The genre of mystery has grown since its birth in the nineteenth century.

In 1841, Edgar Allen Poe used his gothic literature to create the mystery genre with the making of his detective, Auguste C. Dupin. Poe was and still is acknowledged as the “father of the mystery story.” The famous Sherlock Holmes and his apprentice, Dr. Watson, appeared on the fictional crime scene in 1887, with the help of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Years later in the 1920s, the Golden Age of Mystery, when murder mystery novels had similar patterns and styles, eventually traveled from Britain to the States. With the evolution of the mystery genre, authors such as Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Erle Stanley Gardner, and many more have produced works like no other. Even today, with audiobooks rising in popularity, mystery remains one of the top audiobook genres.

At HRM, we have the pleasure to represent many talented mystery, thriller, and crime authors and their audiobooks have certainly been keeping us on our toes. Here are just a few of our office’s favorites:

• “Bad Deeds” by Robert Bidinotto

  (Book 2: Dylan Hunter Thrillers) At a cabin the Allegheny National Forest, Dylan Hunter and Annie Woods seek to heal the wounds from their ordeal at the hands of a twisted psychopath. And to build a life together, Dylan promises Annie that he’ll abandon his violent ways. But ideological zealots and Washington’s political elites have conspired to terrorize and plunder the hard-working locals. These victims have no protector against the bad deeds of the powerful and privileged. Except for one man. A man as ruthless and violent as they. A man committed to absolute justice. Because Dylan Hunter cannot walk away – not even if it costs him the woman he loves.

• “Glenmore Park Series” by Mike Omer

  Twenty year old Kendele Byers is savagely killed and buried in a shallow grave. She had a violent past, a bizarre kinky line of work, and the suspect list grows longer every day. But when another woman is murdered, Detective Mitchell Lonnie realizes that there’s something much more sinister afoot, a connection between the two murders. Both victims had received a clue hinting their oncoming demise several minutes before they were attacked. There’s a serial killer in Glenmore Park. Even worse, he seems to be accelerating his murder pace. Not Mitchell and his partner need to locate the killer before more innocent women die. But when his sister gets involved, Mitchell’s focus begins to unravel. Soon his pursuit becomes personal, and the stakes rise very high…

• “Michael Gresham Series” by John Ellsworth

  Michael Gresham is a criminal attorney with a client accused of murdering a judge’s wife. As the story progresses, the judge whose wife was murdered suddenly tries to hire Michael Gresham for himself. New revelations have the judge backed into a corner in this legal and financial thriller. Can an attorney battle the system and win the notorious case other lawyers turned down? Can Michael Gresham turn the tables on those who would see him dead? And who is going to pay for the injury and disfigurement they left him with?

• “DC Smith investigation Series” by Peter Grainger

  The story opens with the apparently accidental drowning of a British sixth form student in the Norfolk countryside. As a matter of routine, or so it seems, the case passes across the desk of Detective Sergeant Smith, recently returned to work after an internal investigation into another case that has led to tensions between officers at Kings Lake police headquarters. As an ex-Detective Chief Inspector, Smith could have retired by now, and it is clear that some of his superiors wish that he would do so. The latest trainee detective to work with him is the son of a member of his former team, and together they begin to unravel the truth about what happened to Wayne Fletcher. As the investigation proceeds, it becomes clear that others are involved – some seem determined to prevent it, some seem to be taking too much interest. In the end Smith operated alone, having stepped too far outside standard procedures to ask for support. He knows that his own life might be at risk but he has not calculated on the life of his young assistant also being put in danger.