Check out 'City of Stairs' by Robert Jackson Bennett. It's less a series of crime-solving and more a single, profound mystery about a murdered historian in a city where the gods were killed. The protagonist, Shara, is a spy posing as a diplomat, and her investigation uncovers centuries of divine secrets. The setting is a phenomenally imagined city built on the ruins of a magical civilization.
It's a bit more political and philosophical than a straight detective romp, but the central mystery is utterly gripping. The world feels alive with a lost, dangerous magic. If you want a fantasy mystery with incredible depth and a unique setting, this is a top-tier choice. The whole 'Divine Cities' trilogy is brilliant.
What about the 'Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox' by Barry Hughart? It's set in a mythical version of ancient China. The scholar Master Li, who has 'a slight flaw in his character', and his strong but simple assistant, Number Ten Ox, solve fantastical crimes and mysteries. The first book is 'Bridge of Birds'.
It's whimsical, lyrical, and full of Chinese folklore. The mysteries involve ghosts, magic, and gods. The tone is unique—a blend of fairy tale, comedy, and detective story. It's a trilogy, but each book is standalone. They're not long, but they're packed with charm and clever plotting. A true hidden gem of the genre.
Okay, hear me out: 'The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle' by Stuart Turton. It's a groundhog-day murder mystery in a crumbling English manor, but the fantasy element comes from a body-hopping mechanic. The protagonist wakes up in a different guest's body each day, trying to solve a murder that repeats every night. It's less about a magical city and more a magical situation, but the puzzle-box plotting is unmatched.
If you want a mystery that's also a fantastical logic puzzle, this is it. The setting is claustrophobic and eerie, and trying to piece together the truth from eight different limited perspectives is utterly absorbing. It's a standalone, so perfect if you don't want to commit to a long series.
With her enemies in pre-civil war Virginia still seeking her death, Esmerelda is forced to return to the future only days after wedding Lance. Because it was necessary to fake her death in order to stop her enemies from following her to the future, her new husband, Lance, was forced to stay behind. He’d placed a magic box for them to communicate until he found a way to safely be with her beneath the floorboards of the house.
Now, she must find it.
A task that is easier said than done!
“The Magic Box” is book two of the exciting paranormal-romance-mystery-thriller Esmerelda Sleuth Series
Mayari Alverno is an assassin in her world of blood and death. Even though she longed for a change, she couldn't break the shackles of slavery that bind her to her ruthless father that repeatedly abuse her until she drop dead.
Unexpectedly, a powerful sorceress from another world, named Helen, came to her aid and offered her an apprenticeship that she couldn't turn down. Mayari now lives with the sorceress in the world that she haven't dwell, a world of magic and mystery that never failed to amuse her.
But peace is a fragile thing that can always be broken easily. Even though in a new world and a new life, troubles are always looking for Mayari that includes her being eyed by the dark forces of magic because of her outstanding ability, and involuntarily being knotted by the Royal Family's problem, risking her life a couple of times to death.
Will she regain peace in the end? or be thrown in hell to repent for her sins?
Many years ago, dragons discovered the supreme good that the Earth could offer to any of its creatures. A red gem, which the king of dragons named "The Heart of Magic" because of its shape, resembled a heart.
The magic gem fulfilled their greatest desires.
All the dragons in the world obtained a necklace with a small piece of the red gem that shone. All the dragons born afterward also carried the same necklace.
Then, when the gem got stolen, this light went out of every necklace, and the dragons lost these magical abilities that the gem had given them.
But before this could happen, after fulfilling these desires, the dragons used them against the humans, enslaving them, but when the gem got stolen, it was all over.
Dragons are still looking for it, and humans wish never to be found so that they do not go through the same thing again.
Princess Edith, after a family tragedy, she will be forced to go in search of the gem. Through the journey of investigation, she will discover that she possesses special powers that she did not know that she has until that moment.
Drake is the Dragon King's son and will be secretly sent to help Edith seek the gem.
Carrying his dark and heavy past on his back, he moves forward with his life with no regrets about his actions back then.
Everything is about to change.
Rae Silverstein is a private investigator who works on many cases in the past even until now. She's the Sherlock Holmes of the 22nd Century. After two years of absence, the serial killer made its move and kills the nightless city of Theister City. The famous serial killer with the codename "Cannibal". It is the same killer who killed her mother and left her alone with his father who works as a lawyer. It's up to Detective Rae and her partner in crime Jae Min to solve the perfect murder of the 'Cannibal' as she accidentally delves herself in an unexpected romance she won't even anticipate.Update: 2 chapters per week
“Lily never imagined that her quiet life would change the moment she stepped into a hidden realm of magic. There, danger and desire collide, and every choice could cost her everything. Can she master her new powers and uncover the secrets of her world before it destroys her?”
For a cozy mystery vibe with magic, the 'Magical Bookshop' series by Amanda Flower might fit. It's not high-stakes noir, but it features a witch who runs a bookshop and uses her magical affinity for books and her clever cat to solve small-town mysteries. The magic is subtle and used more for gathering hints and insights than combat.
It's a sweet, low-stakes entry into the genre. The detective work is about paying attention to people, with a little magical nudge from the sentient bookshop. Perfect if you want the puzzle-solving satisfaction without the grittiness or constant life-or-death tension of most urban fantasy.
Obligatory mention for 'The City We Became' by N. K. Jemisin. The city—New York—is literally under attack by an extradimensional entity that wants to sterilize its nascent soul. A group of avatars representing the boroughs must investigate and fight this 'curse' of non-existence.
It's less a single investigator and more a squad, but the investigative element involves uncovering the rules of this metaphysical attack and the city's own hidden history. It's a love letter and a battle cry for New York, with the 'curse' being an existential threat to its very identity. Wildly imaginative and packed with socio-political commentary.
Okay, so picture a setting where magic is illegal and the only ones allowed to use it are state-sanctioned inquisitors hunting their own kind. That's the core of 'The Justice of Kings' by Richard Swan. The 'detective' is a traveling justice who is also a terrifyingly powerful magician, and the story is told from his clerk's perspective. It's less about a whodunit and more about the moral corrosion of absolute power, wrapped in a grim, politically tense mystery. It gets dark, fair warning.
How has no one said 'The Witcher' yet? The short stories are monster mysteries, but the novel saga is a geopolitical chess game. Geralt is looking for Ciri, but he's constantly getting swept up in the wars between Nilfgaard and the Northern Kingdoms, the secret plots of the sorceresses' lodge, and the ancient schemes of elves and other races. The mystery of Ciri's prophecy and her significance is the central thread, but unraveling it requires understanding a continent's worth of political betrayals, secret alliances, and racial tensions. You're often as confused as Geralt about who is really pulling the strings, which makes every revelation hit harder.