Best The Red Herring Books

The highest-rated books featuring the red herring, ranked by readers. Browse 44 titles across Mystery, Thriller.

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The red herring is masterful deception on the page. A character seems guilty, evidence points in one direction, and you're convinced you've solved it—then the rug gets pulled out. What makes this trope so satisfying is the *fair play*: all the pieces were there, you just read them wrong. That moment when everything clicks into place and you realize how thoroughly you were played? Pure detective fiction joy. It's the intellectual equivalent of a magic trick.

You'll find red herrings everywhere in mystery and thriller circles, from cozy whodunits to hard-boiled procedurals. The books on this list excel at misdirection—they don't cheat, they just know how to make you look the wrong way. Expect twists that sting because they're legitimate, and the delicious urge to immediately reread the first chapter knowing what you now know.

These are the highest-rated the red herring books across Mystery, Thriller, ranked by reader ratings from Goodreads and Audible.

  1. 1
    Survivor in Death cover

    Survivor in Death

    In Death • Book 20

    by J.D. Robb, Nora Roberts

    ★ 4.75 BLT Score (35.7K ratings)
    ★ 4.42 Goodreads (35.7K)
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  2. 2
    Career of Evil cover

    Career of Evil

    Cormoran Strike • Book 3

    by Robert Galbraith

    ★ 4.62 BLT Score (231.1K ratings)
    ★ 4.22 Goodreads (231.1K)
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  3. 3
    Peril at End House cover

    Peril at End House

    Hercule Poirot • Book 8

    by Agatha Christie

    ★ 4.41 BLT Score (84.6K ratings)
    ★ 4.02 Goodreads (84.6K)
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  4. 4
    The Drop cover

    The Drop

    Harry Bosch • Book 15

    by Michael Connelly

    ★ 4.37 BLT Score (75.6K ratings)
    ★ 4.21 Goodreads (75.6K)
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  5. 5
    After the Funeral (The Agatha Christie Mystery Collection; Imitation Leather) cover

    After the Funeral (The Agatha Christie Mystery Collection; Imitation Leather)

    Hercule Poirot • Book 30

    by Agatha Christie

    ★ 4.30 BLT Score (50.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.92 Goodreads (50.4K)
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  6. 6
    One of Us Is Lying cover

    One of Us Is Lying

    One of Us Is Lying • Book 1

    by Karen M. McManus

    ★ 4.30 BLT Score (1.1M ratings)
    ★ 3.91 Goodreads (1.1M)
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  7. 7
    Sad Cypress cover

    Sad Cypress

    Hercule Poirot • Book 21

    by Agatha Christie

    ★ 4.24 BLT Score (48.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.94 Goodreads (48.0K)
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  8. 8
    A Caribbean Mystery cover

    A Caribbean Mystery

    Miss Marple • Book 9

    by Agatha Christie

    ★ 4.23 BLT Score (53.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.85 Goodreads (53.4K)
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  9. 9
    The Body in the Library cover

    The Body in the Library

    Miss Marple • Book 2

    by Agatha Christie

    ★ 4.23 BLT Score (130.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.81 Goodreads (130.4K)
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  10. 10
    The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side cover

    The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side

    Miss Marple • Book 8

    by Agatha Christie

    ★ 4.22 BLT Score (55.3K ratings)
    ★ 3.96 Goodreads (55.3K)
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  11. 11
    Three Act Tragedy cover

    Three Act Tragedy

    Hercule Poirot • Book 11

    by Agatha Christie

    ★ 4.21 BLT Score (50.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.84 Goodreads (50.0K)
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  12. 12
    Farewell, My Lovely cover

    Farewell, My Lovely

    Philip Marlowe • Book 2

    by Raymond Chandler

    ★ 4.19 BLT Score (43.3K ratings)
    ★ 4.09 Goodreads (43.3K)
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  13. 13
    At Bertram's Hotel cover

    At Bertram's Hotel

    Miss Marple • Book 10

    by Agatha Christie

    ★ 4.09 BLT Score (47.3K ratings)
    ★ 3.71 Goodreads (47.3K)
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  14. 14
    The clocks Agatha Christie cover

    The clocks Agatha Christie

    Hercule Poirot • Book 34

    by Agatha Christie

    ★ 4.08 BLT Score (42.8K ratings)
    ★ 3.73 Goodreads (42.8K)
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  15. 15
    The Wives of Hawthorne Lane cover

    The Wives of Hawthorne Lane

    by Stephanie DeCarolis

    ★ 4.07 BLT Score (2.2K ratings)
    ★ 3.87 Goodreads (2.2K)
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  16. 16
    The Other End of the Line cover

    The Other End of the Line

    Commissario Montalbano • Book 24

    by Andrea Camilleri, Stephen Sartarelli

    ★ 4.07 BLT Score (3.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.05 Goodreads (3.9K)
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  17. 17
    Taken at the Flood cover

    Taken at the Flood

    Hercule Poirot • Book 27

    by Agatha Christie

    ★ 4.07 BLT Score (30.7K ratings)
    ★ 3.75 Goodreads (30.7K)
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  18. 18
    Legacy in the Blood cover

    Legacy in the Blood

    Chiara Corelli Mystery • Book 4

    by Catherine Maiorisi

    ★ 4.06 BLT Score (194 ratings)
    ★ 4.36 Goodreads (194)
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  19. 19
    The Confession cover

    The Confession

    Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 14

    by Charles Todd

    ★ 4.00 BLT Score (5.8K ratings)
    ★ 4.02 Goodreads (5.8K)
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  20. 20
    The Lying Game cover

    The Lying Game

    by Ruth Ware

    ★ 3.99 BLT Score (216.7K ratings)
    ★ 3.52 Goodreads (216.7K)
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  21. 21
    The Dance of the Seagull cover

    The Dance of the Seagull

    Commissario Montalbano • Book 15

    by Andrea Camilleri, Stephen Sartarelli

    ★ 3.99 BLT Score (5.1K ratings)
    ★ 3.98 Goodreads (5.1K)
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  22. 22
    Highgate Rise cover

    Highgate Rise

    Charlotte & Thomas Pitt • Book 11

    by Anne Perry

    ★ 3.96 BLT Score (4.5K ratings)
    ★ 3.95 Goodreads (4.5K)
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  23. 23
    Friday the Rabbi Slept Late cover

    Friday the Rabbi Slept Late

    The Rabbi Small Mysteries • Book 1

    by Harry Kemelman

    ★ 3.95 BLT Score (8.7K ratings)
    ★ 3.88 Goodreads (8.7K)
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  24. 24
    Death on the Nile (Poirot) cover

    Death on the Nile (Poirot)

    Hercule Poirot • Book 18

    by Agatha Christie

    ★ 3.95 BLT Score (310.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.12 Goodreads (310.9K)
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  25. 25
    Every Vow You Break cover

    Every Vow You Break

    by Peter Swanson

    ★ 3.92 BLT Score (62.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.53 Goodreads (62.4K)
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  26. 26
    They Do It with Mirrors cover

    They Do It with Mirrors

    Miss Marple • Book 5

    by Agatha Christie

    ★ 3.92 BLT Score (169 ratings)
    ★ 3.94 Goodreads (169)
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  27. 27
    Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief cover

    Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief

    The Ernest Cunningham Mysteries • Book 4

    by Benjamin Stevenson

    ★ 3.91 BLT Score (4.9K ratings)
    ★ 3.91 Goodreads (4.9K)
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  28. 28
    Sherlock cover

    Sherlock

    by Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat

    ★ 3.90 BLT Score (457 ratings)
    ★ 4.33 Goodreads (457)
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  29. 29
    The Coded Blue Envelope: A Sherlock Holmes and Lucy James Mystery cover

    The Coded Blue Envelope: A Sherlock Holmes and Lucy James Mystery

    Sherlock Holmes and Lucy James Mystery #8.6 • Book 22

    by Anna Elliott, Charles Veley

    ★ 3.89 BLT Score (441 ratings)
    ★ 4.37 Goodreads (441)
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  30. 30
    The White Lioness cover

    The White Lioness

    Kurt Wallander • Book 3

    by Henning Mankell

    ★ 3.86 BLT Score (24.1K ratings)
    ★ 3.87 Goodreads (24.1K)
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  31. 31
    The Knocker on Death's Door cover

    The Knocker on Death's Door

    The Felse Investigations • Book 10

    by Ellis Peters

    ★ 3.85 BLT Score (857 ratings)
    ★ 4.04 Goodreads (857)
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  32. 32
    Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man cover

    Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man

    87th Precinct • Book 27

    by Ed McBain

    ★ 3.84 BLT Score (1.7K ratings)
    ★ 4.1 Goodreads (1.7K)
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  33. 33
    City of Gold and Shadows cover

    City of Gold and Shadows

    The Felse Investigations • Book 12

    by Ellis Peters

    ★ 3.83 BLT Score (571 ratings)
    ★ 3.94 Goodreads (571)
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  34. 34
    The Holdout cover

    The Holdout

    by Graham Moore

    ★ 3.77 BLT Score (35.6K ratings)
    ★ 3.83 Goodreads (35.6K)
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  35. 35
    The Murder of Mr. Wickham cover

    The Murder of Mr. Wickham

    Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney • Book 1

    by Claudia Gray

    ★ 3.77 BLT Score (23.2K ratings)
    ★ 3.68 Goodreads (23.2K)
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  36. 36
    The Ice House cover

    The Ice House

    by Minette Walters, Unknown Author

    ★ 3.74 BLT Score (10.7K ratings)
    ★ 3.83 Goodreads (10.7K)
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  37. 37
    The Empty Hours cover

    The Empty Hours

    87th Precinct • Book 15

    by Ed McBain

    ★ 3.73 BLT Score (1.3K ratings)
    ★ 3.85 Goodreads (1.3K)
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  38. 38
    The Tooth Tattoo cover

    The Tooth Tattoo

    Peter Diamond • Book 13

    by Peter Lovesey

    ★ 3.73 BLT Score (2.1K ratings)
    ★ 3.94 Goodreads (2.1K)
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  39. 39
    A Sleeping Life cover

    A Sleeping Life

    Inspector Wexford • Book 10

    by Ruth Rendell

    ★ 3.72 BLT Score (3.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.82 Goodreads (3.4K)
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  40. 40
    Bread cover

    Bread

    87th Precinct • Book 29

    by Ed McBain

    ★ 3.71 BLT Score (1.5K ratings)
    ★ 3.83 Goodreads (1.5K)
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  41. 41
    The New Neighbors cover

    The New Neighbors

    by Simon Lelic

    ★ 3.67 BLT Score (5.3K ratings)
    ★ 3.39 Goodreads (5.3K)
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  42. 42
    Mischief cover

    Mischief

    87th Precinct • Book 45

    by Ed McBain

    ★ 3.60 BLT Score (992 ratings)
    ★ 3.72 Goodreads (992)
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  43. 43
    Angel with Two Faces cover

    Angel with Two Faces

    Josephine Tey • Book 2

    by Nicola Upson

    ★ 3.60 BLT Score (2.7K ratings)
    ★ 3.66 Goodreads (2.7K)
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  44. 44
    A Spot of Folly: Ten and a Quarter New Tales of Murder and Mayhem cover

    A Spot of Folly: Ten and a Quarter New Tales of Murder and Mayhem

    by Ruth Rendell, Sophie Hannah

    ★ 3.55 BLT Score (794 ratings)
    ★ 3.64 Goodreads (794)
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How We Rank Audiobooks

Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.

Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.

We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.

Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.

Read our full ranking methodology →