The Hardy Boys: The Tower Treasure

A family curse, a giant ghostly hound and a lonely house on the moors. Sherlock Holmes's most famous case is the perfect first mystery novel.

Arthur Conan Doyle

The novel where Dr. Watson meets Sherlock Holmes for the first time and they solve a murder with a word written in blood. Short, fast and the natural place to start the series.

Arthur Conan Doyle

A young woman receives a pearl every year from an unknown sender, and Holmes follows the trail to a stolen treasure. Includes a boat chase down the Thames and the start of Watson's own love story.

Arthur Conan Doyle

Two broke young friends, Tommy and Tuppence, start a detective agency and get pulled into a spy plot. Christie's most playful mystery, with fast action and two young heroes who make it up as they go.

Agatha Christie

A woman is attacked inside a room locked from the inside, and an 18-year-old reporter sets out to beat the police to the answer. A classic locked-room puzzle from the author of The Phantom of the Opera.

Gaston Leroux