Unsolved Mysteries is back with another season of cold cases that have stumped investigators, from those who look to solve crimes to those working to prove paranormal entities exist. The final batch of episodes dropped on November 1st, so those fans who have already watched the latest six mysteries will be in need of another story to captivate their detective brains and keep their interest piqued until the next season.
Unsolved Mysteries fans who loved to read will be sure to find the same level of interest in these books that make them question who is the real culprit in cases thought to have gone cold or the existence of aliens and ghosts.
Home Before Dark – Riley Sager
Home Before Dark is a paranormal thriller that makes readers question the facts present to them and leaves them wondering how reliable childhood memories can be when trying to reconcile things as an adult. Most of the story takes place in a house that has its own personality and has taken on a feeling of foreboding for anyone that dares enter the front door.
Beyond the paranormal elements, there is another mystery of why the family fled their home in the middle of the night, which readers must put together before the last chapter when all is revealed. If this were a true story, the scariest paranormal television shows would investigate what happened at the house.
Truly Devious Series – Maureen Johnson
A remote boarding school with a dark past clouding its reputation sets the stage for the Truly Devious trilogy. The books mimic many of the show’s most popular episodes featuring cases that have never been solved, even by the most experienced members of law enforcement. The dual timeline provides readers with clues before the characters in the book, so readers can challenge themselves to try and solve the case before the characters in the book.
Even though the story is pitched as a young adult novel, the crime being solved is not juvenile in the slightest and has a level of realism that makes it seem like it could have been inspired by a real case when it is pure fiction.
Sadie – Courtney Summers
For viewers of Unsolved Mysteries who enjoy the show’s official podcast, Sadie is the perfect book since it follows a missing-person case and has podcast elements that aid the movement of the story as investigators and listeners to work to solve the case.
The book discusses the feelings that the missing person’s family feels while they deal with the heartache of not knowing what happened to their loved one and a family member who will stop at nothing to find justice for their family. With the heavy influences of podcasts, this novel is more immersive as an audio book, as it uses different voices for the main character’s thoughts and the podcast covering the case.
The Widow’s House – Carol Goodman
The Widow’s House is one part ghost story, one-part thriller that will have readers questioning what is reality and what is a hallucination induced by a house that is never settled. The story hinges on a husband and wife starting over in a home with a dark past and an even darker future should the couple find the same fate as the previous owners.
Like Unsolved Mysteries‘ paranormal episodes, the evidence presented isn’t always definitive and makes it seem like there may be more wrong with the house than a few leaky pipes.
The Box In The Woods – Maureen Johnson
Johnson’s next venture into unsolved cold cases takes place at a summer camp that was the scene of grisly murders that no one in the small town wants to talk about, no matter how helpful their information could be to solving the case.
The novel looks at what it means to be a true-crime fan who wants to help solve a case versus a nuance to the people affected by the case, which is something the best true crime podcasts and Unsolved Mysteries have tried to avoid since the original show aired. The book also shows how the smallest piece of evidence can crack a case, no matter how unimportant it may seem.
Stalking Jack The Ripper – Kerri Maniscalco
Stalking Jack The Ripper is for the fans who love coming up with or investigating the theories surrounding the mysteries presented on the show. At the same time, the book presents objective case evidence from one of the most notorious unsolved cases of all time but adds fictional elements like a love story.
However, the story is primarily centered around the actual events that caused the case to be left unresolved and presents a possible theory as to what happened to the man who terrorized England. This book is for the viewers who stay up combing Reddit for possible solutions to the cases from Unsolved Mysteries.
Nancy Drew Files Vol. 1 – Carolyn Keene
The classic mystery icon gets a fresh take in a new series of mysteries that are short and compact, satisfying mystery lovers who need to know what happened to the people in the story. Each volume features three independent mysteries, so fans can pause whenever they want and not feel like they forgot or missed any clues from the previous story, much like the Unsolved Mysteries episodes.
Related: 10 True Crime YouTubers Just As Good As Any Docuseries
Just like the show is easy to watch all the episodes in one day, it is easy to read through all the stories in one sitting since they are so captivating.
The Lying Game Series – Sara Shepard
The Lying Game is a six-book series that investigates a tangled web of lies ranging from high school drama to a murder that was covered up by blackmail and will have readers taking out their notebooks to keep up with all the clues being thrown at them.
Aside from the teenage drama that fills the series, the overarching mystery pushes the characters’ actions but doesn’t involve the police as they dispel the main character’s suspicions from the first 100 pages of the first book, which is frustrating but is similar to the way some cases have been mishandled on the show. The series was even adapted into an ABC Family (Freeform) show.
I’ll Be Gone In The Dark – Michelle McNamara
The case of The Golden State Killer was featured in the first version of Unsolved Mysteries before DNA technology solved the case after it had been believed that the case would never have any closure. I’ll Be Gone In The Dark revisits all the evidence from the crimes and highlights places where evidence was overlooked and how technological advancements allowed the killer to be caught.
The book focuses on the struggles of the victims and how they deserved to know who changed their lives forever, just like the show, rather than glorifying the man who was found guilty. The novel was adapted to be a true crime series that is worth watching in 2022.
The Five – Hallie Rubenhold
The Five focuses on the untold stories of the women killed by Jack the Ripper and misrepresented by the media when their cases were first investigated. The book uses social science and evidence from the case to reframe the story and highlight how the killer was able to move through London with no one being suspicious and how the women were targeted.
Much like the cases on Unsolved Mysteries, the author revisits the events with a modern-day gaze and technology that gives readers a clearer picture of what happened on the nights the five women met their end.
