Top 10 Korean crime and mystery novels in English that’ll give you goosebumps

Year of publishing: 2008

Synopsis: Filled with drama, crime and fierce emotions, this bestselling novel is a deeply moving story of a family’s search for their missing mother who disappears in the crowds of a Seoul subway station. Awash in sorrow and guilt, posting missing flyers of their mother across the city, the family is pressed with a larger question: Did they really know the woman they called their mother?

Delving into the themes of self-discovery, self-loss, and self-recrimination, this novel will bring tears to your eyes.

Why you should read it: Please Look After Mom won the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize (along with translator Chi-Young Kim) after selling over a million copies in Korea in less than a year. It has also been recommended by Oprah Winfrey, garnering massive popularity which led to several translations and adaptations into a stage play and musical.

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Year of publishing: 1996

Synopsis: Set in the fast-paced, urban landscape of Seoul, two brothers fall in love with the same woman: Se-Yeon. However, as their lives interact, this love triangle exposes an obsession with suicide and hidden desires. The novel’s nameless and frightening narrator haunts the lost and wounded people of Seoul, recommending them solace in suicide. Readers are taken on a serious chill and spine-tingling ride as our narrator meets the woman juggling between the brothers. She asks the narrator to cure her problems, ONCE AND FOR ALL. Based on the premise of a suicide designer, this novel is beautiful yet frightening.

Why you should read it:  The novel is an excellent reflection of the soulless modern society. It explores the cold and brutal emptiness of life, introducing people who are suffering in it to a man who can make it all go away. Forging a beautiful connection between reality and illusion bridging the gap between life and death, this novel fits into the genre perfectly.

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Year of publishing: 2016

Synopsis: The crime novel follows the double murder of two Korean parents by their son after he returns from his Las Vegas trip. But did he really do it?

After 26-year-old Yu-Jin wakes up to missed calls from his mom, he discovers her dead body lying at the bottom of the stairs. He then embarks on a three-day search to understand what really happened with him and his family, only to find out startling truths about their twisted relationships. This psychological crime thriller concludes on a chilling note you’d have never expected.

Why you should read it: There’s a reason why You-Jeong Jeong is called the Stephen King of South Korea and this book proves it. The Good Son easily passes off as one of the best South Korean crime novels.  Shocking, addictive, terrifying and fascinating – this must be on your list.

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Year of publishing: 2014

Synopsis: This historical crime fiction transports readers back to 18th-century Korea, as a scholar embarks on a quest to unravel a series of perplexing deaths/ murders. A young guard in Japan’s Fukuoka prison is tasked with solving the murder of some of his coworkers. Unravelling secrets, dangers and riveting truths about the institution, the protagonist takes you on a sweeping journey of freedom and humanity in the darkest of times. The masterfully crafted novel will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final revelation.

Why you should read it:  The author weaves elements of political intrigue, history, suspense and crime to give a heart-wrenching account of a period in Korean history that isn’t widely known in the West. It’s a thriller, a war story and so much more – everything that crime novel purists can’t miss.

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Year of publishing: 2007

Synopsis: Set in modern-day Seoul, it follows the story of Yeong-hye and her husband who led a normal life before a nightmare toppled everything upside down. Yeong experiences a bloody nightmarish dream about human cruelty, which leads her to stop eating meat completely and purge her mind. Defying societal norms and cultural traditions, Yeong embraces a more ‘plant-like’ existence. But it doesn’t end here. Her rebellion takes frightening forms of abuse, and scandal – challenging the lives of those around her. It’s a compelling tale which explores the limits of what the mind and body can endure.

Why you should read it: The novel is the recipient of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize. This beautiful yet unsettling novel also featured on The New York Times selection of “15 remarkable books by women that are shaping the way we read and write fiction in the 21^st century.” It poignantly sheds light on the consequences of challenging societal conventions and complexities of the human psyche.

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Year of publishing: 2010

Synopsis: The hitman thriller imagines a fictional Seoul, where South Korea’s murder-for-hire industry competes for market dominance. The novel follows the assassin Reseng, who gets caught in a web of conspiracy and power play orchestrated by an organisation known as ‘The Plotters’. Reseng uncovers an extraordinary scheme set in motion by three women: a convenience store clerk, her wheelchair-bound sister, and a cross-eyed librarian. Navigating the dangerous game of life and death, Reseng must decide whether to remain a pawn in the scheme or take control of his fate.

Why you should read it: A mystery and crime fiction in the truest form, The Plotters is a gripping page-turner with bone-chilling twists. An intricate setting, memorable protagonist and cracking action make it a must-read for crime novel lovers.

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Year of publishing: 2020

Synopsis: The book opens with a young girl being found dead in Seryong Lake, located in a remote South Korean village. As the investigation begins, the top three suspects: the girl’s father and two security guards who were near the dam that night, get embroiled in a game of uncovering what happened to the girl, without revealing their own nasty secrets.

After a gruelling investigation, one of the guards is convicted and sent to prison. It’s shown that his son, Sowon, struggles to live in the shadow of his father’s crimes for several years until…a package arrives one day. The sudden delivery promises to reveal what really happened that day at Seryong Lake, and Sowon confronts a danger he never knew existed.

Why you should read it: Coming from the bestselling author of The Good Son, Seven Years of Darkness is a riveting dark novel full of twists and turns. Exploring themes of guilt and paranoia, making the readers question the blurry lines between reality and delusion – this chilling mystery novel will pique your fancy.

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Year of publishing: 2016

Synopsis: Ahn Gil-mo is an autistic mathematical genius and a North Korean resident who gets caught in a murder investigation after an unidentified body is discovered in New York City. A CIA operative, Angela, is assigned to understand his psyche and thought process. A week of questioning and a series of mathematical puzzles later, Gil-mo reveals the number of crimes he was involved in throughout his imprisonment journey in Korea, through China, Mexico and finally New York.

The author takes you back to Gil-mo’s previous life in Pyongyang, where he and his father were sent to one of the country’s secret labour camps. Through Gilm-mo’s eyes, you see a world of despair, greed, falsehood, captivity.

Why you should read it: Gil-mo’s saga is an astonishing tale of mysteries, truths, and deceptions. His journey from the most isolated part of the world to search for the only family he has left will stick with you for a long time.

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Year of publishing: 2019

Synopsis: Featuring a serial killer with Alzheimer’s disease, The Diary of a Murderer explores the psyche of a man who’s on the edge: stuck between life and death, good and evil. In the titular story, a retired killer who’s dealing with memory loss sets his eyes on one final target before giving up his murderous exploits. The target? His daughter’s boyfriend who the protagonist also thinks is a serial killer.

The novel is a collection of stories, chronicling gripping plots like an affair between two childhood friends that crosses all limits of love and loyalty, a family’s heart-wrenching tale after their baby son is kidnapped and recovered years later, a woman haunted by her husband’s obsession with a strange radio signal and so on…

Why you should read it: The novel beautifully unpacks the complexities of the human psyche and the darkest corners of human experience. It won the 2020 Deutscher Krimipreis for International Fiction, the oldest German mystery award given for the best mystery novel of the year.

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Year of publishing: 1992

Synopsis: It is set two decades after the Korean War when the US military was very much present across South Korea and tensions were at their peak. This is when a young South Korean woman, Pak Ok-Suk, is found brutally murdered in the Itaewon red-light area of Seoul. Local authorities and military bigshots seem reluctant to pry into this nasty killing, whose lone suspect is the girl’s American soldier boyfriend.

US military sergeants George Sueño and Ernie Bascom are assigned to this case, setting out on a dangerous quest that can absolve their countrymen.

Why you should read it: A New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Jade Lady Burning comes first in the hit 15-novel instalment of the Sergeant Sueño and Bascom series. The author transports you to a new world from which there’s no coming back. 

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