Banned and Challenged Mystery Books to Read Now
What do Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet, Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart, and Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl have in common? They’re all mysteries that have been challenged or banned at some point, according to the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom. MASTERPIECE Mystery! acknowledges Banned Books Week (September 22-28, 2024) by sharing some mystery titles we should celebrate having the freedom to read now.
- 1.
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart
Bantam Classics; Reissue edition (1983) This riveting 1843 short story by legendary author Edgar Allan Poe is told by an unnamed narrator who has just killed an elderly man. While the narrator justifies his crime, his conscience drives him mad with guilt. In Poe’s time, the story was controversial for exploring the idea of partial insanity as a defense. More recently, it’s been banned by at least one school district citing its violence and horror, and for offending religious sensitivities.
- 2.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet
Intra S.r.l.s. (2021) A Study in Scarlet is the very first Sherlock Holmes novel, published in 1887. Readers are introduced to the world’s “only consulting detective,” and to ex-army man Dr. John Watson. The pair’s first case for Scotland Yard involves a crime scene where the German word RACHE (revenge) is written in blood on the wall near the victim. The novel has been challenged and banned in some US locations for its description of a flashback Holmes has to 1847 Utah, deemed derogatory towards The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- 3.
Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray
Book Jungle (2007) Wilde’s gothic novel is an intriguing mystery about a handsome but immature man named Dorian Gray who barters his soul to maintain eternal youth. While staying outwardly beautiful, his inner soul is corrupted by his selfishness and constant pursuit of pleasure. The state of his soul is only revealed in a painted portrait of Gray. This title has faced numerous challenges since its publication in 1890, being denounced for “indecent content.” The novel has only earned its place in the literary canon over time.
- 4.
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
Mariner Books; 1st edition (1994) On the surface, the novel is about the murder trial of Kabuo Miyamoto in 1954 Washington state. Miyamoto is accused of killing a fellow fisherman. But Guterson’s narrative also explores the effect that the WW2 internment of Japanese Americans had on the local people. The 1994 novel is a winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and the American Booksellers’ Book of the Year Award, among others. The title has been frequently challenged, banned, or restricted in several school systems in the US and Canada for profanity and sexual content.
- 5.
Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River
William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (2021) This 2001 thriller follows three boyhood friends who suffered a traumatic event years ago. Decades later, the trio must deal with one another again when the daughter of one is found dead. Dennis Lehane won the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association’s Dilys Award in 2002 among others for Mystic River. The book was part of a censorship case where 446 different titles were withdrawn and access to another 160 were restricted for either being sexually explicit, profane, violent, LGBTQIA, addressing suicide or including Equity Diversity Inclusion (EDI) content.
- 6.
Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code
Doubleday; 1st edition (2023) When the Louvre Museum’s curator is murdered, the French police involve a local cryptologist and a Harvard University professor of symbology to help solve the crime. The investigation ultimately leads the duo to uncover an ancient conspiracy about Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Dan Brown earned the Indies Choice Book Award for Adult Fiction for his 2003 novel. The Da Vinci Code was banned in many countries and in parts of the US for exploring an alternative to religious history.
- 7.
Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Vintage Contemporaries; 1st edition (2004) This poignant tale revolves around a mathematically gifted teen with autism. Christopher Boone finds a neighbor’s dead dog on the lawn, killed with a garden fork. When he gets a classroom assignment to write something he’d want to read himself, Christopher starts writing a murder mystery about his investigation into the dog’s murder. Author Mark Haddon won a string of prestigious awards for this 2003 work, including the Whitbread Book of the Year. The title has been challenged or banned in several school districts due to profanity and religious viewpoint.
- 8.
Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl
Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (2018) This psychological thriller from 2012 revolves around the disappearance of Amy Dunne on her fifth wedding anniversary and her husband Nick’s subsequent search for her. It’s a tale of a marriage gone sour and a sociopath seeking retaliation. The novel was included in multi-title challenges in two states where people objected to sexually explicit, LGBTQIA, drugs, violence, profanity, suicide, and/or Equity Diversity Inclusion (EDI) content. Gone Girl was banned in a few localities.
