Good mystery novels make great vacation reads. The format and content of these books make them perfect vacation companions.
Vacation is supposed to be a time to relax. One way to relax is to escape into an interesting book. Good mystery novels make great vacation reads because they meet a variety of a vacationer’s needs—not too long, not too serious and not too deep. At the same time they are engrossing, and challenge the reader to solve the crime puzzle.
Often people travel during vacation. They may take a train, plane or bus. The trip may take one hour or several hours—time that can be used for reading but not enough time to wade through a thousand-word novel. The same is true for vacation time on the beach, at the cabin or on a cruise. However, a three-hundred page mystery novel would fit right into these time slots.
Here are some suggestions for popular mystery novels, some classics some new:
Agatha Christie Ten Little Indians
Mary Higgins Clark The Lost Years
Nancy Curteman Murder Down Under
Arthur Conan Doyle The Hound of the Baskervilles
Janet Evanovich Explosive Eighteen
Elizabeth George Believing the Lie
Sue Grafton V is for Vengeance
Robert O. Greer Astride a Pink Horse
Dashiell Hammett The Maltese Falcon
Daphne du Maurier Rebecca
Marcia Muller City of Whispers
Edgar Allen Poe Murders in the Rue Morgue
Do you have some favorite mystery novels? Please share them. We mystery readers can never have enough good mystery novels for great vacation reads.
Global Mysteries 
There are some good books suggested here—and a couple of memorable films based upon them.
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By: Art Carey on July 30, 2012
at 5:55 pm
Art, Can you add a couple of your favorite mystery novels?
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By: nancy curteman on July 31, 2012
at 9:29 am
I’m a Raymond Chandler fan so I’d list “The Big Sleep.” My favorite Cold War thriller is John le Carre’s “The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.”
The Mystery Guild of America has its own list at:
http://suite101.com/article/top-15-mystery-novels-of-all-time-a4026
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By: Art Carey on July 31, 2012
at 11:48 am
I read “The Spy who Came in From the Cold” and really enjoyed it. Haven’t read “The Big Sleep.” I’ll put it on my list. Thanks for sharing your favorites.
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By: nancy curteman on July 31, 2012
at 1:42 pm
Oh, my… there goes my MUST READ list.
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By: Richard W Scott on July 31, 2012
at 2:17 pm
Share some of the mysteries on your “must read” list?
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By: nancy curteman on July 31, 2012
at 3:23 pm