Top 25 Best Science Fiction Mystery Books

Welcome to the wonderful world of 'the mystery' meets 'science fiction', a blend of genres that, when done right, can produce some of the most compelling Science Fiction reads.

You might call this hybrid of Mystery and Science Fiction as 'Mystery Science Fiction' or 'Noir Science Fiction' or Whodunit Science Fiction', 'or Detective Science Fiction' or any number of names.

It's a loose categorization of a type of SF that's hard to put a definite label on, unlike some of the other subgenres. What makes it even harder is that many SF subgenres include elements of the mystery genre. 

For example, Cyberpunk SF often includes a strong mystery element as part of the plot with a protagonist (sometimes a Detective or Cop type) who must solve the mystery.

There's definitely some outstanding Science Fiction with strong mystery elements in them. Sometimes, mysteries are part of the story and sometimes solving them they ARE the story. Like many of the SF genres, science fiction mysteries can take many shapes.

I would argue that some of the best SF novels have a mystery that needs solving. As such, Mysteries touch almost every SF story out there at least partly. 

The best mystery books always have a mystery that needs unraveling. but it's in the telling of how the characters solve that mystery that separates a good mystery novel from a bad one. 

However, the purview of this list is to select some of the more stand out SF works that could solidly be slotted into the 'Mystery' genre. That is, unraveling a mystery is a core part of the plot.  

Welcome to our Top 25 Best Science Fiction Mystery Book lists.

We've listed our picks for some of the best mystery science fiction stories. Some of these science fictions stories feature a mystery that needs to be solved at the center of the story, while others are more noir SF which featuring a down and out detective / cop who needs to solve a whodunit in a futuristic world.

Note: If you like mystery books, then make sure you check out our sister site bestmysterybooks.com which is dedicated to helping you find the best of the best mystery novels. Also check out Top 25 Best Science Fiction Mystery Novels on the sister site for more recommendations.