20 Books Like Only Murders in the Building

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One of the best parts of Only Murders in the Building, the whodunit starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez as neighbors who launch a true crime podcast as they solve murders in their Upper West Side building, is that you know no matter what happens, the Arconia trio is going to solve the murder. They may make mistakes along the way, but it's going to end with a satisfying conclusion. As a viewer, knowing it's all going to be okay is part of the appeal of the show: It won't get too gory, or scary, and there's never any real threat to the main characters.

In literature, this is called a cozy mystery, which mystery writer Amanda Flower describes as "an amateur sleuth, an unsuspecting victim, a quirky supporting cast, and trail of clues and red herrings." If you like Only Murders in the Building, you're guaranteed to like cozy mystery books. But we don't just suggest reading books from that genre—though there's plenty on this list. We also feature novels where a true crime podcast plays a major part of the plot, or where New York City is integral to the storyline—two hallmarks of Only Murders. So, if you love Only Murders in the Building, check out these 20 books:

The Thursday Murder Club: A Novel

If you like Only Murders in the Building, you're absolutely going to love the Thursday Murder Club series. The books feature a group of friends at a retirement village who discuss unsolved murders—and then find themselves solving live cases. Just as Charles, Oliver, and Mabel find themselves at the center of murder cases, so do the protagonists of this charming series. If you've already read this series, you're in luck: A fourth book in the series, The Last Devil to Die, is coming out this fall.

I Have Some Questions for You: A Novel

Rebecca Makkai's twisty literary whodunit centers on Bodie, a film professor and podcaster who returns to her New Hampshire boarding school to teach a course. When she arrives, it brings up memories and questions around the murder of her former roommate during their senior year—and she falls down a rabbit hole investigating alongside her students. I Have Some Questions for You is an page-turner that grapples with the #MeToo era, what justice looks like, and the ubiquity of true crime podcasts.

None of This Is True: A Novel

Lisa Jewell's psychological thriller is about Alix, a popular podcaster, who finds her path crossing with Josie, an unsettling woman who shares her birthday and proposes herself as a subject for the series. Alix quickly finds herself at the center of a dark, twisty mess—and the subject of her own true crime podcast.

The Appeal: A Novel

Season three of Only Murders in the Building revolves around the cast of Oliver's play—and if you love the theater-infused plot, you should definitely read The Appeal by Janice Hallet, where a tragedy strikes a local theater group. It's told in epistolary format (with emails messages, letters) as lawyers try and figure out what happened. The reader will try and solve it right along with them.

The Westing Game

This is a children's book, but honestly, it is worth your time no matter your age. The Westing Game, published in 1978, is a classic for a reason. The plot is centered around the death of wealthy businessman Sam Westing, who names all 16 residents of the Sunset Towers apartment building as his heirs—but one of them killed him, and whoever solves the mystery gets to inherit his fortune.

Love in the Time of Serial Killers

Love in the Time of Serial Killers's heroine Phoebe Walsh is similar to Only Murders's Mabel Mora. Phoebe, a PhD candidate obsessed with true crime, is convinced her new neighbor is a serial killer—but maybe he's just into her. It's more of a love letter to the true crime genre than a critique of it, but it's fun.

At Bertram's Hotel: A Miss Marple Mystery

No murder mystery book list can be complete without the queen herself, Agatha Christie. (Check out this list of Christie's favorite books she wrote.) For Only Murders fans specifically, At Betram's Hotel, set at a fancy London hotel, gives off Arconia vibes, and the guests are an interesting cast of characters. Plus, Miss Marple, an older woman who is an amateur sleuth, is a definite literary forebear to Charles and Oliver.

Acts of Violet: A Novel

Almost a decade ago, magician Violet Volk vanished mid-act. As the 10-year anniversary approaches, podcaster Cameron Frank—who hosts a show completely devoted to her—is desperate to talk to her sister, Sasha. Told through emails, podcast transcripts, and other narrative forms, readers will be led on a twisty tale solving the mystery of Violet.

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

Vera Wong, a lonely widow who lives above a tea shop in San Francisco's Chinatown, finds a dead man in her shop one morning, holding a flash drive in his hand. After she calls the cops, she decided to steal the drive, knowing her investigation skills are better than the police. Bonus: A TV show adaptation is in the works from Mindy Kaling.

Conviction

Anna McDonald (formerly a woman named Sophie Bukaran) is listening to a true crime podcast that features the death of Leon, a figure from her hidden past, when her husband tells her he's leaving her for her best friend, Estelle. So, Estelle's husband Fin turns up at Anna's door, and the two impulsively set off to investigate Leon's death—and start a podcast of their own. The result is a suspenseful, humorous thriller.

The Enigma of Room 622: A Novel

Just as the Only Murders crew solves murders in their building, The Enigma of Room 622, translated from the French by Robert Bononno, is centered on one fancy Swiss hotel, where no room 622 exists—because an unsolved murder occurred there years ago.It's something of a novel-within-a-novel, and clocking in at 592 pages, it's no quick read.

The Golden Spoon: A Novel

Think: The Great British Bake Off, but set in Vermont, and throw in a murder mystery. What results is The Golden Spoon, where six bakers arrive in Grafton, Vermont for "Bake Week" at baker Betsy Marton's childhood home. But soon, things begin to go awry—and when a body is discovered, everyone is a suspect.

Truly Devious: A Mystery

Maureen Johnson's YA detective series centers on true-crime aficionado Stevie Bell, who is admitted to Ellingham Academy, a famous private school in Vermont. Her application stated she will solve the school's grisly cold case: The kidnapping of the founder's wife and daughter. It's a blast for readers of all ages, and the two interwoven mysteries in the first book (there are four in the series) will absolutely keep you guessing until the very end.

If I Disappear

Sera, a true crime podcast obsessive, decides to investigate when Rachel, her favorite podcast host (of "Murder, She Spoke," a fun play on Murder, She Wrote), goes missing. There's a sense of unease as she investigates, and the overall vibe is definitely creepy and uneasy that will keep you reading until the very end.

The Word Is Murder: A Novel

In The Word Is Murder, a fictional version of author Anthony Horowitz teams up with disgraced police detective Daniel Hawthorne to solve a case. As Horowitz told Town & Country last year, murder mysteries are meant to be an escape: "Murder mystery is an opportunity to close the shutters, to draw up the bed clothes, to make yourself that hot chocolate with marshmallows and sit back and like Sherlock Holmes, just revel in the intellectual pursuit of truth." It rings true of Only Murders, and all of Horowitz's superb mysteries.

Read an interview with Anthony Horowitz here

The Decagon House Murders

A university detective fiction club travels to a remote island in the Sea of Japan because of a 10-sided house where murders occurred the year before. The 1987 mystery novel is a cult classic in Japan, and was first published in English in 2015. It's a play on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, as members of the group begin to die. A prime example of the "locked room" murder (where it has to be a member of the group), which often occurs in Only Murders.

When No One Is Watching

Romance author Alyssa Cole (you may know her from her royal romance series the Reluctant Royals) ventures into the thriller genre with a suspenseful story set in a gentrifying Brooklyn. The New York City backdrop of Only Murders is the only overlap here, but it's a fantastically gripping thriller—one that's described as "Rear Window meets Get Out."

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It: A Novel

Finlay Donovan, a single mom and novelist, is talking about her mystery novel in a coffee shop when someone overhears her and mistakes her as a killer-for-hire. Finlay inadvertently accepts, and has to figure out how to get rid of this woman's husband. It's the first in a very fun, silly mystery series—the books are suspenseful, funny, and romantic. Just like Only Murders in the Building!

Tuesday Mooney Talks To Ghosts

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is something of a grown-up, modern-day Wasting Game. After an eccentric billionaire dies in Boston, he leaves behind a treasure hunt for his fortune. Tuesday, a puzzle-loving young woman that is described as "bizzaro know-it-all tall girl," searches for the clues and ends up teaming up with a few others. Not quite a murder mystery, but we have a feeling fans of Only Murders will still love it.

The Postscript Murders: A Mystery

After a 90-year-old woman named Peggy dies, the police have no reason to be suspicious. But Peggy used to be a "murder consultant" for authors, and Natalka, her home health aide, says Peggy was worried someone was been following her. Natalka sets out to solve what happened, teaming up with a former monk and an elderly ex-BBC employee, as a detective also begins an investigation. Only Murders fans will be delighted by this unlikely trio, in addition to the literary mystery.

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