The Best Mystery Movies Every Crime Junkie Needs to Watch

Good mystery movies can make you feel like a detective. Here are a few mystery movies that are guaranteed to keep you on the case from start to finish.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most famous detectives ever and has been played by such actors including Jonny Lee Miller, Benedict Cumberbatch and even Robert Downey Jr.. In Downey Jr.’s version, he and his sidekick Dr. Watson, played by Jude Law, must solve the mystery around Lord Blackfoot, a man who has risen from the grave with an evil plan in mind.

The Fugitive

In this film, Harrison Ford takes on the role of Dr. Richard Kimble, a man who is framed and convicted for the murder of his wife. But when he suddenly finds himself on the run, he's determined to track down the real killer.

Se7en

There are seven deadly sins that are apparently the root of all evil—pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth—and in 1995's Se7en, Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman play a pair of detectives tasked with capturing a serial killer who murders based on this list.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Daniel Craig stars in the lead role as disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist, and Rooney Mara stars as hacker Lisbeth Salander. Together, the two investigate the twisted disappearance of a woman 40 years earlier.

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Two must-read gritty crime novels

Canadians have a well-cultivated image for being nice, and their public persona certainly backs up that assumption by the world. However, when it comes to crime fiction, Canadian writers can get down and gritty like the best of them. Here are two must-read gritty Canadian crime novels.

Needles by William Deverell

First published in 1979, this was a book very much ahead of its time. It features a lawyer Foster Cobb who is investigating an Asian drug boss who is operating on the streets of Vancouver. However, Cobb himself is locked in a heroin habit he is struggling to shake. While try to bring down the drug trade in the city, he finds himself getting deeper into a seedy underworld of prostitution, murder and drugs.

This gritty novel is a thrilling, tightly-wound mystery which features gut-punching twists and jaw-dropping revelations.

Helpless by Barbara Gowdy

Even in its conception, this is a daring book. Gowdy takes an unconventional approach to crime-writing by telling a story from multiple points of view and challenging the reader to examine their preconceptions. It firstly looks at life through the eyes of a paedophile called Ron who is saving a nine-year-old while battling his own inner-demons. Gowdy also tells the story through the eyes of the girl, whose own life is further complicated by her mother’s relationship with her boyfriend.

What is Ron saving the girl from and how can she put her trust in such a man. A challenging and fearless story plays out in the hands of a master of her craft in this often uncomfortable but utterly compelling novel.

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