problems, including the impending foreclosure of her family’s farm.
After a stunning performance in a shooting contest against famous sharpshooter Frank Butler, Annie is offered a position in the renowned Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Finally, she has a chance to save her family’s farm and make her dreams come true.
But after her catapult to fame, a series of crimes take place in the Wild West Show, including the death of Annie’s Indian assistant. The coroner claims the death was due to natural causes, but Annie is unconvinced. Then, her prized horse Buck – a major part of her act – is stolen, and she realizes that someone is out to get her.
With the help of a sassy, blue-blooded reporter, Annie sets out to find her horse, solve the crimes, and clear her good name, before everything she’s worked for is destroyed.
Listen Time: 9 hours and 24 minutes
Read more about Girl with a Gun on Amazon or read our Author Interview with Kari Bovée
17 No Filter: Barks & Beans Cafe Cozy Mystery by Heather Day Gilbert, Narrated by, Brittany Goodwin
Welcome to the Barks & Beans Cafe, a quaint place where folks pet shelter dogs while enjoying a cup of java…and where murder sometimes pays a visit. Fed up with her go-nowhere job, newly single Macy Hatfield moves back to her small hometown in West Virginia. She joins forces with her brother Bo in his crazy new venture – the Barks & Beans Cafe, which caters to dog lovers and coffee drinkers alike.
When a golf instructor is murdered at the nearby spiritual center, Macy winds up adopting his Great Dane. Just after Macy finds a mysterious message sewn under the dog’s collar, her Dane is dognapped. She launches into a relentless search for her newfound canine friend, but along the way, she digs up a cruel and confident killer.
Join siblings Macy and Bo Hatfield as they sniff out crimes in their hometown…with plenty of dogs along for the ride! The Barks & Beans Cafe cozy mystery series features a small town, an amateur sleuth, and no swearing or graphic scenes.
Listen Time: 6 hours and 24 minutes
Read more on Amazon
18 With Neighbors Like These: The HOA Mystery Series (Book 1) by Linda Lovely, Narrated by Barbara Henslee & Aven Shore
Managing an HOA is murder …
He championed shooting deer inside the HOA’s nature sanctuary. Now his corpse is posed curbside, cradling a trophy deer head. The theatrical murder panics residents, and Ted Welch asks Kylee Kane, retired Coast Guard investigator, to help his HOA management firm calm fears. Kylee agrees. Her own mother is getting death threats over her crusade to protect the deer.
HOA = DOA terror reigns …
When a belligerent owner in another HOA is murdered, terror reigns. The Sheriff’s Department blames Ted for letting HOA feuds spiral into homicide. Kylee discovers links between the victims and suspects a recently-pardoned general is next. Authorities and the arrogant general dismiss her warning. Can she foil the third act in the crafty killer’s death-as-theater game or will she be the next corpse on display?
Listen Time: 10 hours and 2 minutes
Read more on Amazon
19 Domestic Affairs: A Tiara Investigations Mystery by Lane Stone, Narrated by Carol Herman
Aging Georgia beauty queens – Leigh, Tara, and Victoria – are at it again! When they arrive at a restaurant for a meeting with a potential client (whom they’ve designated Pop Tart) for their budding private eye firm Tiara Investigations, they find the man dead – face down in a bowl of salsa. What’s going on? The man was only concerned about his daughter’s husband’s fidelity, but this death has all the trappings of murder. Before the trio can wave queen-like, the restaurant manager and the police arrive, and they are only able to surreptitiously grab a few clues from the crime scene. When the threesome gather the next day to attend Tara’s boyfriend’s stepfather’s funeral, they are aghast to discover that their dead almost-client is the honoree.
Soon, more coincidences occur as the dead man disappears, then reappears. The girls put their beautifully coiffed heads together to discuss the clues they’ve gathered to Pop Tart’s murder. Just what is the meaning of the strange terms he wrote on his napkin? Just what is the significance of the words the waiter overheard him mutter before he died? And why is Homeland Security involved? Will these clues lead to nowhere or will Tiara Investigations put it all together, find the killer, and save the day? They can and they will, because for this bevy of beauties, it’s more than just Domestic Affairs.
Listen Time: 6 hours and 11 minutes
Read more on Amazon
20 Death Overdue: A Haunted Library Mystery by Allison Brook, Narrated by Mia Gaskin
Carrie Singleton is just about done with Clover Ridge, Connecticut until she is offered a job as the head of programs and events at the spooky local library, complete with its own librarian ghost. Her first major event is a program presented by a retired homicide detective, Al Buckley, who claims he knows who murdered Laura Foster, a much-loved part-time library aide who was bludgeoned to death 15 years earlier. As he invites members of the audience to share stories about Laura, he suddenly keels over and dies.
The medical examiner reveals that poison is what did him in, and Carrie feels responsible for having gone forward with the program despite pushback from her director. Driven by guilt, Carrie is determined to discover who murdered the detective, convinced it’s the same man who killed Laura all those years ago. Luckily for Carrie, she has a friendly, knowledgeable ghost by her side. But as she questions the shadows surrounding Laura’s case, disturbing secrets come to light, and with each step Carrie takes, she gets closer to ending up like Al.
Listen Time: 9 hours and 27 minutes
Read more on Amazon
True Crime Audiobooks
For those with an insatiable appetite for real-life mysteries, true crime audiobooks offer a chilling yet captivating experience. Delving into real criminal cases, these narratives provide a glimpse into the darkest corners of the human psyche. Listeners are drawn into the gripping accounts of notorious crimes, missing persons cases, unsolved mysteries, and the relentless pursuit of justice. The sense of realism and the knowledge that these events actually occurred make true crime audiobooks an alluring choice for mystery enthusiasts seeking a unique blend of factual storytelling and suspenseful intrigue. Warning: True Crime Audiobooks abound and may leave you paranoid. Here are some of our favorites, but please note: listener discretion is advised. Most true crime audiobooks deal with sensitive topics and triggers that may not be suitable for a younger audience:
21 American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan, Narrated by Amy Landon
Ted Bundy. John Wayne Gacy. Jeffrey Dahmer. The names of notorious serial killers are usually well-known; they echo in the news and in public consciousness. But most people have never heard of Israel Keyes, one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history. The FBI considered his behavior unprecedented. Described by a prosecutor as “a force of pure evil”, Keyes was a predator who struck all over the United States. He buried “kill kits” – cash, weapons, and body-disposal tools – in remote locations across the country. Over the course of 14 years, Keyes would fly to a city, rent a car, and drive thousands of miles in order to use his kits. He would break into a stranger’s house, abduct his victims in broad daylight, and kill and dispose of them in mere hours. And then he would return home to Alaska, resuming life as a quiet, reliable construction worker devoted to his only daughter.
When journalist Maureen Callahan first heard about Israel Keyes in 2012, she was captivated by how a killer of this magnitude could go undetected by law enforcement for over a decade. And so began a project that consumed her for the next several years – uncovering the true story behind how the FBI ultimately caught Israel Keyes, and trying to understand what it means for a killer like Keyes to exist. A killer who left a path of monstrous, randomly committed crimes in his wake – many of which remain unsolved to this day.
American Predator is the ambitious culmination of years of interviews with key figures in law enforcement and in Keyes’s life, and research uncovered from classified FBI files. Callahan takes us on a journey into the chilling, nightmarish mind of a relentless killer, and to the limitations of traditional law enforcement.
Listening Time: 9 hours and 3 minutes
Read more on Amazon
22 If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood by Gregg Olsen, Narrated by Karen Peakes
After more than a decade, when sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek hear the word mom, it claws like an eagle’s talons, triggering memories that have been their secret since childhood. Until now.
For years, behind the closed doors of their farmhouse in Raymond, Washington, their sadistic mother, Shelly, subjected her girls to unimaginable abuse, degradation, torture, and psychic terrors. Through it all, Nikki, Sami, and Tori developed a defiant bond that made them far less vulnerable than Shelly imagined. Even as others were drawn into their mother’s dark and perverse web, the sisters found the strength and courage to escape an escalating nightmare that culminated in multiple murders.
Harrowing and heartrending, If You Tell is a survivor’s story of absolute evil – and the freedom and justice that Nikki, Sami, and Tori risked their lives to fight for. Sisters forever, victims no more, they found a light in the darkness that made them the resilient women they are today – loving, loved, and moving on.
Listen Time: 10 hours and 34 minutes
Read more on Amazon
23 Everything She Ever Wanted by Ann Rule, Narrated by Cassandra Campbell
WAS SHE A SWEET SOUTHERN CHARMER? OR A COLD-BLOODED KILLER?
For their wedding portrait, petite Pat Taylor and handsome Tom Allanson posed as Rhett and Scarlett. Both came from fine Southern families and dreamed of the Tara-like plantation where they would grow roses, raise horses, and move in the genteel circles of Atlanta society. Less than two months later, their dream exploded in terror and murder: their beautiful home mysteriously burned to the ground and Tom was convicted of the brutal slaying of his mother and father.
Pat’s only brother had died in a puzzling suicide, her grandparents-in-law were poisoned with arsenic, and no one—from her wealthy employers to her own children—was safe when Pat Allanson didn’t get her way. It took Georgia lawmen more than two decades to stop her for good—if indeed they have.
In this fascinating account, Ann Rule delivers a tour de force: a whirlwind of misguided love, denial, guilt, and passions out of control; a series of brilliantly manipulated crimes; the bizarre and horrifying tale of two families brought to ruin; and, at the center of it all, the heartless, supremely selfish sociopath whose evil hid behind soft words and gentle manners, but who destroyed—without mercy—those who loved her.
Listening Time: 20 hours and 23 minutes
Read more on Amazon
24 Murder of Innocence by James Patterson, Narrated by Stephen Graybill
Dive into two dark stories of crime and murder from best-selling author James Patterson, and can be seen on ID, inspired by true crime horrors where murder isn’t always the worst thing that can happen to you.
Murder of Innocence: It’s impossible to resist Andrew Luster. He’s rich, charming, and good-looking, and dozens of women have fallen under his spell. But Andrew is no mere womanizer. He’s a predator, and it’ll take a global effort to put him behind bars. (With Max DiLallo.)
A Murderous Affair: Mark Putnam is a rookie FBI agent given his first assignment in a remote part of Kentucky, a land of coal miners and meth dealers. Within his first months on the job, a young female informant named Susan Smith helps him make a big break in an important case. Rumors begin circulating that the agent and his informant are having an affair. After Susan starts telling people that she is pregnant with the FBI agent’s baby, she suddenly disappears.
Listen Time: 6 hours and 21 minutes
Read more on Amazon
25 The Doomsday Mother: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and the End of an American Family by John Glatt, Narrated by Shaun Grindell
At first, the residents of Kauai Beach Resort took little notice of their new neighbors. The glamorous blonde and her tall husband fit the image of the ritzy gated community. The couple seemed to keep to themselves – until the police knocked on their door with a search warrant. Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell had fled to Hawaii in the midst of being investigated for the disappearance of Lori’s children back in Idaho – Tylee and JJ – who hadn’t been seen alive in five months.
For years, Lori Vallow had been devoted to her children and her Mormon faith. But when her path crossed with Chad Daybell, a religious zealot who taught his followers how to prepare for the end-times, the tumultuous relationship transformed her into someone unrecognizable. As authorities searched for Lori’s children, they uncovered more suspicious deaths with links to both Lori and Chad, including the death of Lori’s third and fourth husbands, her brother, and Chad’s wife.
In June 2020, the gruesome remains of JJ and Tylee were discovered on Chad’s property, and the newlyweds were arrested and charged with murder. And in a shocking development, horrifying statements revealed that the couple’s fanatical beliefs had convinced them the children had become zombies – a belief that may have led to their deaths.
Listen Time: 8 hours and 38 minutes
Read more on Amazon
26 The Girl in the Leaves by Robert Scott, Narrated by Callie Beaulieu
In the fall of 2010, in the all-American town of Apple Valley, Ohio, four people disappeared without a trace: Stephanie Sprang; her friend, Tina Maynard; and Tina’s two children, 13-year-old Sarah and 11-year-old Kody. Investigators began scouring the area, yet despite an extensive search, no signs of the missing people were discovered.
On the fourth day of the search, evidence trickled in about neighborhood “weirdo” Matthew Hoffman. A police SWAT team raided his home and found an extremely disturbing sight: every square inch of the place was filled with leaves and a terrified Sarah Maynard was bound up in the middle of it like some sort of perverted autumn tableau. But there was no trace of the others.
Then came Hoffman’s confession to an unspeakable crime that went beyond murder and defied all reason. His tale of evil would make Sarah’s survival and rescue all the more astonishing – a compelling tribute to a young girl’s resilience and courage and to her fierce determination to reclaim her life in the wake of unimaginable wickedness.
Listen Time: 7 hours and 55 minutes
Read more on Amazon
27 Unsolved Serial Killers: Volume 1: 10 Frightening True Crime Cases of Unidentified Serial Killers (The Ones You’ve Never Heard Of) by D.R. Werner, Narrated by James Meunier
Discover the chilling true stories of killers who stalked their victims undetected and remain free to this day….
While you’re likely familiar with the famous serial killers who have had their faces plastered on every television screen, that’s only part of the picture. One reason that people find these criminals so compelling is because they can rest easy at night knowing justice has been served and the world has been made a little safer. Yes, these killers are shocking and perverse, yet there’s a sense of comfort in knowing they won’t be hunting for victims any time soon.
But what about those who go undetected? In Unsolved Serial Killers, here is just a fraction of what you will discover:
- Explorations of the cities and historical contexts of the killings, so you understand the atmosphere when they were taking place
- In-depth profiles of the victims of each killer and what happened to them
- Comprehensive looks at the investigations, suspects, and actions of law enforcement while trying to identify the perpetrators
- The conspiracy theories and lasting legacies that surround these unknown predators
- The methodology of the killers and what those distinct patterns might reveal about their twisted inner psyche
- Public reactions to the murder sprees and the surprising ways that public opinion influenced investigations
- And much more
Listen Time: 3 hours and 10 minutes
Read more on Amazon
28 Vanished in Vermillion: The Real Story of South Dakota’s Most Infamous Cold Case by Lou Raguse (Author & Narrator)
The result of hundreds of interviews, Vanished in Vermillion is a cold case story that flips the script on a typical investigation narrative, revealing the biggest law enforcement embarrassment in South Dakota history.
In May 1971, Pam Jackson and Sherri Miller were two seventeen-year-olds driving to an end-of-the-school-year party in a rundown Studebaker Lark, when they seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth. Police back then didn’t do enough to try and find them. Investigators thirty years later did too much. Two families endure decades of pain as they await answers of what happened to their girls. When a third family is pulled into the mystery, they quickly learn their nightmare is just beginning.
Listen Time: 9 hours and 40 minutes
Read more on Amazon
29 Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas & Mark Olshaker, Narrated by Richard M. Davidson
Discover the classic behind-the-scenes chronicle of John E. Douglas’ 25-year career in the FBI Investigative Support Unit, where he used psychological profiling to delve into the minds of the country’s most notorious serial killers and criminals – the basis for the upcoming Netflix original series.
In chilling detail, the legendary Mindhunter takes us behind the scenes of some of his most gruesome, fascinating, and challenging cases – and into the darkest recesses of our worst nightmares.
During his 25-year career with the Investigative Support Unit, Special Agent John Douglas became a legendary figure in law enforcement, pursuing some of the most notorious and sadistic serial killers of our time: the man who hunted prostitutes for sport in the woods of Alaska, the Atlanta child murderer, and Seattle’s Green River killer, the case that nearly cost Douglas his life.
As the model for Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs, Douglas has confronted, interviewed, and studied scores of serial killers and assassins, including Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, and Ed Gein, who dressed himself in his victims’ peeled skin. Using his uncanny ability to become both predator and prey, Douglas examines each crime scene, reliving both the killer’s and the victim’s actions in his mind, creating their profiles, describing their habits, and predicting their next moves.
Listening Time: 15 hours and 24 minutes
Read more on Amazon
30 Tears of the Silenced by Misty Griffin, Narrated by Cassandra Campbell
A true crime memoir: When Misty was six years old, her family started to live and dress like the Amish. Misty and her sister were kept as slaves on a mountain ranch where they were subjected to almost complete isolation, sexual abuse, and extreme physical violence. Their stepfather kept a loaded rifle by the door at all times to make sure the young girls were too terrified to try to escape. They also knew that no rescue would ever come because only a couple of people even knew they existed and did not know them well enough to care.
Amish sexual abuse: When Misty reached her teens, her parents feared she and her sister would escape and took them to an Amish community where they were adopted and became baptized members. Misty was devastated to once again find herself in a world of fear, animal cruelty, and sexual abuse. Going to the police was severely frowned upon. A few years later, Misty was sexually assaulted by the bishop. As Misty recalls, “Amish sexual abusers are only shunned by the church for six weeks, a punishment that never seems to work. After I was assaulted by the bishop I knew I had to get help and one freezing morning in early March I made a dash for a tiny police station in rural Minnesota. After reporting the bishop I left the Amish and found myself plummeted into the strange modern world with only a second-grade education and no ID or social security card. To all abuse survivors out there, please be encouraged, the cycle of abuse can be broken. Today, I am a nursing student working towards my master’s degree and a child abuse awareness activist. This is my story.”
Listen Time: 11 hours and 38 minutes
Read more on Amazon
Full-on Suspense Audiobooks
A mystery audiobook wouldn’t be complete without its labyrinthine plot. Authors expertly weave unexpected twists and turns, ensuring listeners are kept on the edge of their seats throughout. Every new revelation adds another layer to the puzzle, challenging preconceived notions and keeping the mind engaged. These unforeseen plot twists create an addictive listening experience, urging listeners to constantly speculate and analyze clues, leading them down a path filled with anticipation and excitement. So, last but certainly not least we bring you to our round-up of 10 suspense books that will have you on the edge of your seat this next road trip!
31 The Devil’s Hand by Jack Carr, Narrated by Ray Porter
It’s been 20 years since 9/11, two decades since the United States was attacked on home soil and set out to make the guilty pay with their lives. In the shadows, the enemy has been patient – learning, and adapting. And the enemy is ready to strike again.
A new president offers hope to a country weary of conflict. He’s a young, popular, self-made visionary…but he’s also a man with a secret.
Halfway across the globe a regional superpower struggles with sanctions imposed by the United States and her European allies, a country whose ancient religion spawned a group of ruthless assassins. Faced with internal dissent and extrajudicial targeted killings by the United States and Israel, the Supreme Leader puts a plan in motion to defeat the most powerful nation on earth.
Meanwhile, a young PhD student has gained access to a bioweapon thought to be confined to a classified military laboratory known only to a select number of officials. A second-generation agent, he has been assigned a mission that will bring his adopted homeland to its knees.
Listening Time: 14 hours and 37 minutes
Read more on Amazon
32 Girl, Alone by Blake Pierce, Narrated by Abigail Reno
FBI Agent Ella Dark, 29, is given her big chance to achieve her life’s dream: to join the Behavioral Crimes Unit. Ella has a hidden obsession: She has studied serial killers from the time she could read, devastated by the murder of her own sister. With her photographic memory, she has obtained an encyclopedic knowledge of every serial killer, every victim, and every case. Singled out for her brilliant mind, Ella is invited to join the big leagues.
But when a killer strikes in the swamps of Louisiana, Ella soon comes to learn that the real thing is nothing she could expect. Face to face with a real murder, a real killer, and a real ticking clock, Ella realizes she can’t rely on her knowledge. She must learn to trust her instinct and allow herself to enter the dark canals of a real killer’s mind. If she gets it wrong, her career is at stake.
And so is the next victim’s life.
Will Ella’s talent be an asset? Or the source of her downfall?
Listen Time: 8 hours and 31 minutes
Read more on Amazon
33 Tom Clancy Line of Sight by Mike Maden, Narrated by Scott Brick
Jack Ryan Jr. finds that the scars of war can last a lifetime in this entry in Tom Clancy’s number one New York Times best-selling series.
Twenty-six years ago, Dr. Cathy Ryan restored the eyesight of a young Bosnian girl who had been injured during an attack in the Bosnian War. Today, her son, Jack Ryan Jr. has agreed to track down the young woman and deliver a letter from his mother. What he finds shocks them both.
The helpless child has grown into a remarkable woman. Aida Curic is a self-possessed beauty with a big heart and an even bigger secret who runs a controversial refugee agency near Sarajevo. Jack finds himself deeply drawn to both her and her country but soon finds himself in the crosshairs of the seething ethnic tensions and ancient blood feuds of the Balkans, the region of Europe where empires go to die. If Jack can’t navigate the world of secret service agencies, special operators, and local mafias to save Aida, Sarajevo will prove the be the fuse that lights the next world war.
Listen Time: 12 hours and 4 minutes
Read more on Amazon
34 Full Disclosure by Dee Henderson, Narrated by David de Vries
Ann Silver is a cop’s cop. As the Midwest Homicide Investigator, she is called in to help local law enforcement on the worst of cases, looking for answers to murder. Hers is one of the region’s most trusted investigative positions. Paul Falcon is the FBI’s top murder cop in the Midwest. If the victim carried a federal badge or had a security clearance, odds are good Paul and his team see the case file or work the murder.
Their lives intersect when Ann arrives to pass a case off her desk and onto his. A car wreck and a suspicious death offer a lead on a hired shooter he is tracking. Paul isn’t expecting to meet someone, the kind that goes on the personal side of the ledger, but Ann Silver has his attention.
The better he gets to know her, the more Paul realizes her job barely scratches the surface of who she is. She knows spies and soldiers and U.S. Marshals, and has written books about them. She is friends with the former vice president. People with good reason to be cautious about who they let into their lives deeply trust her. Paul wonders just what secrets Ann is keeping, until she shows him the John Doe Killer case file, and he starts to realize just who this lady he is falling in love with really is….
Listen Time: 14 hours and 10 minutes
Read more on Amazon
35 Targeted: Three Romantic Suspense Novellas by Lynette Eason, Lynn H. Blackburn, Natalie Walters, and Narrated by Kate Forbes
In On the Run, Lynette Eason introduces you to IT Specialist Daria Nevsky, a highly skilled FBI agent with the ability to hack any computer. She must go on the run to find out who wants her dead—and Dr. Ryker Donahue refuses to let her do it alone.
In Deadly Objective, Lynn H. Blackburn throws physical therapist Emily Dixon and Secret Service Agent Liam Harper into an impossible situation. They don’t know why the vice president’s son seems to be in the crosshairs of a killer, but they’ll sacrifice anything to keep him safe.
In Caught in the Crosshairs, Natalie Walters pits former Army PSYOPS officer Ari Blackman against his colleague, CIA officer Claudia Gallegos, when Claudia is implicated in the murder of a Saudi prince. Can he prevent a coup that would put America at risk?
Listen Time: 11 hours
Read more on Amazon
36 Conspiracy of Silence by Ronie Kendig, Narrated by Graham Winton
Four years after a tragic mission decimated his career and his team, Cole “Tox” Russell is persona non grata to the United States. And that’s fine – he just wants to be left alone. But when a dormant, centuries-old disease is unleashed, Tox is lured back into action. Partnered with FBI agent Kasey Cortes, Tox has to pull together a team to begin a globe-spanning search for answers – and a cure. As their quest leads them from continent to continent, it slowly becomes clear they’re not just fighting a plague – but battling against an ancient secret society whose true goals remain hidden.
With time running out and opposition growing on every side, the key to everything may rest in an antique codex, the Crown of Jerusalem – but will Tox and his team be able to trust each other enough to break this century-spanning conspiracy of silence?
Listen Time: 14 hours and 16 minutes
Read more on Amazon
37 I Will Find You by Harlan Coben, Narrated by Steven Weber
Five years ago, an innocent man began a life sentence for murdering his own son. Today he found out his son is still alive.
David Burroughs was once a devoted father to his three-year-old son Matthew, living a dream life just a short drive away from the working-class suburb where he and his wife, Cheryl, first fell in love—until one fateful night when David woke suddenly to discover Matthew had been murdered while David was asleep just down the hall.
Half a decade later, David’s been wrongly accused and convicted of the murder, left to serve out his time in a maximum-security prison—a fate which, grieving and wracked with guilt, David didn’t have the will to fight. The world has moved on without him. Then Cheryl’s younger sister, Rachel, makes a surprise appearance during visiting hours bearing a strange photograph. It’s a vacation shot of a bustling amusement park a friend shared with her, and in the background, just barely in frame, is a boy bearing an eerie resemblance to David’s son. Even though it can’t be, David just knows: Matthew is still alive.
David plans a harrowing escape, determined to achieve the impossible–save his son, clear his own name, and discover the real story of what happened. But with his life on the line and the FBI following his every move, can David evade capture long enough to reveal the shocking truth?
Listen Time: 10 hours and 16 minutes
Read more on Amazon
38 The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell, Narrated by Joanne Froggatt
On a beautiful summer night in a charming English suburb, a young woman and her boyfriend disappear after partying at the massive country estate of a new college friend.
One year later, a writer moves into a cottage on the edge of the woods that border the same estate. Known locally as the Dark Place, the dense forest is the writer’s favorite place for long walks and it’s on one such walk that she stumbles upon a mysterious note that simply reads, “DIG HERE.”
Could this be a clue towards what has happened to the missing young couple? And what exactly is buried in this haunted ground?
Listen Time: 11 hours and 56 minutes
Read more on Amazon
39 H_NGM_N: Murder Is the Word by JC Gatlin, Narrated by Dan Gilvezan
Every murder has a story.
Every story begins at home.
Tampa newscaster Tori Younger is saddened to learn her childhood friend, Brooke Martin, hung herself from the old water tower in their hometown. Tori hasn’t spoken to Brooke in years and doesn’t feel comfortable returning to attend the services. Then, cryptic text messages from Brooke’s cell phone change her mind.
Attending the funeral, Tori confronts a past that still haunts her and questions the text messages haunting her now. Her investigation leads to a fact she suspected all along: Her old friend didn’t commit suicide, but was murdered. There’s no shortage of suspects either: Brooke’s angry husband who instigated a fight the night she died; Brooke’s high school principal who denies rumors they were having an affair; and a town sheriff who shares a stormy past with Tori and is blocking her investigation at every turn. The only witness appears to be Brooke’s five-year-old daughter who hasn’t spoken since the tragedy and continually draws the same graphic picture of the night her mother’s body was discovered hanging from that old water tower.
Tori knows one of them has Brooke’s cell phone and is texting her from it. Others are convinced it’s Brooke reaching out from the great beyond. Either way, someone from her past is playing a deadly game of Hangman.
Listen Time: 10 hours and 12 minutes
Read more on Amazon
40 Cliff Diver: Detective Emilia Cruz Mysteries by Carmen Amato, Narrated by Johanna Parker
Imagine if you were the first and only female police detective in Acapulco, investigating crime in a city both breathtaking and deadly. Mexican drug cartels battle for control, and politicians are bought with blood money.
The detective squad room reeks of machismo. The lieutenant is a dirty cop who has trapped you into silence.
Unexpectedly put in charge of the investigation when her lieutenant is found dead, Emilia Cruz uncovers the lieutenant’s sordid sexual past as well as his involvement in a kidnapping and counterfeit money scheme.
Reputations are threatened by her discoveries, and truth is for sale. Emilia becomes a pawn in an ugly game of checkmate and corruption played by Acapulco’s ambitious mayor and the powerful police union.
Rival police detectives take aim at Emilia’s investigation. Their ringleader is a prime suspect. Hotel manager Kurt Rucker has some helpful advice for Emilia, but the heat between them is too hot to handle.
Feeling like one of Acapulco’s famous cliff divers hoping not to crash on the rocks below, Emilia must choose between truth and survival. But no matter which choice, she won’t be ready for the shock of the water.
And neither will you.
Listen Time: 10 hours and 51 minutes
Read more on Amazon
In the realm of audiobooks, mysteries have proven to be a timeless genre that enthralls readers of all ages. The allure of immersive atmospheres, layered characters, and gripping plot twists creates an unforgettable experience that leaves listeners eagerly awaiting their next enigmatic journey. From some of the great classic mystery novel writers like Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), and Agatha Christie, to modern thrillers writers like Stephen King and John Grisham. We hope you found some great mystery audiobooks to spark your curiosity.
Check back for more audio books we will be recommending soon!