Who among us doesn’t live to dive headfirst into a thrill-seeking, mind-bending, breath-stealing crime novel? The crime genre is a wildly popular one with people who span all demographics, and interestingly enough, the crime genre has a habit of genre-bending or genre-fusing, making it a popular pick for authors of all types.

It’s no small wonder that Korean literature, with its own growing popularity worldwide, has dubbed crime novels a hot commodity among its wide span of genres. Though the list of Korean crime novels might not be as expansive as some of the other genres that have become synonymous with Korean literature, the list is indeed growing. In fact, there’s plenty of speculation to support the idea that Korean crime novels are set to be the next big thing.

Crime novels within the Korean literature subset might be limited, but there’s certainly no lack of imagination within the microgenres each lives within. From crime thrillers to mystery crime novels to historical crime, there’s a long list of unique crime categories represented in this small subset of Korean literature.

Our advice? Read through our list of must-check-out Korean crime novels. Why? The benefits are manyfold. If you enjoy Korean literature, then you’re in the right place. If you enjoy crime novels, you’re certainly in the right place. If you, like so many others, enjoy both of these categories of literature, then you’re more than definitely in the right place.

Skim through our must-read list here to get a comprehensive but quick look into some of the best Korean crime novels available!

I Have the Right To Destroy Myself by Young-ha Kim

A beautiful but frightening connection between reality and illusion, I Have the Right to Destroy Myself is a must-read for those who enjoy novels that bridge the gap between life and death, and play with the dichotomy of perception and reality. Based on the premise of a suicide designer—rather, one who seeks out people who are lonely and depressed, and recommends and coaches for suicide—this insightful book is sure to provide you with some serious chills and spine tingles. Though not a strict crime novel (by traditional terms), this one is a must-read for those who dabble in all genres of Korean literature.

Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin

The winner of the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize, this novel was a hot-seller in Korea (selling over a million copies in less than a year) before high praise came from Oprah. Once that blessing hit, sales hit the fan even further. Please Look After Mom is a story filled with drama, crime, and forced wonder—while it’s not a typical crime novel, it incorporates intensive elements of the genre while fusing them with fierce emotion. The novel effortlessly explores self-discovery, self-loss, and self-recrimination while a family searches for a mother who disappeared in the crowds of a Seoul subway station.

The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong

This novel from You-Jeong Jeong (an author who has long been a best seller in South Korea) is one of her first to be translated into English. It goes without saying that the English-speaking population adored it—she handily sold over 1 million copies. The Good Son is a story about the double murder of two Korean parents by their son upon his return from a trip to Las Vegas. Or is it? This story is mayhem twisted with mystery, mystique blended with confusion, and it’s easily one any crime novel lover should add to their list.

The Investigation by Jyung-Myung Lee

The Investigation, Lee’s first novel to be published in English, is a classic, cerebral murder mystery that’s sure to get your blood pumping and your brain synapses firing on all cylinders. Picked as one of the top mystery novels of 2015 by Vanity Fair, this novel is a timeless look into most crime junkies’ favorite genre—murder mystery. Set in Japan’s Fukuoka prison in the early 1940s, a young guard with a knack for investigation is tasked with solving the murder of some of his coworkers. As expected, terror, mystery, and narrative blend together to formulate the ultimate crime novel. This one is an absolute must for the crime novel purists—we can guarantee that if you pick it up, you won’t be able to put it down until you finish it.

The Plotters by Un-Su Kim

The English-language debut from the talented Un-Su Kim, The Plotters is a story of assassins, nuns, garbage cans, abandoned infants, and hitmen—no, it might not make sense jumbled up in a single sentence, but Kim does a fabulous job of using these elements to weave together a fast-paced beauty of a crime novel. While it’s not a mystery novel in its purest form, this book fuses together crime, thought-provoking mystery, and of course, some bone-chilling twists, too. It’s a must-add to those building a list of the ultimate Korean crime novels.

The Hole by Hye-Young Pyun

The winner of the Shirley Jackson Prize in 2017, The Hole is the story of a tenured professor (called Oghi) who’s paralyzed by a car crash (the very same that killed his wife). As he descends into guilt and madness, his caretaker mother-in-law continues to bore deep, giant holes in his deceased wife’s garden—a metaphor for emptiness, loneliness, and the isolation that haunt both living and dead.